BMW's Aluminium Light-Weight Prototype Car Projects; Comparison of Aluminium and Steel Performance

This paper describes the work undertaken by BMW with assistance from Alcan to examine the manufacture and performance of stamped sheet monocoque Body-In-White structures. A range of component and structure trials was conducted culminating in the manufacture and test of a small number of vehicles based on the current BMW 3-Series architecture. This programme illustrated that substantial weight saving could be achieved whilst maintaining the necessary level of structural performance.