Slimming down the M60????

Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:17 am

Hi all im new here and am looking for info on whats the most amount of bits i can remove from the engine,
For instance do i really need a water cooled alternator?????
Im running a stripped out manual with loads less electrics than the E34 so???
I have a blown 530i engine as my dummy engine, so i can chop away, i thought id ask before i lept

TIA

Wed Jun 02, 2010 7:01 am

Well.. you could ditch the PS pump, fabricate electric water pump, swap smaller alternator (all M60 alternators aren't water cooled) and such but the total gain would be around 5-10kg so does it really matter?

Changing the flywheel from double mass (~18kg) to light steel flywheel (6-8kg) or aluminium (3-5kg) makes the biggest difference and doesn't require too much fabrication.

You can also ditch all the diagnostics etc from the engine loom and such but those are really minimal gains.. The engine is really light already so there isn't too much to be done with sensible budget..

Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:30 pm

ditch all the fancy electric gubbins n go for 8 bike carbs poking out the bonnet

sumthing like ...........

Wed Jun 02, 2010 5:53 pm

there's easier ways of saving weight from your car, rather than trying to save weight on the engine

Thu Jun 03, 2010 5:38 am

jay4thecruise wrote:ditch all the fancy electric gubbins n go for 8 bike carbs poking out the bonnet

... yes and then you've hugely less usability and significantly higher fuel consumption. All carburettors should be melted, those are ancient shit.

Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:47 am

They'd probably weigh more anyways lol

Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:20 am

Thanks,
Im not trying to save weight, im trying to gain space....
attached is a picture of the housing hitting the chassis leg, so what i mean is can i chopy chop chop?

Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:01 am

Ummm.. where has that picture been taken? I can't get it in my head that what part is it in the picture?

Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:38 am

In the engine bay

I just hit the Jackpot, i picked up a 93 540i, it has the cable accelerator

and no water cooled alternator, as has been said and the best bit its a 6spd manual.
Hey Jonsku do you have any info on the diff setup your using?

Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:24 pm

200272 wrote:In the engine bay
I just hit the Jackpot, i picked up a 93 540i, it has the cable accelerator and no water cooled alternator, as has been said and the best bit its a 6spd manual.
Hey Jonsku do you have any info on the diff setup your using?

Yap, but where in the bay?

Is that unassembled alternator or what?

Anyways, the diff. I'm using new typ 188 diff with Z3M backplate. Top speed is ~285km/h at 6850rpm (tried at dynamometer last week) with 6th gear so the diff ratio is around 3.4:1. Underside is that on highway the revs are a bit high (2500rpm @ 100km/h) so the fuel consumption is bit high (around 12 litres / 100km when average speed is 100-120km/h) but on the other hand it accelerates very nicely all the time