Additional Front Strut Brace - worthwhile?

If I'm honest I bought the Alutec strut brace more for the aesthetics than anything else.
Having said that I've not noticed any difference in the ride quality on uneven roads etc but would have to say when pushing along on winding roads the feeling I get is the vehicle feels more stable and will go where you point it. This may be because the brace gives me more confidence in the cars ability.

GEORDIESTRUTBRACE002.jpg
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't think strut braces do anything for the aesthetics at all? :? They are rather ugly pieces of metal strewn across the engine bay interrupting the view of my lovely S54 engine :P

On the Z4MC I can't see the point of them unless you are a serious track demon after the odd 1/10th of a second per lap. It's already the stiffest car BMW have ever made isn't it?
 
original guvnor said:
Maybe it's just me but I don't think strut braces do anything for the aesthetics at all? :? They are rather ugly pieces of metal
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Beauty is definately in the eye of the beholder. I expect you think a Coupe looks good :poke:
 
Dav the wheel nut said:
original guvnor said:
Maybe it's just me but I don't think strut braces do anything for the aesthetics at all? :? They are rather ugly pieces of metal
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Beauty is definately in the eye of the beholder. I expect you think a Coupe looks good :poke:
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Haha! Touche :thumbsup:
 
As has been said many times before the best pound for pound performance mod any of us can invest in for our cars is to take the weak link in the drive train ( yes you :o ) on a performance/advanced driving course.
 
Good post M5, good knowledge and sound advice.

The other weekend, after a fairly quiet winter period, I took the P&J out for its first real drive of the year on one of my favourite roads, a typical cross country British road. I found myself fighting more with the steering than I had remembered in exactly the manner M5 has described when on the rough or cambered surfaces. In some cases it felt as though I was constantly fighting against the car.

I run CSLs (235/35/19 and 265/30/19) and due to the springs, I'm running slightly more camber upfront than standard and both my front tyres are getting to be on the low side with the inner edges of the Vreds worn which has definitely made the tramlining worse.

My plan was to reduce the tyre width and increase the profile slightly but that hasn't happened as I ended up getting a good deal on a full new set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asy IIs in the same widths. They will be fitted soon. I also intend to get the alignment checked and reduce camber slightly so that I can enjoy the car on the roads that I like to drive on.

My car has never seen or been near the track so making it more drivable on the roads I like is my priority, I have some of the best roads in the country to content with so the logic makes sense to me.

I'll write a review of the new tyres when I get them fitted, quick calcs suggest they are a fair bit lighter than the Vreds too, I was shocked at the difference. Probably won't notice mind :).
 
sammyz said:
As has been said many times before the best pound for pound performance mod any of us can invest in for our cars is to take the weak link in the drive train ( yes you :o ) on a performance/advanced driving course.
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There's the truth of it. Most people will never truly reach the performance limit of this car in stock form.
 
Dav the wheel nut said:
... would have to say when pushing along on winding roads the feeling I get is the vehicle feels more stable and will go where you point it. This may be because the brace gives me more confidence in the cars ability.
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According to BMW, the coupe is significantly more rigid than the roadster and therefore it may be that strut braces provide more benefit to the latter.
 
I took this photo of the Z4MC engine bay whilst I had the plastic cover above the radiator removed.

As you can see with my highlights the engine bay is very well braced in both horizontal and vertical planes. The bracing behind the radiator makes the engine bay into a box structure with triangulation of the supports in the vertical plane, which should prevent vertical distortion of the suspension towers. The two struts from the bulkhead to the towers, with triangulation with the bulkhead and wings, should prevent lateral movement of the towers. It's hard to see how a strutbrace can add much more rigidity to the suspension supports.

Z4MCenginebay.jpg
 
john (exdos) post a pic of the whole car or be banned.......

pics or BAN!!!

on a side note that intake setup looks identical to the z4m setup....
 
Beedub said:
john (exdos) post a pic of the whole car or be banned.......

pics or BAN!!!
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Bit harsh! :rofl:

Beedub said:
on a side note that intake setup looks identical to the z4m setup....
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I sincerely hope so... :poke: :thumbsup:


daz05 said:
That is a Z4mc is it not?

Is it Dakar Yellow, come on Exdos get the pics up?
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It is indeed my Z4MC and its one of the 3 in Phoenix Yellow.

I've entered the photo below of my Z4MC in this month's photo competition on the forum. In view of the hard time some of you lot have given me, I would ask you all to show me some love and vote for my photo at the end of this month. :thumbsup: If you don't then I won't post any more photos of my car but if you make mine the winning photo, I will post lots more :D


PYZ4MC1_2_3_tonemapped-1.jpg
 
Sometimes wish I'd ordered that colour, but I guess it wouldn't have gone with my preferred red interior.
 
I don't think I've ever seen another coupe in that color... certainly can't be many of them around. I totally agree with the dark wheels suggestion. :thumbsup:
 
Nice pic, +1 to the darker wheels. I like more individual colours myself, probably so do the cops :driving:

Back to topic, I drove for a time without the front strut brace. After fitting I felt it made a difference to the roads I drive on, the car felt a little more precise.
 
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