Strut brace fitting

General E30 related discussions -
Please put technical questions in E30 Tech Help forum below

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
User avatar
Treeman612
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 238
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Newbury, Berks

Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:04 am

:D Hi - am buying Sparco f/r strut braces, cos i have fitted spax 40mm lowering kit (absolutely the dogs b**locks) and 'experts' tell me my tyres will dissolve unless i retrofit strut braces. I'm new (but very impressed!) to E30 ownership, and any advise would be very welcome
cheers. treeman612
Templ8e30
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2801
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire

Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:33 am

Strut braces are a good addition to the E30, they stopped a lot of the crashiness over bumps and small pot-holes on my 320i but are in no way essential after lowering.

Surprisingly the rear strut brace also made a big difference to mine.

Cheers,

Iain T
mole325i
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: North Kent
Contact:

Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:45 am

Hi Treeman612 :wave:

I've fitted front and rear strut braces to my sport and they are the nut's, stops all that roll the all E30's suffer from and just make's the overall ride a lot better.
Cos you've lowed you motor you might think about fitting some M3 E30 solid offset front track control arm bushes as well, got them on my and a few other zoner's have, good mod stops the inner edges of the front tyre's wearing out too quickly.
Hope this help's you Treeman612 and welcome to E30 ownership.

:thumb:

Martin
Last edited by mole325i on Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
tbmw
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 681
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: weston super mare

Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:49 am

excuse me hijackin the thread but where can you get the eccentric control arms from
been lookin around but cant find any
Demlotcrew
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 13329
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:00 pm
Location: East Anglia

Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:29 pm

tbmw wrote:excuse me hijackin the thread but where can you get the eccentric control arms from
been lookin around but cant find any
BMW Dealer.

Andrew
Cloggy Saint
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 8024
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: zummerzet

Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:28 pm

on a slightly more stupid note, is fitting a brace just a case of removing the strut-tower nuts and putting it on? :oops:
Image

E30 zone - promoting adult illiteracy since 2004
Demlotcrew
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 13329
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:00 pm
Location: East Anglia

Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:29 pm

If its fits yes, found a few to be tight but they do go on. I think that the adjustible types to be a little better (you can tighten them a little bit more)

Andrew
User avatar
325SME
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1230
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: The Valleys, South Wales
Contact:

Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:20 pm

When I fitted mine I secured the one side on the one strut, jacked up the other side to take the weight off the suspension then the brace went on lovely. Picked up that tip from a magazine somewhere....

The difference a strut brace makes on its own is considerable.
6potWil6pot
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2371
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: North London

Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:45 pm

A little bit :offtopic: But has anyone got a piccy of a rear strutbrace on an E30 please?
Image
mole325i
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: North Kent
Contact:

Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:35 am

Yes got a pic of my rear strut brace but it's not the best pic in the world....

Image

Hope the pic's ok :thumb:

Martin
Image
astondg
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 853
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:18 am

I have a front strut brace, it didn't do much for my 323i. I really didn't notice any difference to body roll or body stiffness.

Aston
BMW E30 323i with some stuff

1:05.17 @ Queensland Raceway Sprint track
1:10.09 @ Queensland Raceway Clubman track
1:21.67 @ Morgan Park Raceway
Cloggy Saint
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 8024
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: zummerzet

Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:00 pm

i'm not expecting any difference, i just want something shiny under the bonnet.
Image

E30 zone - promoting adult illiteracy since 2004
Demlotcrew
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 13329
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:00 pm
Location: East Anglia

Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:26 pm

astondg wrote:I have a front strut brace, it didn't do much for my 323i. I really didn't notice any difference to body roll or body stiffness.

Aston
Same here, but on 16 hargtes and bumpp roads it is felt.

Andrew
User avatar
Treeman612
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 238
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Newbury, Berks

Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:11 am

[quote="mole325i"]Hi Treeman612 :wave:

I've fitted front and rear strut braces to my sport and they are the nut's, stops all that roll the all E30's suffer from and just make's the overall ride a lot better.
Cos you've lowed you motor you might think about fitting some M3 E30 solid offset front track control arm bushes as well, got them on my and a few other zoner's have, good mod stops the inner edges of the front tyre's wearing out too quickly.
Hope this help's you Treeman612 and welcome to E30 ownership.

:thumb:

Martin[/quote]
Thanks, Martin - just phoned dealer - part number for these bushes is 31 129 061 222. Price is (gulp!) Ԛ£77.01 inc vat per pair. Available UK via Bracknell. Cheers
Post Reply