BMW 850 strut tower bar?

[Brunz]

Does anyone know where to find a strut bar ??

[spillmk1]

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

Just got one.

[rcrad6653]

Too bad it's for an 850.... I have a StrongStrut for the 840...

[olinjohnston]

Do these really make a big difference on the e31?

[Koizumi]

Olin, to answer your question: hell yeah! Difference is immediate and quite pronounced. Try one out, you won't go back to not having one once you try. The StrongStrut is very well made and is of excellent aesthetic quality to boot--it looks as good as it works.

[rcrad6653]

Koiz is right Olin, and the difference for the early 850 people is even more dramatic. You both have the factory X-brace on your cars and those don't. I plan to add one to mine but in the meantime it's the next best thing, and as stated these are hands down the best looking piece of hardware you can put into the engine bay. The combination of the frame brace, uprated sway bars, and a tower bar will have your car cornering the flatest possible.

[mattsimis]

$475 for a shaped metal bar is a bit rich though isnt it?

[Noggie]

$475 for a shaped metal bar is a bit rich though isnt it?

You can get one from Thomas Engl in Germany for about 350usd.

I intend to

[rcrad6653]

I would bet that isn't a shipped price though Egil. By the time it get's here the price would be comparable the the SS, and although it would do the same thing it still wouldn't look as good in the engine bay. Plus AFAIK Engl's, although different in design, isn't constructed the same either. These are powdercoated stainless steel with hardened hardware. Shown is the silver version only available now by special order and whenever it makes business sense for them to do another run..... they're currently sold out and they may not do another one this year.

[Benzz]

What do they do?

[Auraraptor]

Limit the degree of lateral body flex in the chassis.

(FWIW, swaybars, springs, etc prevent vertical flex and thus work on a completely orthogonal axis...don't confuse the function of the two.)

Edit: Ok since, I posted just that more times now then I can remember...a version "for dummies" means that while swaybars, springs, etc limit body roll (ie flatten a turn), strut bars and the X brace limit chassis twisting (ie make the body more rigid).

If you want to mimic their effect on an extreme scale, take a cardboard box, and open the top and bottom. The box is our car, with the sides of the box, its right/left/front/back. Now you can make any given side of the box move relative to its opposite side. So much so, you can flatten the 3D box to 2D.

Now close the top and bottom of the box. It is much harder to "flatten" the box now.

That is what strut bars do. The E31 came with a basic brace on early cars (think partially closing the bottom of a box). BMW fixed this with later cars which had a proper X brace (completely closed the bottom of the box). The strut brace partially closes the top of the box.

(See it IS easier and quicker to just explain it the way I did at first)

[Noggie]

I would bet that isn't a shipped price though Egil. By the time it get's here the price would be comparable the the SS, and although it would do the same thing it still wouldn't look as good in the engine bay.

Mattsimis is in Ireland (by the looks of it) so it he would need to have it shipped regardless.
355 pluss german shipping or 475 pluss US shipping......

Not sure the 475 one might look better, think they look quite similar actually.

[rcrad6653]

Point taken Egil....you're right....

[argonaut]

I did have a StrongStrut brace on my car but it had to come off when I swapped the bonnet for an Alpina look-a-like style with NACA duct - the NACA duct fouls against the strut. The SS bar is a good product, well made and good materials.
I will be getting Thomas Engl to make up an Alpina style bar to fit my car once my bank account recovers a little from the hammering it's taken this year of 8er stuff.

[Brunz]

thanks for the good responce guys. I think im gonna go with it.

[AnimatedZombie]

Does that strut bar touch the intake manifold?

[8eights]

Very close but no touchy.

[AnimatedZombie]

Is there a rear strut bar?

[8eights]

I made mines, Not sure if someone else makes them.

[AnimatedZombie]

Is there any significant improvement?

[8eights]

don't no, I don't use it.

[AnimatedZombie]

[Auraraptor]

A rear strut bar would have absolutely NO affect based on the inboard rear spring design. The strut towers are NOT weight bearing as they are in the front. (unless your running dinky rear springs of course....)

The only thing it will do is take up trunk space.

[8eights]

Wrong! What about my wet towels and shirts?-)

[Auraraptor]

Too bad it's for an 850.... I have a StrongStrut for the 840...

Are they different between 850s and 840s? Or is it a year thing?

I need to know if I need to sell my SS and buy an 850 version for my 'eventual late 850 switch'.