BMW developing carbon fibre frames

Chassis made out of carbon fibre were never thought to ever make it into the mainstream. But thanks to BMW’s car-making arm it looks like a reality. Currently BMW leads the world in the technology needed to mass-produce structural carbon-fibre components. They’ve cracked the challenge of making structural carbon cheaply and quickly enough to be feasible for the mainstream market. It’s looking at using it to replace steel and aluminium frames in its motorcycles. New patents filed by them reveal two distinct carbon-fibre frame designs, complete with details of how they can be made quickly and at the lowest possible price. The major advantage of these frames will be weight.

It’s clear that the two designs could replace the entire range of metal frames. One reveals a race-style beam frame that looks like its been created for use with motorcycles such as the S1000RR superbike in mind. The other is a modular trellis design that seems to be intended so as to be easily modified to suit a wide range of bikes like the R-series boxer-engined models.

BMW already has facilities capable of turning out large amounts of pultruded and sheet carbon fibre and turning them into finished, showroom-ready components. The i3 electric car and i8 hybrid are both full carbon monocoques, while the new 7-Series uses a carbon fibre safety cell around the passengers.