bmw performance strut brace

[jksgoh]

hey guys,
just installed the bmw performance strut brace, bought it off ansellpa.
i know its not the best bang for your buck, but i'll admit that i like the bling it adds to the engine bay.
here are some pics.

['fatboy']

Has it made any noticeable difference to the handling? looks nice

[jksgoh]

i cant say i drive the car as hard as some of you guys, nor do i have much experience... so you may want to take my experience with a grain of salt!
After installing it i took it for a spirited drive around some large round-abouts and it seems to have dialed down the understeer and body roll quite noticeably.

[Jub]

sleek

[Richard135i]

May I ask what that thing is priced at???

[ansellpa]

That was fast!
It looks the part

[Endre]

Looks good!
but:
Some engineers in bmwcc - Norway did alot of reserch on this topic some years ago on an E30. The conclusion was that the performance bit was mostly in the drivers head, since the flex in the struts were only 0.5mm at the worst without it...

[jksgoh]

richard: i think they are about 2k new from bmw aus, but they are not available for the 135is.
Endre: you may be totally right! lol... i'm no engineer and i struggle to understand the exact effects it has on how the car handles... but either way i enjoy the car more now

[takahashi]

I hate it when a good product not available in the top end car

[jksgoh]

^ wanna swap???

[Alow]

looks great! If it wasn't so expensive it would be on my list. I might just settle for the non-cf one.

Question for you: do you have the stock suspension or something else?

[jksgoh]

i got the m sport pack with my car, which comes with the sport suspension.

[Evice]

Are you sure it comes with Msport pack? I recently got 128 with mpack and I do not think I saw this piece in mine..

[Alow]

Originally Posted by Evice

Are you sure it comes with Msport pack? I recently got 128 with mpack and I do not think I saw this piece in mine..

The strut brace does not come with the msport pack. I think what he meant is the sport suspension is included in the msport pkg.

So you have the same suspension I have. Wonder if I would feel it at all with my butt dyno

[Garduna]

Looks nice. I'm probably gonna go after the JIC CF strut bar instead tho. It's cheaper XD

[andrew@southernBM]

That looks nice installed,

I have one sitting here all lonely waiting waiting waiting for its 130i owner.

[Richard135i]

Originally Posted by jksgoh

richard: i think they are about 2k new from bmw aus, but they are not available for the 135is.
Endre: you may be totally right! lol... i'm no engineer and i struggle to understand the exact effects it has on how the car handles... but either way i enjoy the car more now

Thanks JKS for the heads up, I think I would have slapped the dealer if they quoted me that then charged me for it to find out later it didn't fit. When I purchased my car the dealer informed me all the performance parts are made for the 1-Series, but I have quickly learnt dealers have no idea of their own products.

[MikeVictor]

They are about AU$2k, I was told by BBMW this morning when I was in picking up my mobility kit.

Not to hijack, but apparently the Power Kit (not the exhaust) will be available later this year. Will be expensive for small gains performance wise, but might dovetail nicely into say, a JB3...

[takahashi]

Originally Posted by jksgoh

^ wanna swap???

eeehhhhhhh.... no

[Dan135i]

First off strut braces do absolutely nothing for a daily driven, or even a spirited driven car. You will not notice the gain. These parts are to counter the deflection of the strut tower connection points at hard cornering situations( what you think can be improved with these in daily commute cornering can be explained away by soft suspension). On a hard turn in at a road course, or track, the strut tower on the inside corner will deflect in so much as to take away a good bit of handling control and can cause under-steer, no bene. The brace stiffens up the top end of the strut towers keeping them from flexing in toward he center of the car and keeping more rubber in contact with the road. These are also useful if you take away structural rigidity of the front box of the frame by say, removing front crash beam for intercooler placement or other such modifications to the overall strength of the chassis.

As in such, most drivers will not take advantage of this part of heavy driving.

Useless unless the car is to be driven as the part warrants. And that being said, the poster bought this piece to liven up the under hood, yet his bay is filthy? Time to quit spending money (you can give it to me if your giving it away) and start shining up that bay with elbow grease.

[jksgoh]

Originally Posted by Dan135i

Useless unless the car is to be driven as the part warrants. And that being said, the poster bought this piece to liven up the under hood, yet his bay is filthy? Time to quit spending money (you can give it to me if your giving it away) and start shining up that bay with elbow grease.

Get a life mate, its an old dead thread and its not your money or your car.

[BMWRX]

Holy crud, I just realise how old this thread was until the recent spray from our "friend" from afar. I wonder if he read the thread, as he wants the OP to give him the strut brace, yet it's mentioned that it won't fit the 135i.