Strutbrace Fitted

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Anonymous

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Hi,

Well finally, after 2 months got my strutbrace tonight, will post a pic soon. It's bloody tight, just rubbing slightly on the underside of the bonnet, but I figure ok :) Had a quick trip, felt a little sharper in the bends and roundabouts :) Guy's at strutbrace.co.uk, were so slow and unhelpful, no real customer service, but well it's in my car and touch wood, won't come out of my bonnet when im zooming around :P

Steve
 
Rubbing on the bonnet - you kidding ?

I think you've got to adjust, refit or modify something. First decent pothole will damage, break or bend something
 
It's mildly pressed against it, although there is play in the bonnet, you can push it down a little, i've got some duct tape over the strut brace to protect it, in case there is an issue and i can send it back. It says it fits all Z4's on the site, and well it's snug. My mate has fitted one to a z3 and has a nobel he does lots of work on and seems to think it will be fine.

There is about 1cm distance from the engine to it's bottom which, which seems tight but enough if that makes sense.

Guess I need to monitor it for a few days, go on a run and see how it goes mate. Anyone else have similar experience?
 
my bmw strut brace on my ///M touches nothink?? and if it did id take it off immediatly and use it as a garden tool!! i personally would not accept anythink other than perfect fitment, send it back and get the bmw one.
 
You got a link or a photo? I think mine be ok, as my mates gf has a similar situation with hers on z3 and she has had it on for 3-4 years with no issues.

Might take it to BMW dealership at weekend at get them to verify it is ok, that might be the best thing to do as well I guess.
 
no way I would keep it on if it touches the bonnet, just plain wrong and bound to put a dent in it at some point.
 
I'm afraid I'm with Beedub. It either fits or gets trashed and refunded. Mates who reckon things should be OK, don't usually foot the bill for a new bonnet that iirc is around £900

On a more constructive note my '03 has an Alutec triangulated brace and it's not even close to touching anything anywhere.

DSC02484.jpg
 
Any links for UK sites that sell and dont take 2.5 months to receive it then? Will talk to strutbrace.co.uk tomorrow.
 
the bmw give very good clearance all round, no-where near engine components, also no rubbing on underbonnet parts.

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ignore the trickle charge wires and blue car cover in these photos, some pics taken during weekday storage.
 
cj10jeeper said:
I'm afraid I'm with Beedub. It either fits or gets trashed and refunded. Mates who reckon things should be OK, don't usually foot the bill for a new bonnet that iirc is around £900

On a more constructive note my '03 has an Alutec triangulated brace and it's not even close to touching anything anywhere.
Click to expand...


same strut brace as mine and it touched a little the first time i fitted it.

the part that seemed to touch was the mounting foot next to the front bolt and it only slightly touched the framing of the bonnet. a quick mod sorted it out though.

IMO a much better looking strut than the OEM one
 
I know people with S2K's who have ruined their top suspension mounts fitting incorrect strut braces.

Looing at the pics the only thing which puts me off fitting one is that it blocks the oil filler cap - and the only solution to that seems to be getting an M :o
 
aquazi said:
Looing at the pics the only thing which puts me off fitting one is that it blocks the oil filler cap - and the only solution to that seems to be getting an M :o
Click to expand...

Or a pre-facelift... fancy swapping? :P
 
Just won a BMW one on ebay, looking forward to it arriving, hopefully it won't take 2 months and WILL fit.
 
Rudd_2002 said:
cj10jeeper said:
I'm afraid I'm with Beedub. It either fits or gets trashed and refunded. Mates who reckon things should be OK, don't usually foot the bill for a new bonnet that iirc is around £900

On a more constructive note my '03 has an Alutec triangulated brace and it's not even close to touching anything anywhere.
Click to expand...


same strut brace as mine and it touched a little the first time i fitted it.

the part that seemed to touch was the mounting foot next to the front bolt and it only slightly touched the framing of the bonnet. a quick mod sorted it out though.

IMO a much better looking strut than the OEM one
Click to expand...

performance over looks anyday imo, i want a brace thats not hindged, so its a solid fixed brace, i want one that fits PERFECTLY, Bmw one offers all that and even more is an official part. job done!!
 
I wouldn't disagree about getting the job done, but I picked mine up fro about $100 Can shipped to the UK

In defence of the design I would say that it's no more of a 'hinge' once correctly torqued than the 2 bolts on the OEM at each end are a sliding mechanism...
The greatest flex will probably come from the long curve in the bar.

In practice all are a great improvement over nothing, assuming the driver can even feel it.
 
cj10jeeper said:
In practice all are a great improvement over nothing, assuming the driver can even feel it.
Click to expand...

And that was my next question, can you really tell the difference or does it just look nice when you lift the bonnet? Is it really worth the £££??
 
I got mine fairly cheap also.

i didnt want to disagree about the hinge effect because i didnt know the construction of the OEM one. from CJ's description it is probably no different.

Shunt, i originally fitted mine when i had runcraps on. when i fitted my falkens i took the brace off and drove round some twisty bends, put it back on and did the same route.
you can feel a difference if you give it some but for normal driving the feeling is minimal.

worth it if you spend time driving the country roads. having said that i wouldnt pay full price for and OEM one :P
 
Rudd_2002 said:
I got mine fairly cheap also.

i didnt want to disagree about the hinge effect because i didnt know the construction of the OEM one. from CJ's description it is probably no different.

Shunt, i originally fitted mine when i had runcraps on. when i fitted my falkens i took the brace off and drove round some twisty bends, put it back on and did the same route.
you can feel a difference if you give it some but for normal driving the feeling is minimal.

worth it if you spend time driving the country roads. having said that i wouldnt pay full price for and OEM one :P
Click to expand...

Yes but would pay what you did... so cheap that I still remember the price. :wink:
 
:P :P

has anyone seen the price of the ACS one on ebay! :o and its a minger

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-AC-Schnitzer-front-strut-brace-BMW-E46-Z4-/290422980141?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item439e8efe2d
 
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