Silly question regarding camber plates and strut tower reinforcement plates

[RandomHero27]

So on my 98 328is daily drifter project, i currently have Tein coilovers installed. no reinforcement plates yet, but i need to get camber plates as well.

Do the camber plates act as reinforcement too? or should i get both?

[MINIz guy]

Some camber plates may have more surface area to distribute load out, but it is best to still get both. The plates give you more thickness and are very sturdy so your strut towers will definitely not mushroom.

[RandomHero27]

Some camber plates may have more surface area to distribute load out, but it is best to still get both. The plates give you more thickness and are very sturdy so your strut towers will definitely not mushroom.

makes sense. better to have too much than too little.

[woody328is]

The plates are a good idea, as they go under the strut tower for support. The camber plates are on top to adjust the alignment. A strut brace will add more rigidity to the body as well. BTW There are no silly questions that you need an answer to.

[spyderg0d]

Can someone tell me the relationship of this to verts? I know the vert recieved more bracing and a "built in" brace, but what about mushrooming and whatnot? I can find any threads relating camber plates and reinforcing towers to convertibles. And i find this topic a need to know for my dd/x'er.

[RightYouAreKen]

The verts came with the x-brace subframe brace I believe but it's not what they're talking about in this thread.. The x-brace can be easily retrofitted to non-verts but is not attached to the suspension in any way really. http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-4113-e36-x-brace-reinforcement.aspx

The strut tower reinforcement plates came on later model E36 M3s (96+? My 98 has them) and just bolt between the upper strut mount and the underside of the strut tower. These can also be easily installed in any E36. http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-191-e36-z3-strut-tower-reinforcement-plates-pair.aspx

Here is a picture (not mine) of a "mushroomed" strut tower. See how each of the studs from the strut mount is pointing in different directions? They should all be parallel. The strut tower and strut mount metal gets deformed over time from the force transmitted to the body by the front suspension.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a260/hellboy660/righttower2_zpsb5cb436d.jpg

The reinforcement plates help prevent that. You can easily tell if your car has them installed by looking in the hole in the strut tower to see if you see the reinforcement plate's "flange" as well. It will look like another ring of metal inside the strut tower hole. See the "ring within the ring" in this picture?
http://i.imgur.com/owKAVgS.jpg

[spyderg0d]

So. Camber plate to change camber, reinforcment plates are anti mushroom, and strut bracebfor rigidity. Got it. And ya all verts came with a x brace. Unfortunatly im running without one atm as it was bent up to the oil pan when i baught the car. Even wore grooves off of the pan as the engine vibrated. Guess previous owner bottomed out a few times. Good thing it wad there then!