2002 M3 Stock weights and corner percentages

After corner balancing the viper this evening i thought i would throw the m3 on the scales and see how its set up in factory form.

With me in the car seems and 3/4 tank of fuel


No Driver


Viper Acr is about 100 pounds lighter.

230 lb driver and it was only off by 80 lbs. front right to front left...pretty good?

Balanced very well for factory.

Omg that viper!

What options do you have on the M3?

Originally Posted by TerraPhantm

What options do you have on the M3?

I'm curious as well.

2002 smg car 18" factory wheels all factory components with sunroof and no nav. I think pretty much most options. Even has the floor and trunk mats in it.

Seems to be a lil higher than factory curb weight rating of 3415, maybe the smg.

Very interesting
Makes me wonder how much lighter my 6MT slicktop coupe is with no options except for heated seats.

Hey there imcgrew. Would you be kind to explain what your changing when doing a corner balance on a vehicle. I'am a licensed tech just never seen or preformed a corner balance myself. Very interested in how it works and what changes will have effect on the car. I haven't been able to find much info on this myself. You could always pm me or post it here. Very interested. Thank you.

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What your changing is the amount of weight applied to each wheel by adjusting the ride height. Ideally you want equal weights at all corners for a balanced car. Short of physically moving weight around which can be hard to do in a street car, you adjust the diagonal weights left rear and front right to be the same percentage as the right rear and front left. Think of it as a sitting in chair with springs as legs, if you shorten one corner there is gonna be less weight on that corner and cause the chair to rock. Total side weight and front or back weight will never change unless you move something in the car. What you can change is the weight diagonally though, raising one corner will put more weight on that corner and transfer weight from the other 3 corners. On a road track it balances the car and makes it react the same way turning left as turning right.

Also you cant do this unless you have an adjustable ride height suspension.

Anymore pics of the viper?

Heres a handfull

Originally Posted by lmcgrew79

What your changing is the amount of weight applied to each wheel by adjusting the ride height. Ideally you want equal weights at all corners for a balanced car. Short of physically moving weight around which can be hard to do in a street car, you adjust the diagonal weights left rear and front right to be the same percentage as the right rear and front left. Think of it as a sitting in chair with springs as legs, if you shorten one corner there is gonna be less weight on that corner and cause the chair to rock. Total side weight and front or back weight will never change unless you move something in the car. What you can change is the weight diagonally though, raising one corner will put more weight on that corner and transfer weight from the other 3 corners. On a road track it balances the car and makes it react the same way turning left as turning right.

Also you cant do this unless you have an adjustable ride height suspension.

I'm getting my coil overs installed today. The shop told me I should corner balance it. I told him I'd let him know. Is it nesscary for a street car?

Originally Posted by lmcgrew79

Seems to be a lil higher than factory curb weight rating of 3415, maybe the smg.

More likely it's the 3/4 full gas tank. Factory listed weights are dry weights.

Thank you for the insight lmcgrew79. I knew that it could only be done with adjustable suspension. Well when ever i get the suspension done on my M3 after buying my new house this summer I will look more into the equipment or allow a shop to take me through the process. Thank you very much

love the pics and Viper looks good. Are u planning on trading that Viper in for the new one due to the Independent rear suspension being installed on the new vipers?