BMW has been just lately criticized for “bloating up” their vehicles and shifting away from what as soon as was the Final Driving Machine, not less than in keeping with the pundits. And whereas that may be true – relating to the burden – there are lot of things that go into the manufacturing technique of a automotive. And weight, it’s definitely a facet that each BMW engineer would like to hold as little as doable. We gained’t get into the total advantages of a low weight automotive, however definitely, driving dynamics is one in all them.

From Idea To Manufacturing

The BMW i8 serves as a main instance of BMW’s meticulous strategy to managing weight of their autos. Originating from the BMW Imaginative and prescient EfficientDynamics mission in 2010, the i8 initially set a selected weight goal, which in idea kind appeared achievable because of the absence of manufacturing automotive crash methods and electrical structure. Nonetheless, transitioning from idea to manufacturing proved to be a fancy endeavor.

Underneath the management of former BMW engineer Carsten Breitfeld, the manufacturing staff confronted a decent 36-month deadline to prepared the i8 for manufacturing. This entailed complete revisions encompassing packaging, legislative necessities, manufacturing feasibility, and, crucially, value and weight issues. Steve Saxty’s ebook “Hidden Gems” emphasizes the need of controlling each weight and prices, significantly for a low-volume, high-performance sports activities automotive.

There may be Extra To Design Than Sketching

Central to this course of is the collaboration between the design and engineering groups. Whereas designers aspire to create visually putting vehicles with a “WOW” issue, the realities of automotive manufacturing demand alignment with engineering and manufacturing constraints. Opposite to well-liked perception, design modifications will not be merely a matter of altering traces on a sketchpad, or swap a lightweight unit for an additional. In accordance with Benoit Jacob, former head of BMW i design, and the person chargeable for the i3 and i8, any deviation in design can unsettle engineering colleagues, as demonstrated by a minor adjustment to the BMW i8’s entrance finish.

“I got here into the studio at some point to take a look at the clay,” says Jacob, referring to the BMW i8. “And thought it simply wanted 10, or so planform on the entrance.” His lead designer Mario Majdandzič agreed and made the change with the modeler. The one caveat? The engineering staff was omitted of the loop. On the subsequent weekly assessment assembly, the engineering staff seen the automotive grew in dimension. Take note, we’re speaking about 10 mm, which is 0.39 inches.

Discovering A Method To Shed 40 Grams

Whereas the automotive now seems to be nice, that little change – not less than to us – it had some weight implications. The module chief of the bumper – sure, there’s a particular person in control of nearly each single half on a automotive – mentioned he must add 120 g of plastic and aluminum. The ebook doesn’t specify the explanations behind that, however we’re guessing it needed to do one thing with crash necessities or stiffness of the automotive. Securing approval for such modifications requires authorization from the BMW Board, which, on this case, was given to the design and engineering staff. However that approval got here with a requirement: offsetting the elevated weight by decreasing 40 g elsewhere.

In a show of engineering ingenuity, BMW engineers recognized the windshield wiper arm as a goal for weight discount. “So what did they do? They drilled three holes within the wiper arm to scale back the burden,” explains the ebook. In fact, we’d by no means discover that in actual life, however the intelligent weight discount meant we received a greater trying automotive. At the least in keeping with the designers.

Not Each Youtuber Can Be A Designer

As highlighted in “Hidden Gems,” the glamour of automotive design belies the complexities concerned, encompassing value management, authorized compliance, and weight administration. Critiquing designers with out acknowledging these intricacies undermines the collaborative efforts shaping automotive excellence. The subsequent time criticism arises on social media, it’s crucial to think about the multifaceted nature of automotive design and manufacturing.

In case you’re concerned about some BMW design behind-the-scenes tales, then seize the “BMW: Behind The Scenes” three-volume boxed set which might be out there quickly – at a pre-order value of $299.95/€270/£78.11. Alternatively, the principal ebook, “BMW by Design” is accessible instantly for $99.95/€90.02/£88.10; all with free transport in USA, UK and EU.