D.I.Y "FRONT" Strong Strut Install

[Miss BimmerLV]

Hi there,

Interested in increasing your handling just a touch..or wanna complete your suspension setup....

Today I show ya how by installing a Strut Bar to your ride.

So lets get started..


* First you will need a couple of things:

A Strong Strut Bar, Torque Wrench, A 13mm Socket, and a 5/16 Hex socket

http://i52.tinypic.com/r7sjnb.jpg

* First pop your hood...( now is a PERFECT time to freshen up your engine ) and locate your Left/Right Strut Towers.

http://i52.tinypic.com/mhq7fd.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/1iioer.jpg

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* Next...Remove the THREE 13mm Nutz and place on the strut bar support brace. ( Note...PASSENGER side support has NO LOGO )

http://i52.tinypic.com/2lsaemr.jpg

* Next, Do the drivers side....Make sure the "Strong Strut" Logo is there.

http://i51.tinypic.com/24fg17b.jpg

* Make sure to leave ALL the 13mm Nutz LOOSE...as you will need the extra play to get the bar situated. Place bar with "Notched" side UP.

http://i54.tinypic.com/5lqkag.jpg

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* Now, Pop in the supplied washers FIRST....then the Giant cap screws. REMEMBER....LEAVE THEM LOOSE as you need the extra play.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2ecgis4.jpg

* Now fiddle around and tighten screws ACCORDINGLY ( Hex Cap Screws= 25-28 ft lbs..13mm Nuts = 18 ft lbs ) until you get a NICE FLUSH/LEVEL fitment.

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http://i54.tinypic.com/fuxqxc.jpg

* Next, check & DOUBLE check to make sure you didnt leave any tools around and thats it...Hunni you are...

DONE!!!!!

* Finished Product

http://i52.tinypic.com/3321lx3.jpg


VERY easy install & I hope someone can benefit from this Article.

As always.....

Your Tech Gal,

Miss BimmerLV


XOXO

[rockie118]

Nice write-up once again! I think this completes the engine compartment! =)

I like it!

[meteck]

Nice job and I like what you did to the acoustic cover. :buttrock

[SEVEN40iL]

Very nice!

Was there any wait time for the Strong Strut or was it in stock ready to order? Also how much if you don't mind?

[Miss BimmerLV]

Very nice!

Was there any wait time for the Strong Strut or was it in stock ready to order? Also how much if you don't mind?


"Normally"...Wait Time is 3 Weeks, because every order in Cooked on the grill right then and there....But I guess he has a few Already made. Paul & the Strong Strut Team are located in Scottsdale,AZ. So No wait time for me...( I'm in Las Vegas..next door ) I ordered Sunday Nite, I received it Tue Morn by UPS. Paul is a Veeeeeeeeeeeery nice guy. I HIGHLY recommend him & his team to anyone. We even joked about doing a pink strut for girls :)

The Price for the Unit with Hex Cap Screws/Washers & Mounts & Bar is :

$475 + $20 Shipping ( UPS ) = $495


I haven't even driven the car yet since I put the darn thing on....We have a car meet tonight....so I will see whats up whilst I am out & about :)

[kooljess]

Nice one yet again Maddy!!! Have a great meet. Take pictures ya all...;)

[Huggy621]

very nice job .......you must be a guys dream ( I can watch the game and you work on the bimmer ) I enjoy your write ups !!!!!! :)

[neep8]

Looks great, good job.

[Miss BimmerLV]

very nice job .......you must be a guys dream ( I can watch the game and you work on the bimmer ) I enjoy your write ups !!!!!! :)


hahahaha...Yea I'll work on it alright ;)



Thank You everyone!!!!!


XOXO

[franco90]

MANDY good to go
never can out do yourself...

[smackin]

V-Barbie! Keep 'em comin'! Your DIY's are very concise and informative. Good job :)

[tekazgtr1984]

She's officially the E38 Tech-girl on BFC. Well done! :D

[Splitdog]

Can't wait for your findings. I already know what they will be. :cool

[franco90]

Can't wait for your findings. I already know what they will be. :cool

ok

[Splitdog]

ok

"Only those who know.......know." ;)

[Edwin NL]

Nice! your going to love the ride now!

[cazal740i]

wElcome to the club
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/2450/4221/31124610122_medium.jpg

[Jaaap]

When i read the title i thought that you had DIY'ed the strut also ;)

[Miss BimmerLV]

When i read the title i thought that you had DIY'ed the strut also ;)

Hahaha...I'm good..but i'm not THAT good ;)

XOXO!!!!

[shanecarmaster1]

Awesome install! Please let us know how the difference is next time you take a ride. :)

[E39 Prototype]

HAHA, $500 GTFO... Not in this lifetime.

