Does the E34 really need a strutbar?

[bimmerman]

I corner the car quite hard sometimes but never feel that the strut tower is flexing and compromises the cars handling in any way. The car just seems so rigidly constructed I feel a strutbar for the E34 is totally unnecessary.Anybody got a strutbar in their E34 and feels it makes a difference? Does it? What do you guys think?

 

[bimmerman]

Help me out lah guys. Any opinions? I was offered a strutbar for $250 and was wondering if I really need one or is it just underhood costume jewellry?

:huh:

 

[OSFlanker]

My personal opnion is that the E34 does flex under hard cornerning. At the bottom corners of my windscreen are 2 cracks and the only logical explanation of the cracks is the body flexing.

 

[bimmerman]

Whalao-eh! You drive your car so hard ah?

So might a strut bar help minimise the flexing? I thought it would only tie up your strut towers to minimise camber changes due to the struts moving in and out when the towers flex.

 

[OSFlanker]

Daily driving I don't push the car too much. But I did enter autokhana once. It was a tight circuit and the E34 took quite a few very tight turns.......

 

[OSFlanker]

Besides any performance enhancement, the strut bar does add a lot of cosmetic value !!!! It sheds the E34 off the "old man's car" image when you pop open the hood........

 

[bimmerman]

Thanks for the pic Flank! Venny nice indeed!! But RM250 wor How much you paid for yours?

Would you say it helped sharpen up your handling? You don't really describe it as a must have item you know. What say you?

 

[fabianyee]

Flanker's strut brace is ori Racing Dynamic..

Which one were you offered?

whether it's a must have or not you'll not know until you put it on and tried it.... However, u'll still not appreciate it until one day u took it off. Only then you'll know what you've missed all the years...

 

[OSFlanker]

yeah man, mine is ori RD.....try 4 times the price you are being offered!

Nothing is a must have item....since the car already has an engine, gearbox, outer shell & 4 wheels, rite? So it's really a personal choice, like whether you want leather seats or fabric.....

 

[bimmerman]

Originally posted by fabianyee@Jan 7 2005, 12:13 PM
Flanker's strut brace is ori Racing Dynamic..

Which one were you offered?

whether it's a must have or not you'll not know until you put it on and tried it.... However, u'll still not appreciate it until one day u took it off. Only then you'll know what you've missed all the years...

RM250 definately not a branded piece I think. The seller was quite vague about the brand and only gave me a price over SMS but i'll press him for more info today.

I helped fit a brace in a friend's Kancil once and it was a huge night and day imporvement. Fitted a brace in a Sentra B14 and understeer miraculously disappeared. Then I fitted a brace in a Nissan Altima and it did not make a big difference and now i'm wondering if it will altually sharpen things up in a E34.

Have you braced your ride?

 

[flash]

Originally posted by bimmerman+Jan 7 2005, 08:57 AM-->QUOTE (bimmerman @ Jan 7 2005, 08:57 AM)

 

[Alvin]

How it effects its really depend on how you drive. If just for normal driving then its not a must have. As for me Rm250 is cheap lar bro even if locally made. Just need to check how well the bar is made like the welding point & stuffs like that.
Of course you can go another step further with installing after market sway bars if performance handling is what you really want.

 

[bimmerman]

Thanks Al, I asked the seller what brand it was and he asked me back "What brand do you want it to be?" Seems it's got no brand and he has a closet full of stickers! :blink:

My car is a little darty at the moment. Follows the road camber and all but that's because my rim offset is 9mm way out! Doubt the strutbar will fix that problem. I do enjoy hard cornering once in a while as the road leading back to my house is quite spirally. Never had a problem with the cars handling so far. Never understeers but instead is quite tail happy.

Hmmm..... strutbar.....

 

[bazet]

Beware if you're installing 2 point strutbar like OSF one on m20 E34....I've seen the throttle cable got sangkut with the strut bar.

If i'm going to install a strutbar..I'll make sure it's fixed 2 point..( non adjustable )..or go to Ultra Racing and make a custom 4 point strut bar

Just changed my center tie rod this afternoon..koyak RM250 for it...and changed my upper arm bush too ( l/r )...the woobling was gone....

 

[bimmerman]

Thanks for the advise Baz but mine is a M50 so I guess i'm safe from the throttle sangkut problem right?

Tried to install the strutbat myself last night but cannot lah. Can't seem to get the three bolts aligned with the three holes. Looks like the holes are spaced correctly but the bolts seem to be out of alignment. What do I do now? Hammer the bolts in place with a wooden mallet? Any advise?

Once I get it installed I'll post some pictures. Watch this space.....

 

[OSFlanker]

I would not recommend you hammer the bolts in, you may not be able to uninstall the strut bar in access the modic or the brake fluid tank!

The strut bar should be "plug n play". Do bear in mind that some strut bars are copied from a original but some are made from measurements of the vehicle so if the specimen vehicle's strut towers are out of alignment then that may cause problems with installation.

 

[OSFlanker]

The crack on the right corner of my windscreen.

 

[OSFlanker]

The left corner also has a crack.

So far, the cracks are just unsightly features on the windscreen and do not necessitate changing the windscreen (fingers crossed!)

 

[bimmerman]

That sure is one seriously scary crack! And they made their first appearance after your fling with some seriously fast curves? have you had your windscreen changed before? If so, could be a bad windscreen installation you think?

 

[flash]

Originally posted by bimmerman@Jan 12 2005, 02:13 PM
That sure is one seriously scary crack! And they made their first appearance after your fling with some seriously fast curves? have you had your windscreen changed before? If so, could be a bad windscreen installation you think?

I have gone thru 2 windscreens on my jalopy (Wira) until I installed the front strut bar. After that and with some modification to the windscreen during the last installation, there was no more problems. And the windscreens were changed FOC - reason being bad installation. Ha ha.

Actually the car body was flexing so much that pressure was placed on the lower sides of the windscreen, hence the cracking of the glass.