Front strut brace

[poss]

Riiight

I assume you have not properly examined the original strut bar - nor have you driven my vehicle 🤠

[poss]

Riiight

• For a strut brace to be effective it needs to be strong enough to stop/reduce very small movements
• A 'vert's chassis moves more than a coupe as it does not have a solid roof as a structural element - Ipso Facto, a vert may well benefit from structural reinforcement elsewhere
• If you put a bend in a metal structure it becomes a weak point
• A solid piece of metal is stronger than the same section made out of sheet metal
• A square section metal extrusion is stronger than a round section - which is again stronger than an oval cross-section (when the forces are perpendicular to the weakest point of an oval cross-section)
• Last - but not least, the BMW design with moveable bolt slots in the bar itself means that it was never seriously designed to carry any structural load (In the aftermarket setup the adjustment slots are on the turret - which are at an angle and therefore the whole stucture is locked together).
• As the side-by side comparison pictures below between the original brace and aftermarket illustrate, the stock brace is an oval cross-section made out of sheet metal with a bend in the middle. The turret mounts are also unsubstantial in comparison - it appears to be a flimsy piece of shyte in every way when compared to my aftermarket solid cast CNC'd aluminium brace with no bends in sight - and my driving experience after replacing it confirms that to me

As I said - once removed the BMW strut bar can be flexed at the bend with your bare hands. It's structurally useless.

[rbg]

No, there's a pin that sets camber in place.

Not if you run plates.

[old///MFanatic]

So long as you don't jack it up, there's enough friction to keep the struts from moving.

^ This. Even if you have to move it you just need to put the nuts back on the strut studs. Just like factory does when there’s no stock brace.

[r4dr]

Bimmerworld collected some data from their Spec E46 car: https://www.bimmerworld.com/About-Us...race-worth-it/

Worth a read. Convertibles might be a different ball game though.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

A whole bunch of pro race car drivers up in here... haha.

I’d venture to guess that none of us would be able to tell the difference between an oem bar or the most expensive bar out there. But don’t let me hold you back from spending your money how you’d like to...

My car is 99% track and I’m running the oem bar and don’t think I’ll be changing anytime soon. I’d rather spend the money on tires, brakes, or track days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tbonem3]

I already explained how you can improve upon stock design. There's more to the equation than how rigid the bar is. Afaik, we only care about the bar's rigidity in one dimension (distance between towers) anyway, so stock would be sufficiently rigid. it's the mounting that seems suspect to me.

Beyond that, we've also seen stock ends (the cast part) break.

Stock bar's ease of removal for engine work will be missed, however.

[elbert]

Beyond that, we've also seen stock ends (the cast part) break.

I wonder if the stock ends break because of installation error, specifically attaching the center bar while one or both front wheels are in the air (and unloaded).

[old///MFanatic]

I already explained how you can improve upon stock design. There's more to the equation than how rigid the bar is. Afaik, we only care about the bar's rigidity in one dimension (distance between towers) anyway, so stock would be sufficiently rigid. it's the mounting that seems suspect to me.

Stock bar's ease of removal for engine work will be missed, however.

Exactly. A bar’s design is to keep the suspension same distance apart. Allow suspension to do it’s work. The stock brace does this adequately.

Stock brace is also made for easier access to work on engine. There are positives and negatives to this. Ease of just center bar removal and end caps untouched one of them.
One very overlooked point to mention with the stock design is its ability to function with the engineers “crumple zones”. Incredible amount of engineering and cost on the car’s body and frame to allow it in an accident or impact to absorb energy and keep passenger safe. Attach a steel brace with the design of a tubular subframe and this changes greatly how car reacts in an accident. Usually much more dangerous and costly. For a track junkie that’s not really a major factor anymore. For a street driven car it is.

Decades ago (in my E30 M3 days) Gustave wrote a great engineering paper on strut braces. What they are for and what they should and don’t need to do.

[DropTopKingM3]

Anybody have any input on how much of a difference a strut bar makes on our vehicles? I have an early 01 pre LCI with no strut bar and have been eying the Rogue Engineering bar as my car starts too see more action.

As per Rogues website, early model e46s would also need the front reinforcement plates in order for the rogue strut bar to fit. The strut towers are a bit different than newer model e46s.

[Johnvu]

This one is a beast and doesn't cost $700 lol

https://store.partsshopmax.com/shop/E36E46/BushingChassis/E46STB.html

Will likely go this route down the road.

[bjz!]

This one is a beast and doesn't cost $700 lol

https://store.partsshopmax.com/shop/E36E46/BushingChassis/E46STB.html

Will likely go this route down the road.

Men... Ugly as fuck. Must be high as fuck, to install that in my car.

[old///MFanatic]

As per Rogues website, early model e46s would also need the front reinforcement plates in order for the rogue strut bar to fit. The strut towers are a bit different than newer model e46s.

That should not require the "reinforcement plates" to make it work. Just longer studs. Reinforcement plates fit underside of the strut tower on E46. Think they're just saying because of the "bumps" on the earlier tower tops it sits higher up and has less threads of the stock studs exposed to attach the nuts to.

[liam821]

This one is a beast and doesn't cost $700 lol

https://store.partsshopmax.com/shop/E36E46/BushingChassis/E46STB.html

Will likely go this route down the road.

Men... Ugly as fuck. Must be high as fuck, to install that in my car.

Yeah, pretty much. Too bad it says MAX right in the middle and is painted bright gold.

[RoyalFlushness]

As per Rogues website, early model e46s would also need the front reinforcement plates in order for the rogue strut bar to fit. The strut towers are a bit different than newer model e46s.

Interesting. I just ordered a DMG Bar so we will see. I fully forgot that the early models were mushroomed. I searched BAT fro some 01 Models and looks like a strut bar can be installed (looks like the mounts are barely threaded on in this picture) Wonder if it still provides the same structural support as it would sitting flush to the strut tower.