[jbimflyer]

Too easy for a write-up actually. Good job nonetheless, and welcome aboard.

[Miss BimmerLV]

HAHA, $500 GTFO... Not in this lifetime.

As always suga britches with ANYTHING....."To Each Their Own"


Remember that.

[NoMas]

I should invest in one of these in about a year.. I just did the struts a few weeks back.

[Splitdog]

And what were your findings??

[Miss BimmerLV]

I found that even though.....I dont have any type of "Sport" shock/strut upgrades....So the car would seem to have 100% body roll. Since I have installed the front strong strut to the strut towers....I would say body roll has DECREASED to say maybe around 80%. I STRONGLY believe that if you added a REAR sway bar ( OEM European part )...and some "Sport" orientated shocks....You could quite effectively DECREASE the body roll of the vehicle down to 40-50% . And the only reason i stop at 40-50% is because it is such a HEAVY vehicle in the first place. a 20-25 Gal Tank....Sub woofers...A FULL size spare...M62 Engine. Get where i'm coming from???? ( Hard to control a 2-1/2 Ton German tank )


But goin back to the strut....I noticed that the "feel" of the wheel is no longer easy or nimble. There is in fact a "RESISTANCE" present. And this is only due to the fact, for which I PERSONALLY believe, You are more "In Tune" with the road so to say. You can "feel" the road....A LOT better than you could without one.

For example....I am no stranger to taking a soft-medium highway curve going 110+ MPH....Without a strut, going 120 MPH....you REALLY need to know your car.....What the road is telling you....and how much throttle you are giving. WITHOUT its pretty much a craps shoot and you are depending more so on the TIRES than anything.....But with the strut in place...I feel exactly how the road is in REAL time...in turn tellin me what I need to do with the car & speed. Like I said...I DONT have any sport shocks or suspension setups....But I feel there is a DRAMATIC improvement with the handling of the vehicle. Its gunna take a little getting use to with the now present feeling of "RESISTANCE" from the steering wheel .....But WELL worth it.


MY final verdict.....If you have $495 to spend on the Strong Strut...abso FREAKIN lutely!!!!!!! GET ONE!!!!

Even toolin around in the city.....The steering does EXACTLY what you tell it to do. The car goes where YOU need it to go.


There are a LOT of nay sayers out there that wont spend the cash, but are VERY quick to say it wont work..I KNOW Allyssa...I KNOW how she is built...I KNOW how she runs....I KNOW how she feels. I KNOW my car.......And I DEFINTELY know, she has IMPROVED in her performance...and thats bottom line of ANY modification or enhancement. To "improve"



........And the Strong Strut has undoubtedly DELIVERED on that.



You bought a $92K precision instrument.....So why not keep it sharp & calibrated ???


Something to think about!!!!!

XOXO

[BIGGLEE]

Awesome Miss Bimmer!!! I cant wait to install a Strong Strut in my 01 Sport myself!!

[DukeEllington]

nice mod, you should paint your engine pink and leave that black:evil2=$300

[Splitdog]

The Strong Strut and Bilstein Sport struts compliment each other. One or the other is nice, but both together is a 125% difference. You'll see......

[hodja]

Nice work again, Maddy, if only I had five hundo layin' around!

[lurcher]

The Strong Strut and Bilstein Sport struts compliment each other. One or the other is nice, but both together is a 125% difference. You'll see......


Add a set of sport springs while you are at it - and it's all good...

[rdw3]

You bought a $92K precision instrument.....So why not keep it sharp & calibrated ???

As a scientist I would say that comment is priceless!!!!!!!

[740iSport303]

Great write up! Just remember, before you loosen the strut towers make 100% sure your on level ground. You don't want it tweaked one way or another when you lock it into place with the Strong Strut! I highly recommend this mod!!

Great job again.

[BMWinMB]

Nice one yet again Maddy!!! Have a great meet. Take pictures ya all...;)

What did you do to lower your car, H&R, etc.?

[mattwa]

As a scientist I would say that comment is priceless!!!!!!!

+1

[M I C H A E L]

DO they make one of these for the pre facelift e38? i deffo want one!!!

[mattwa]

Says all E38

http://www.strong-strut.com/seven_series.html

[M I C H A E L]

thats awesome i think im gonna go for it :D

[Kiyoskia]

She's officially the E38 Tech-girl on BFC. Well done! :D:devillook


HAHA, $500 GTFO... Not in this lifetime.YOU GTFO. Quit dicking around in the E38 forum. Save the childishness for the E30 forum.


As always suga britches with ANYTHING....."To Each Their Own"


Remember that.I just spent $400 on curtains that do nothing but allow my passengers to roll blunts in the back seat with their interior map lights on, without me having to worry about the person in the car next to me finding out...and I'd do it again if I had to.


