Strut brace adjustment
Discussion
Hi guys! Just joined (and grateful to see an active forum that hasn't been devoured by Facebook) and I'm hoping this will be a useful resource while rebuilding an E46 I bought cheap last year when my Mondeo ST sadly died. It's got the usual bug bears like any used car and a few unusual ones, but today I'm just curious about strut braces.
I installed an upper front brace about six months ago and it's made a noticeable improvement on my handling, or at least it feels easier to drive. It's a typical unbranded brace constructed from aluminium, and it comes in three major parts: two tubes with mounts and a threaded lug that holds the tubes together in the middle. This allows for a small amount of adjustment in the length of the brace, and I'm wondering if there's a "proper" setup. At present, I've extended the brace as far as possible in an attempt to get maximum rigidity, but I'm convinced that it felt better when I first installed it and the brace was at its shortest. The difference between then and now is only about 10-15mm, but I thought it would be worth getting some more opinions.
TIA for your thoughts, folks. You'll likely hear from me again soon as I start to tackle the jobs I'm less familiar with. It's the old N42 engine, so I have my work cut out...
I installed an upper front brace about six months ago and it's made a noticeable improvement on my handling, or at least it feels easier to drive. It's a typical unbranded brace constructed from aluminium, and it comes in three major parts: two tubes with mounts and a threaded lug that holds the tubes together in the middle. This allows for a small amount of adjustment in the length of the brace, and I'm wondering if there's a "proper" setup. At present, I've extended the brace as far as possible in an attempt to get maximum rigidity, but I'm convinced that it felt better when I first installed it and the brace was at its shortest. The difference between then and now is only about 10-15mm, but I thought it would be worth getting some more opinions.
TIA for your thoughts, folks. You'll likely hear from me again soon as I start to tackle the jobs I'm less familiar with. It's the old N42 engine, so I have my work cut out...
The adjustment is there solely to allow for manufacturing differences between the bar & the car, it should NOT be putting stresses unto the strut towers by extending or retracting it.
It should be adjusted to sit the correct distance between the strut towers and then bolted in place.
They work by preventing the strut towers flexing inwards on heavy loads/hard cornering, thus keeping the steering geometry the same.
It should be adjusted to sit the correct distance between the strut towers and then bolted in place.
They work by preventing the strut towers flexing inwards on heavy loads/hard cornering, thus keeping the steering geometry the same.
E-bmw said:
The adjustment is there solely to allow for manufacturing differences between the bar & the car, it should NOT be putting stresses unto the strut towers by extending or retracting it.
It should be adjusted to sit the correct distance between the strut towers and then bolted in place.
They work by preventing the strut towers flexing inwards on heavy loads/hard cornering, thus keeping the steering geometry the same.
ThisIt should be adjusted to sit the correct distance between the strut towers and then bolted in place.
They work by preventing the strut towers flexing inwards on heavy loads/hard cornering, thus keeping the steering geometry the same.
Plus the E46, like the E39s are very stiff upfront already and IMO; the strut braces do little, if anything at all.
Now under-braces can make a big difference, but for every day road driving (even some B road hooning); you'll not feel that much difference, compared to what you would on track.
IMO, to the OP, get the brace off your car, take the car for a full alignment check and correction (ideally via a Hunter system) and then take your car to a local specialist and get a fast road set-up done. You will notice handling improvements to the car then
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff