I hope it helps, cos I'm kind of committed now......
POLL Does Strut brace improve handling?
- Thread starter AllyZ32.8i
- Start date
What brand induction kit you got
To be honest I'm not entirely sure as it was fitted when I bought the car. It's a good piece of kit though as it's force fed cold air directly from a vent in the front bumper.
The strut brace was also already fitted so I never drove it without one. It handles great now but don't know if it already did or if the BACS makes a difference. It's a very strong three-point brace though so must do something.
Hi @ Antm72 what exactly are you disagreeing with? JIM
The Z4 has the two bars which go from the towers back to the centre of the bulkhead as standard. Not posh shiny ones though I'll admit.
Tony.
Tony.
I think the triangular set up would be the better set up with the strut bar taking up lateral movements and the angular the front to back. JIM
Sorry @oldcarman Must have caught it when scrolling with my phone removed 
Not a problem, I was hoping you knew where I could get a cheap strut bar for my 1.9!! lol JIMSorry @oldcarman Must have caught it when scrolling with my phone removed
Yes you could be right
as my car has now done 40K the suspension is probably shot to pieces
must get it looked at by the dynamic duoand I must be imagining the motorway grooves?
Funnily enough one just appeared on gumtree at 85 pounds but when this thread popped up it sold 
Oh tramlines are there. We know all about them here in Belgium.Yes you could be right
and I must be imagining the motorway grooves?
But which aspect of your strut bar reduces the feeling of tramlining...
A strutbar does 2 things:
Reinforcing the top of your suspension turrets
Avoiding the turrets to move inwards/outwards during hard cornering
The forces tramlines can put on your suspension are huge.
These forces are taken up by the bottom triangle and the mcphearson.
If your bottom triagle has no play, you shouldn't have any tramlining
By reinforcing the top of the turret, there will be less movement left to right in the mcpearson.
Therefore you will have less play in the wheelhub.
This will mask the movement in the lower triangles. But the lever of the hub to the top of the turret is big, so the forces on your turret will still remain big to compensate for the play inthe triangle.
I will try to find or make a video to explain it better.
Thanks for explaining this clearly @Stormy_be it goes to what I posted about the triangular strut mount taking care of all directions (bottom end being in spec is a must no matter which type is used) look forward to a vid! JIM
I'll tell you when I get one!
Tony.
Tony.
@oldcarman
Strut brace reappeared here https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans...for-bmw-z3-all-19-models-1996-2002/1142480142
Strut brace reappeared here https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans...for-bmw-z3-all-19-models-1996-2002/1142480142
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Points
- 181
- Model of Z
- Z4 coupe sport.
Most Expensive piece of bling on my car, won't be taking it off though just in case I'm wrong or decide to do some track miles. Didn't really notice any differance in handling and probably should have used the money on bushes.
Does look good though. If it wasn't easy bolt on I probably wouldn't have even looked at it. Bit like the performance air filters all show and very little go.
Does look good though. If it wasn't easy bolt on I probably wouldn't have even looked at it. Bit like the performance air filters all show and very little go.
Results of the poll: 14 Yes and 4 Said no. So majority wins
Also BMW have started to fit a form of brace to the top mounts on the front suspension? on later models in the BMW range?
I've seen them on Z4's and as Roy said they do look good
Only from the strut tops back to the centre of the bulkhead, not accross between the struts.
Tony.
Tony.
Tony I agree
but still a brace for some reason
I wonder whycould it be to reduce flexing of the suspension because the engine is mounted way below the top suspension mounts?