I should invest in one of these in about a year.. I just did the struts a few weeks back.I'll probably get one when I switch out the coilovers...whenever that is.

[shled]

Just saw (another board) that these now come with stainless steel bolt thread inserts in the tower plates. Owners who remove the bar a lot were finding that over time the threads were wearing down.

[bimmerthief]

What's this one compared to the bavauto one? For $200 less I'm just curious

[mattwa]

The Bavauto one is made of welded tubing. Nowhere near as strong - probably not much stronger than your front subframe. It would reduce flex, but it not as much as this one.

[M I C H A E L]

Im gonna get the one through the guys from scottsdale, i guess you could say im thuper duper excited!! :D

[bimmerthief]

I guess I could have looked harder on the descriprion lol

[Joe F]

About five years ago this board did a group buy on those. I had one on my 2000 E38 Sport and could tell the difference immediately. I thought it was definitely worth the money.

The turn-in is distinctly crisper. Turn the wheel and the car changes direction, ....RIGHT NOW!

Nice write-up.:alright

Cheers,
JF

[mgalvin1]

I'm definitely going to get one of those ! And the H+R ' 2 springs with blistiens shocks ! . One thing I'd like to replace is all the front end and rear end link's and control arms but I'm having a problem souring them for a 728i ?

413079

[JaxMustang50]

I STRONGLY believe that if you added a REAR sway bar ( OEM European part )...and some "Sport" orientated shocks....You could quite effectively DECREASE the body roll of the vehicle down to 40-50% .


I have yet to get a strong strut but I did install the 13mm rear sway bar.
I highly recommend it. It makes a noticeable difference in how the car feels overall. Especially when combined with some larger rear tires (I have 285s). It helps take advantage of the extra traction provided by the wider and stickier tires that I run out back. Overall the balance of the car feels a tad more towards understeer than before. For me that equals confidence during a spirited drive on a public road.

I can't wait to feel it with a strong strut and some bilstiens in the future. Though I do enjoy the EDC struts, they're just stupid expensive.

[Miss BimmerLV]

Some one Asked Me on How To install a Strong For The E38.....So Hier....I Made This DIY a LOOOOOOOONG Time ago!!!! Resurrect für THAT purpose!!!

<3

[shanecarmaster1]

I have yet to get a strong strut but I did install the 13mm rear sway bar.
I highly recommend it. It makes a noticeable difference in how the car feels overall. Especially when combined with some larger rear tires (I have 285s). It helps take advantage of the extra traction provided by the wider and stickier tires that I run out back. Overall the balance of the car feels a tad more towards understeer than before. For me that equals confidence during a spirited drive on a public road.

I can't wait to feel it with a strong strut and some bilstiens in the future. Though I do enjoy the EDC struts, they're just stupid expensive.

I was thinking about the rear bar retrofit. Did you DIY? I'm trying to gauge how outrageously custom and expensive the job is. I'm looking for the car to just feel more balanced and eager because I find that it can sometimes feel out of sync with itself.

[007008]

I was thinking about the rear bar retrofit. Did you DIY? I'm trying to gauge how outrageously custom and expensive the job is. I'm looking for the car to just feel more balanced and eager because I find that it can sometimes feel out of sync with itself.
Well, you either need to replace the whole rear subframe with one that already has the mounts or make your own mounts and weld them on or get a retrofit rear bar set from UUC.
I can't say what the UUC brackets look like yet, since they haven't shipped yet, but I'm sure they are weld on.

[shanecarmaster1]

Well, you either need to replace the whole rear subframe with one that already has the mounts or make your own mounts and weld them on or get a retrofit rear bar set from UUC.
I can't say what the UUC brackets look like yet, since they haven't shipped yet, but I'm sure they are weld on.

The retrofit looks amazing from UUC, especially that 500-and some percent stiffness increase without changing the ride quality. I just get nervous changing such things on my car, especially from past experiences :)

[TxDarth]

That is the beauty of a roll bar as opposed to stiffer springs or increased damping in the shocks - it reacts to body roll. It works to transfer weight from the wheel trying to lift to the wheel on the ground and vice versa as opposed to just restricting the travel of one wheel when it sees a bump or dip, etc.

It really does not give you a stiffer ride just less body roll or body shift............

[shanecarmaster1]

That is the beauty of a roll bar as opposed to stiffer springs or increased damping in the shocks - it reacts to body roll. It works to transfer weight from the wheel trying to lift to the wheel on the ground and vice versa as opposed to just restricting the travel of one wheel when it sees a bump or dip, etc.

It really does not give you a stiffer ride just less body roll or body shift............

