I am going to have my suspension put on my car in a week or so-Bilstein PSS9 coilover, UUC Strut Barbarian, E46 M3 RSMs w/Z3 reinforcement plates, and new control arms. Already have an X-Brace. Keeping the sport package sway bars for now.
I see that rear strut braces are not that expensive, is it worth adding to my install? Is there a difference with it? From what I've heard, adding one dials in a little more oversteer.
From a structural reinforcement point of view, does it stiffen the chassis any more? If so, I wouldn't mind tightening up the chassis from sqeaks and rattle-so at least that would be worth $140.
Or is this just cosmetic jewelry, because I don't care about bling bling.
What would Crockett and Tubbs do?
1994 E36 Hellrot/Black 325is
2007 E92 Jet Black/Saddle Brown 335i
Not that I could tell.From a structural reinforcement point of view, does it stiffen the chassis any more?
I unscrewed one side the other day, marked its position with a marker, and drove around, hard. Didn't show any movement.
I got a deal on mine, and for the money, I thought 'what the heck, couldn't hurt'.
Some folks I know that build E36 race cars for a living to compete in SCCA ITS tell me that the rear towers are not heavy load points and that a rear brace won't do much.
In the slow lane
Jed, which brand of rear strut bar are you considering? Non-hinged? Hinged?
I been told the same thing as frayed, that they don't do much. I am most concerned with protecting my rear shock towers from cracking with the use of stiff springs and aftermarket shocks. For this I'm going with Z3 reinforcement plates, they don't take up any trunk space and keep the car looking stealth (Go fast. Look Stock, couldn't say it any better!)
1995 Cosmos M3
Wanted (New or Used):
3.2L Euro Supersprint Headers / Kromerkraft headers
For Sale:
Many E36 M3 Items for Sale
There is no spring load on the shock towers, coupled with the suspension loads are transferred to the subframe through the upper and lower control arms, which is why I doubt there would be any noticable effect when adding a rear strut bar. A rollbar would have a greater stiffening effect.
My .02
///badmonkey
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