E21 Curb Weight- Is This Right?

[Chris Pawlowicz <cpawlowicz@xxxxxxxx>]

Casper (Jeff) sez
> last saturday i weighed my "83 320i on a truck scale. it weighed 1340 at
> the front axle and 1060 at the rear (56/44 weight bias). this is only
> 2400 lbs! the car doesn't look that light, but maybe that explains the
> 30 mpg.
>
> he estimated the weight at about 3500 lbs. i told him i thought it only
> weighed about 2900 lbs, since that's about what it feels like to me. i
> called him up right away to put him in his place.

I can't remember what the weights are exactly, buy 2400 lbs sounds right
to me

the 2002 was ~2200lbs, 2 litre engine
the E21 (320i) was ~2450lbs, and engine dropped from 2 litre initially
to 1.8l in NA
the E30 comes in at around 2800lbs
the E36 has crept up to 3000lb+ territory..

as you can see, the E21 came in heavier and less powerful than the 2002,
which is one reason
lots of people felt it was 'slow' and 'not a real bmw' (I had one and
loved it!)

It may feel slow because it has such a lazy gear ratio (which is why you
get good mpg)
all in an effort to pass gov't regs on fuel economy etc


chris pawlowicz
'89 325i
'74 2002
(ex '81 320i)

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