oem,bmw strutbrace(good1),vs stn mtrsport(crap1)

C

craig3.2

Elite
 Ayrshire,Scotland
HI all,i just bought and fitted an oem strutbrace from my local bm dealer. it has tightened up the front noticebly,and the car now corners quicker and flatter to the road;especially on roundabouts/tight bends :evil: :D
It cost a reasonable £235,less my bmw carclub discount i got it for £211.,and its very good quality in appearance/nice shiny,polished aluminium. result!
Compare that to one i very recently bought from stn motorsport/bm town. it was meant to be delivered in 3-4 days,the week before going to gaydon(wr my car was on the scottish stand),but never arvd for over 6 weeks,then it didnt fit! it had been machined wrongly and wouldn't let the bonnet shut properly. aargh!! have returned it by courier,tho still waiting for my refund :headbang:
just glad its on my cr/card!! (for ins purposes)
 
Does it really block opening the oil cap? I am also considering it. Can you take and post a picture please?
 
After putting my car detail on ETK, the strut brace (Part No.51 71 0 305114) is not available for my car (E85 2.5 N52), Why does it not fit Z4 with N52 engine?
 
ksher said:
After putting my car detail on ETK, the strut brace (Part No.51 71 0 305114) is not available for my car (E85 2.5 N52), Why does it not fit Z4 with N52 engine?
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I think it's because it covers the oil filler cap
 
It indeed covers the oil filler cap and leans heavily on the air intake pipe. I left it on anyway as it takes no time at all to take the cross piece off add oil if you need to. My experience is, however, I get 15K miles/1 year service without having to add any oil at all.

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Smokin said:
It indeed covers the oil filler cap and leans heavily on the air intake pipe. I left it on anyway as it takes no time at all to take the cross piece off add oil if you need to. My experience is, however, I get 15K miles/1 year service without having to add any oil at all.
DSCN0325.jpg
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So if you need to add oil, do you just unscrew the 4 bolts on the bar, not 6 bolts on the struts? Do you really need a torque wrench to tighten the bolts? Does it press the air intake pipe down slightly?
 
looks like some1 beat me to putting pics on,tho will try and get 1 of mine asap.
it does foul the pipe as mentnd above,and cover the oil filler on the 2.5(as i saw on another web page/forum),But Not on the 3.0i/it clears everything perfectly,and sits clear of the oil filler cap fine. but as mentioned above,you can keep the fixing plates in place,just removing the 4 bolts on the bar itself(5 Mins work). i just tightened it up with a standard socket set,to aprox what the strut tower bolts were tightened to before.
Hope this is helpfull
ps,it looks good,and improves handling/turn in(tightens the whole car/feels better to drive,in corners/bends especially)
 
craig3.0 said:
looks like some1 beat me to putting pics on,tho will try and get 1 of mine asap.
it does foul the pipe as mentnd above,and cover the oil filler on the 2.5(as i saw on another web page/forum),But Not on the 3.0i/it clears everything perfectly,and sits clear of the oil filler cap fine. but as mentioned above,you can keep the fixing plates in place,just removing the 4 bolts on the bar itself(5 Mins work). i just tightened it up with a standard socket set,to aprox what the strut tower bolts were tightened to before.
Hope this is helpfull
ps,it looks good,and improves handling/turn in(tightens the whole car/feels better to drive,in corners/bends especially)
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Those pictures are from a 3.0Si, so it DOES cover the oil cap.

You only have to take off the 4 on the brace itself (these are just tightened not torqued). The plates on top of the strut towers should be torqued down (25 ft/lbs). I don't notice any difference in day to day driving (I have a coupe and they are inherently stiffer), but when I took it up on the Dragon, she seemed to be on rails!
 
Yep well remembered :smart:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=183761#p183761

JackB1 said:
Zed_Steve said:
. . .
The only issue i have with it is that the cross section runs right over the oil filler cap so would need to be removed come an oil change. :scratchhead: I did do a test and fitted it the opposite way, this was before i found the fitting instructions that states the bend in the bar should face the front of the engine bay.
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I had the same problem when I took it off my leased 2006Z4M just before turning it in and put it on my 2005 Z4 3.0.

Nightmare - one of the posts came off the strut - my regular Dealer mechanic helped me out by replacing the post without charge (could have had a bad ending!)and found my brace in the trunk. He asked around and put it on backwards from what the instructions said. He said that after making some calls, opinion was that the physics was the same result both ways.

So he put the bar on backwards! No problems since!

JackB12005Z430640001.jpg


Excuse the dusty dirty engine compartment - started to clean it - I would rather drive than clean!
:oldman:
Best!
Jack
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Yes, this is post facelift--this is the 3.0Si N52 engine.

I tried fitting it with the bend facing rearward-it will NOT fit. Again, my car is a 2007 3.0Si Coupe. The plates on the strut tower itself will go, you just can't make the cross brace fit if you try to reverse it.
 
Smokin, you're right - I never even noticed it was a 2005 :slaphead:

So only way round for facelift cars is to take it off when filling the oil.
 
Yep, the M54 engine was fine-the oil filler cap was toward the front of the engine.

On the N52 engine, they moved the oil filler cap rearward so that it sits exactly under the brace. :roll:
 
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