Has anyone here actually weighed their vehicle?

[bmw m3 s50]

Pics? It's also kind of odd to have a welded in cage, half or otherwise, and reclinable seats. Sportsters are also not exactly light. You could save quite a bit by going with Pole Positions or RaceTech seats and basic floor mounts.

I would agree with you on that. I have no clue why the previous owner did reclinable seats with the half cage. It might have been due to Turner’s recommendation since they did the majority of the work.

Here is the half cage:

[bmw m3 s50]

As per RealOEM, metal trunk is 25.3lbs

And RealOEM also says 25.3lbs for CSL trunk. I have one at the shop and it weight 27lbs. I put some pics in a thread on this forum of OEM CSL on scale

This is pretty surprising. What the hell was the point of the composite material than? I thought there would have been a few pounds to be lost.

Now you have me curious. I might have to weigh mine.

[bmw m3 s50]

There's a 100lbs to be lost in stock battery and muffler alone.

I know. Those are on the list of future upgrades. Was planning on going with antigravity atx30 battery which only weights 5lbs. That should be like 40-45lbs there.

Regarding the muffler, I was thinking of looking for a shop to fabricate a custom titanium muffler that would keep sound down.

[dHam_Slow.46M]

This is pretty surprising. What the hell was the point of the composite material than? I thought there would have been a few pounds to be lost.

Now you have me curious. I might have to weigh mine.

If you're going to drop $$ for OEM CSL, you might as well go Karb for the weight savings you're looking for. I'm sure even with the rear wing reinforcement, it'll be a substantial shaving off metal/OEM CSL.

Same with the bumper, if you're chasing grams, something like a GT4/MEC CSL bumper would probably be lighter than OEM CSL.

Also, is that NOS?

[Gt4]

If you're going to drop $$ for OEM CSL, you might as well go Karb for the weight savings you're looking for. I'm sure even with the rear wing reinforcement, it'll be a substantial shaving off metal/OEM CSL.

Same with the bumper, if you're chasing grams, something like a GT4/MEC CSL bumper would probably be lighter than OEM CSL.

Also, is that NOS?

We made a cf CSL trunk 2-3 years ago and it weight 10lbs IIRC. Mold wasn't perfect so we never really sell them. We will made a new mold this year.

[EthanolTurbo]

I know. Those are on the list of future upgrades. Was planning on going with antigravity atx30 battery which only weights 5lbs. That should be like 40-45lbs there.

Regarding the muffler, I was thinking of looking for a shop to fabricate a custom titanium muffler that would keep sound down.

Do not do an ATX30 or you'll be miserable. You need at least an Antigravity 20ah or 40ah H6 battery.

[Gt4]

Do not do an ATX30 or you'll be miserable. You need at least an Antigravity 20ah or 40ah H6 battery.

Can you give more details about the ATX30 downside? I was under the impression some members here had good results with it

[SQ13]

I like my ATX30 battery. Lost 47 or 49 lbs

[Gt4]

I like my ATX30 battery. Lost 47 or 49 lbs

On a dedicated track car or street driven car? Still have audio, AC, ...?

[EthanolTurbo]

Can you give more details about the ATX30 downside? I was under the impression some members here had good results with it

It has hardly any capacity and on a car like an E46 with parasitic loss, you can't let it sit or the battery will get toasted unless on a battery tender. The H6 20ah or 40ah are the minimum battery I'd recommend.

[bmw m3 s50]

If you're going to drop $$ for OEM CSL, you might as well go Karb for the weight savings you're looking for. I'm sure even with the rear wing reinforcement, it'll be a substantial shaving off metal/OEM CSL.

Same with the bumper, if you're chasing grams, something like a GT4/MEC CSL bumper would probably be lighter than OEM CSL.

Also, is that NOS?

For me it's a fine line between weight reduction and building a perfect clean m3. The exterior parts that I have are all OEM CSL parts - the trunk and diffuser. I am trying to get the most in weight reduction but I also want a clean looking car.

HA, and no that is not NOS.

[bmw m3 s50]

It has hardly any capacity and on a car like an E46 with parasitic loss, you can't let it sit or the battery will get toasted unless on a battery tender. The H6 20ah or 40ah are the minimum battery I'd recommend.

Though all the research that I have done, most members here reported good results. You are correct, it is not a battery that could live off a battery tender but as long as it is connected to a battery tender when not in use, there hasn't been any issues that I have read about. The battery also has the built in jump-start which is a plus. This feature senses when the battery is losing power and automatically shuts off requiring you to press the jump-start button to turn it back on. This ensures you won't be left stranded.

This car pretty much stays in the garage on a battery tender and driven on nice days so the daily driven issues that a battery may have will not really be an issue.

As there been any reported issues of the battery not starting after not turning on the car for a couple of hours?

[bmw m3 s50]

I like my ATX30 battery. Lost 47 or 49 lbs

Could you provide some more details and you experience on the ATX30 battery.

[dHam_Slow.46M]

For me it's a fine line between weight reduction and building a perfect clean m3. The exterior parts that I have are all OEM CSL parts - the trunk and diffuser. I am trying to get the most in weight reduction but I also want a clean looking car.

HA, and no that is not NOS.

Ah I see, you already purchased the OEM CSL parts. Makes sense.


What’s to say the aftermarket CSL parts don’t look clean though? Don’t get me wrong, I get wanting to have that cool (rare) OEM piece, but there’s been plenty of praise for Karb/Sloan/MEC/GT4 for their quality craftsmanship. It’s a known thing that even OEM CSL parts didn’t fit perfectly, so if you’re shaving as much as possible wouldn’t it make more sense to go CF?

Again, not trying to shoot down your decisions if you’ve already bought the parts(if anything I’m jealous lol), just find it odd for one to say they’re trying to shave weight but won’t go aftermarket/CF by saying they look (objectively) worse.

[bmw m3 s50]

Ah I see, you already purchased the OEM CSL parts. Makes sense.


What’s to say the aftermarket CSL parts don’t look clean though? Don’t get me wrong, I get wanting to have that cool (rare) OEM piece, but there’s been plenty of praise for Karb/Sloan/MEC/GT4 for their quality craftsmanship. It’s a known thing that even OEM CSL parts didn’t fit perfectly, so if you’re shaving as much as possible wouldn’t it make more sense to go CF?

Again, not trying to shoot down your decisions if you’ve already bought the parts(if anything I’m jealous lol), just find it odd for one to say they’re trying to shave weight but won’t go aftermarket/CF by saying they look (objectively) worse.

I would have to agree with your comment. You are 100% correct, there are aftermarket parts that would provide greater weight reduction than OEM CSL parts for sure and some parts that would have fitment equal to the CSL parts.

I think with my build, it is a balance of a clean OEM and cool look with weight reduction in mind. As I mentioned, I would love to get the car into the 3000 to 3050 lbs mark but I do want to also want to retain that OEM e46 feel of originality. It is getting harder and harder to come across the feel of originality as these cars get older. I would like to keep the exterior as OEM as possible with the exception of the CF roof which is already installed and CSL front splitters for the non-CSL front bumper. I would have gone as far as buying an OEM CSL Front Bumper but I can't stand the single intake hole look.

For the engine, I currently have a Karb CSL airbox which I will be installing. Odds are in the future I will be looking for an OEM CSL airbox just for that cool factor.

I may decide later on to buy jump to the aftermarket exterior parts but in reality, it would only be the trunk since everything else is OEM. I don't think the diffuser would make any difference in weight.