That's exactly what the e38 needs. I've reached a personal consensus that people modify the e38's suspension wrong - they focus on making it almost unbearably uncomfortable on anything less than silk roads by stiffening the springs and shocks, when they're not the issue. I find the e38's ride quality to be perfect stock. It needs better body control and much less body lean, which is accomplished through UUC's something like an overall increase of 700 or 800 percent front and rear combined. That's amazing, and that's what it needs. If anything, you want wheel articulation.

As a side note, when I had my e38 on stock sport springs and Bilsteins, it felt mostly like a school bus (my best simile). Unbearably stiff over cracks and bumps and dips, but still no body control and no regard whatsoever to handling. The dampers were way too stiff and the chassis was way too loose. I went to UUC springs (a very reasonable progressive rate that's close to stock) and stock dampers. I got my ride quality back, got rid of the reverse rake, kept the low stance (went even lower actually), gained so much handling back, and I installed a front strut brace to increase response and rigidity. I ditched the overkill summer tires for some less intense grand tourings that still grip amazingly, ditched the insanely high PSI inflation recommendation from BMWUSA for the "everywhere else" inflation, and now I'm in heaven. It rides so so so smoothly, handles nicely, has great control, and is so satisfying on every level. There's a bit more body lean than I'd prefer, but that's going to be remedied further than the already stiffer front factory M Sport bar with an accompanying UUC rear retrofit. Every piece of the puzzle helped, however. People sure like overkill when it's not even the solution!

[BATTLERATTLER]

Good write up, thanks. How significant is the difference in handling??

[JaxMustang50]

Yes, I did it myself. I got the mounts from TxDarth. Not sure if he is still making them but glad I got mine - they work perfectly.
It was actually pretty straight forward. Because one of the arms comes with the mount you can easily figure out where the other one needs to be on the other arm. Then assemble the links and bar and use that to figure out where to place the frame mounts, tack them in, take it all apart and weld them out. I posted a step by step detail on my flickr years ago.
edit: link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21307386@N05/sets/72157625935343496/
If you click on the pictures and go through them one by one, I wrote up some details in the description of each photo.

[740iSport303]

Yes, I did it myself. I got the mounts from TxDarth. Not sure if he is still making them but glad I got mine - they work perfectly.
It was actually pretty straight forward. Because one of the arms comes with the mount you can easily figure out where the other one needs to be on the other arm. Then assemble the links and bar and use that to figure out where to place the frame mounts, tack them in, take it all apart and weld them out. I posted a step by step detail on my flickr years ago.
edit: link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21307386@N05/sets/72157625935343496/
If you click on the pictures and go through them one by one, I wrote up some details in the description of each photo.

Great write up that will sure help with my install too. So when you going to bring your welder to my house and do this for me? ;) :D

[shanecarmaster1]

Good write up, thanks. How significant is the difference in handling??

Me? If you mean me, the handling is more controlled the stock Sport, probably because the car sits lower and the center of gravity is lower. Dive, squat, and roll is improved, but nowhere near 3 series territory. I will say that it sure does grip confidently, though - I can just chuck it in at any reasonable speed and it clings. I noticed a huge difference when I got rid of the summer tires too. It was really picky with psi with those tires because at 32 psi, the back (and some of the front) really felt underdamped and felt out of control, while at 35 psi, the bouncing was more subtle. The ride was stiff, especially in the cold, and they only lasted like 10k miles in the rear, so I decided on some high quality grand touring tires and couldn't be more happy. The ride is much more quiet, it's worlds more comfortable and refined, and it still grips like there's no tomorrow. In reality, grip levels are probably not nearly the same, but we need to remember that we're not on Leguna Seca driving on the edge. My hulligan driving style is more than satisfied with them and the weird lack of damping feeling subsided completely with the less aggressive tires. Unfortunately, the e38 was designed over 20 years ago (if not approaching 30 years), so every component really contributes to its refinement. It contrasts to new cars in that I can throw any old junk tires on a new 5 series and it drives basically the same as if it had the most expensive Michelins.

[tomloans]

Some one Asked Me on How To install a Strong For The E38.....So Hier....I Made This DIY a LOOOOOOOONG Time ago!!!! Resurrect für THAT purpose!!!

<3

Do u have a link

[007008]

Do u have a link
Link for what? The strong strut install? You're in it, go to first post.

[tomloans]

Link for what? The strong strut install? You're in it, go to first post.


Oh I misunderstood. Looking for a DIY strut and mount directions...

Thank you...

T

[Rhein Amacher]

Maddy, I just read your DIY on replacing the widescreen navigation screen. Somehow I screwed it up and can't finish it. Would be more than grateful to see if I could mail it to you and of course pay for your services to replace the screen. My hands are too big and having trouble with the ribbons.

- - - Updated - - -

PM' me if you are interested. If not no hard feelings.

[Miss BimmerLV]

Hey You.. PM'd ...