strut brace

[406ian]

will a strut brace off a coupe fit onto a saloon?

[highlander]

Short version: Yes

Long version: The strut brace I bought from a forum member was fitted to a V6 Coupe originally, and he'd bought it to fit to his saloon. His saloon got wrecked by some of those "crash for cash" idiots, and I bought his brace to fit to my saloon. My saloon was recently knackered by an arse in a white van, who left without leaving insurance details. I've just bought a Coupe and fitted the strut brace to it, so it's come full circle

You may find that the strut brace is hard up against the sound proofing in the bonnet, and will leave an impression in it - nothing to worry about, but if you are worried, you can use a hammer to "persuade" the brace to fit the saloon properly (others on this forum have done so)

And it does make a noticable difference to the handling of the car - one of the cheapest upgrades you can perform.

[FarmerPug]

Indeed it does and its not a gimmick the difference is very noticeable much tighter at the front and you can feel it much better., about an hour later though its sad you get used to the feeling and dont notice any difference because you forget the old setup, really worth it. And it fitted the saloon no problem the biggest problem was opening the cupboard that the torx bits were in the door squeaked so i had to put some oil on it.

[406ian]

thanks for the replys guys think i may get one bought! and i will hardly worry about it being to high because i have the bonnet spaced of higher any way for more cooling

[swampyv6]

make sure it comes with the fitting bolts as they are longer than the standered ones.

if ot doesnt then i can supply a brand new set of them

[FarmerPug]

i found the bolts mine came with to be smaller than the bolts in my car

[highlander]

Mine didn't come with any; I just used the bolts on the car (actually, on both cars that I had the brace fitted to). Didn't give me any problems.

How much longer are the bolts supposed to be?

[FarmerPug]

1cm i believe thats how much the new bolts were shorter than my standard ones

[Gary406]

so a coupe strut brace will fit direct to a saloon, or does it have to be persuaded with a hammer

cos theres quite a few coupe ones on ebay for 20 squids, may buy 1.

does the bar slope up and down across the engine or is it a straight bar

[waue1978]

It curves slightly over the engine & shouldn't need any persuasion. Mine didn't anyway:

[swampyv6]

1cm i believe thats how much the new bolts were shorter than my standard ones

standerd bolts are 12mm from base of the underside of the head to the end
coupe with strutbrace bolts are 16mm for the same measurement

[Gary406]

It curves slightly over the engine & shouldn't need any persuasion. Mine didn't anyway:

cheers for that pic

[GeordieBoy]

I put 1 on my 328 and didn't notice any difference at all, of course bmw are much stronger so maybe notice it more in a 406.
I also put a x brace on my 328, that I did notice, it goes under the engine, can these be got for the 406?

[Gary406]

do they really make a difference ?

[highlander]

I noticed

Firms up the front-end suspension, stops the body of the car rolling around so much as you corner, gives the car a more direct feel.

Didn't notice it so much in the Coupe, but the suspension and ride are firmer in the Coupe anyway - and I haven't exactly had much of a chance to do any fun driving since I picked her up, what with all this icy snowy crap.