DA40 engine weights

[Chris M]

I brought the club 172 in today to get the altimeter tuned up. While I was there the techs brought a DA40 in to start its annual and pulled the cowl off. On both sides of the engine ahead of the forward cylinders was a set of heavy metal plates(4-5 on each side), each a half-inch thick and maybe 4 inches square, bolted to the crankcase. I'm curious what purpose these serve. Obviously they're weights (no other reason for such a huge stack of metal). Two possible reasons come to mind: either they adjust the C of G or they act as mass dampers for the engine to adjust its vibration characteristics.

Any other reasons for a big lump of metal to be bolted to an engine?

[lownslow]

IIRC, the DA-40 was originally designed for a big, heavy diesel so I suspect those are for CG.