[nitinj]

Hey guys,

Whenever I get into a conversation with folks about racing the M6, I always get the reply that the M6 is too heavy to be competitive. According to the following website, the M6 is just around 120lbs more than the stock M3:
2007 BMW M6 Price, Specs & More | RSportsCars.com
M6 = 3769 lbs
M3 = 3648 lbs

Question is, what is the lightest we can get our M6 for the race track? Also, what is the biggest bang for the buck weight reduction items in the M6 (i.e. hood, trunklid, wheels, back seat/passenger seat removal, carpet removal, driver seat replacement, window replacement, door panels, etc). How much weight reduction would each individual item give us?

Do you know anyone that races the M6 professionally?

 

[Bavarian Beast]

No idea on the lightest weight but here is a good link for a pro.

Turner Motorsport - Item# TMSPOSTER3 - Turner Motorsport Racing Poster with M6 Rolex GT

 

[M6Cabrio]

The M6 is not that light. I believe it is right at 3908 pounds for the coupe and 4300 for the vert. However I weighed the car and it was 4500 pounds on the scale for mine.

It is too heavy to race the vert on the drag strip that is for sure.

 

[nitinj]

I have been following Turner #94 for a while. I actually emailed TMS about the car the other day. I wanted to learn about how they lightened the car. Here is the email reply I got from TMS:

"Hi Nitin,

<FONT face=Verdana>We are racing the same car this year, just with E92 M3 body panels.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

 

[nitinj]

Riley Technologies does the chassis for alot of the folks in Grand-Am, including the winning Dinan car in the DP class.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

<o></o>
I was checking out the Riley website, and reading up on the "Track Day Car" they sell. As an upgraded option, they offer the Dinan 5.8L V10 S85 engine (650HP) which is pretty cool. That would destroy in a 2300 lbs Riley chassis.<o></o>

 

[FStop7]

The front end of my M6 is so much heavier than my M3 was. It feels like a plow in comparison. I have to brake much earlier and carry less speed through turns in order to combat the understeer.

 

[Msizzle]

The front end of my M6 is so much heavier than my M3 was. It feels like a plow in comparison. I have to brake much earlier and carry less speed through turns in order to combat the understeer.

i have the same problem, i was thinking about the didnan rear sway bar and front control unit, or the rd sport front and rear sway bar

 

[whatheheck]

My 2 cents.

I took my E39 M5 to the tracks a couple of years ago.
Right there and then I determined that M5 and M6 are simply too heavy and too luxurious of a car to take regularly to the race track.

We can sure lighten it up by removing all the unnecessary items such as air conditioning, put on lightweight seats, remove the stereo, remove everything that is not required. But that will mean gutting it all out and make it become a dedicated race car. I cant do that to my own beast.

I hope to have a 750hp horsepowerfreaks turbo charged E46 M3 one day, gut it all out, improve the suspension, then take it regularly to the race tracks. Now that would be a fun and awesome driving machine.

But to answer your question on whats' the lightest we can make our M6? - That all depends on what you are willing to remove and live without.

My 2 cents.

 

[verbs]

Hey guys,

Whenever I get into a conversation with folks about racing the M6, I always get the reply that the M6 is too heavy to be competitive. According to the following website, the M6 is just around 120lbs more than the stock M3:
2007 BMW M6 Price, Specs & More | RSportsCars.com
M6 = 3769 lbs
M3 = 3648 lbs

Question is, what is the lightest we can get our M6 for the race track? Also, what is the biggest bang for the buck weight reduction items in the M6 (i.e. hood, trunklid, wheels, back seat/passenger seat removal, carpet removal, driver seat replacement, window replacement, door panels, etc). How much weight reduction would each individual item give us?

Do you know anyone that races the M6 professionally?

If you're willing to spend the $$$$ you can easily shave weight. Get creative guys! Lighter wheels and non-run flat tires can shave an easy 30lbs of rotating mass which is huge. Some of the aftermarket brake systems will shave additional weight as well. Get some racing seats that could easily save 40+lbs per seat. Lightweight batteries come as light as 4 to 12lbs, so there's another 30+ or so lbs. If you don't mind the extra noise, a lot of cars come with sound deadening under the carpet....and you can buy lightweight carpet that is thinner than stock, but you'd have to cut it to fit. The carpet and deadening alone could be another 50lbs. Coilovers can sometimes drop weight (not sure if that's the case on M6s). Carbon fiber hoods will take more weight off the front of the car, I'm not sure how much the stock hood weighs, but if it's aluminum I'm sure it's somewhere around 25-35lbs, and a carbon fiber hood could weigh as little as 10lbs. Headers and x-pipes without cats, and the Akropovic titanium exhaust together could shave easily another 50-75lbs or so. Don't run with a full tank of gas unless you need it for the race. Go on a diet yourself.

I've just probably named at least 300lbs of weight reduction mods, and of course you could get even crazier with A/C removal, speaker/amplifier removal, airbag removal, etc.

 

[Hasan Shaikh]

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The question really is, what are you trying to accomplish on the track???

If you want to go out there and have fun, the M6 is great fun on the track.

If you want to beat a "P" on the track, get yourself a "P". The M6 is a GT car and we need to realize the fact that we bought a fat and heavy GT car.

 

[verbs]

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The question really is, what are you trying to accomplish on the track???

If you want to go out there and have fun, the M6 is great fun on the track.

If you want to beat a "P" on the track, get yourself a "P". The M6 is a GT car and we need to realize the fact that we bought a fat and heavy GT car.

If I really loved my M6 and wanted to improve performance I would invest in weight reduction. But probably just the mods that didn't affect driveability...like the lighter weight wheels, exhaust mods, carbon fiber hood, and light weight battery mods, which alone could shave 150lbs. It just the weight reduction alone would make the car handle better, brake better and get better gas mileage, while there would be noticeable performance gains from the headers/exhaust and lighter wheels. I bet with just these things you could add a solid 3mph-4mph to 1/4 track speed.

 

[Hasan Shaikh]

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Indeed! Is that all you are looking for in your M6. If yes, you have bought the wrong car.