[Trev88]

Anyone has any strut bars or upgraded their sway bars? What would you recommend? I saw a CF wiecher strut bar which looks really cool on eBay has anyone tried this?

[vtl]

Whats your goal? Just dial out that body roll without having to resort to coilovers/stiffer springs?

All e82s/e90s have a brace for the strut towers. You won't notice any real benefit from upgrade them. The only reason why you'd want to upgrade to an m3 one is so you have access to the top of the damper for quick adjustments (the stock bar blocks the top of the damper)

Sway bars are a different story though. You can upgrade to a stiffer front sway from an e92 m3. Front is an easy swap, rear requires the subframe to be lowered, will probably need to disconnect the rear brake lines as well. Keep that in mind when factoring the cost of install. May as well do upgraded subframe bushings at the same time.

Lot of the folks on the forum seem to be happy with just doing the front. On double wishbone suspension, only doing the front would usually induce more understeer. Too stiff of a front bar will transfer all the weight on the outside wheel and lift the inner wheel off the ground, reducing grip. But it actually seems to work on macpherson strut suspension (like on our BMWs). This is because running the front end stiff on a macpherson strut suspension with a lot of static camber will give you more front end lateral grip (in theory).

Seems like theres mixed results from people running a stiffer rear bar. Some say its fine, other say the car gets too tail happy, others say only go for the m3 rear bar if you have an LSD

[Trev88]

Originally Posted by vtl

Whats your goal? Just dial out that body roll without having to resort to coilovers/stiffer springs?

All e82s/e90s have a brace for the strut towers. You won't notice any real benefit from upgrade them. The only reason why you'd want to upgrade to an m3 one is so you have access to the top of the damper for quick adjustments (the stock bar blocks the top of the damper)

Sway bars are a different story though. You can upgrade to a stiffer front sway from an e92 m3. Front is an easy swap, rear requires the subframe to be lowered, will probably need to disconnect the rear brake lines as well. Keep that in mind when factoring the cost of install. May as well do upgraded subframe bushings at the same time.

Lot of the folks on the forum seem to be happy with just doing the front. On double wishbone suspension, only doing the front would usually induce more understeer. Too stiff of a front bar will transfer all the weight on the outside wheel and lift the inner wheel off the ground, reducing grip. But it actually seems to work on macpherson strut suspension (like on our BMWs). This is because running the front end stiff on a macpherson strut suspension with a lot of static camber will give you more front end lateral grip (in theory).

Seems like theres mixed results from people running a stiffer rear bar. Some say its fine, other say the car gets too tail happy, others say only go for the m3 rear bar if you have an LSD

Is the m3 ones better than H&R?

[vtl]

The hr ones I saw was thicker than the m3 ones. You probably don't want to go that stiff if you are on stock suspension. Going too stiff will actually reduce grip as the inside wheel will begin to lift off the ground under heavy cornering. The m3 ones are a better match for your current setup.

Pair it with a set of m3 control arms as I'm not sure if it would have any benefit with just the stock camber

[Fundguy1]

I went to the m3 strut brace and it definitely was noticeably stiffer. It go that way vs other stuff that's more for looks than function. Yes, it made an immediate and good improvement.

[Trev88]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

I went to the m3 strut brace and it definitely was noticeably stiffer. It go that way vs other stuff that's more for looks than function. Yes, it made an immediate and good improvement.

Did you go for the brace or the sway bars?

[NoPwrOvrMe]

Purchased a Ultra Racing Strut Bar and noticed a big difference. Stock strut brace is some what useless as it's a 4 point brace instead of a solid 2 point.

[iliketurtl3s]

Originally Posted by NoPwrOvrMe

Purchased a Ultra Racing Strut Bar and noticed a big difference. Stock strut brace is some what useless as it's a 4 point brace instead of a solid 2 point.

Been searching for a review on ultra products. Would you rate them?

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by Trev88

Did you go for the brace or the sway bars?

Strut tower brace. I have an e93 vert. The sways are already extra beefy so I left them alone.
The m3 looked the best for stability because it all locks in with the firewall too.

[Pete.J]

Yes I am interested in this as well and I don't know whether I should stick with M3 OEM front and rear sway bars, M3 OEM rear subframe bushes, M3 OEM strut bar or just go aftermarket with all these. Price variation is small, I just think that you can't go wrong with M3 OEM parts coz everyone knows the M3 is a very very good handling car. Rather than going with unknown and untested aftermarket parts that could ruin the recipe lol

My car is running B8 Bilstein shocks and Eibach Sportline lowering springs atm. My daily is a non M Sport E90 325i 6MT so it already has the thinner factory sway bars compared to the M sport versions, so they must be replaced at some stage.

[Fundguy1]

M3 strut yes. M3 subframe bushings depends. Aftermarket are stuffer and better without nvh. Sway depending on your ride. E93 335i rear may be better. Etc.

[Trev88]

Originally Posted by NoPwrOvrMe

Purchased a Ultra Racing Strut Bar and noticed a big difference. Stock strut brace is some what useless as it's a 4 point brace instead of a solid 2 point.

Did u get the front and rear or just the front?

[Trev88]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Strut tower brace. I have an e93 vert. The sways are already extra beefy so I left them alone.
The m3 looked the best for stability because it all locks in with the firewall too.

My current setup is the oem m sports setup on an e90. Do sway bars last forever? Or is it changed after a few years?

[Fundguy1]

Yes. The bushings die eventually

[Fundguy1]

Lots of posts that though sway bars stop sway, they can actually reduce grip and induce under or oversteer if they get to large.

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by Trev88

My current setup is the oem m sports setup on an e90. Do sway bars last forever? Or is it changed after a few years?

Sway bars should live forever, but as Fundguy1 mentioned above. The sway bar bushes die eventually and need replacement, they're generally pretty cheap.

OEM M Sport E9X cars like yours already come stock with slightly thicker sway bars than the non-M sport E9X (like my 325i). But M Sport sway bars will still be thinner than proper OEM M3 sway bars.

[NoPwrOvrMe]

Originally Posted by iliketurtl3s

Been searching for a review on ultra products. Would you rate them?

Out of all the available strut bars no matter the price, the ultra racing strut bars are superior by its design and structure. It's more secure and sturdy then those flimsy bars with joints.... The point of a strut bar is to be solid... The only issue I have is I bought the 335i specific model which was designed for the n55. So for n54 owners the strut bar blocks the oil cap resulting in having to remove the oil cap pin to remove the cap and use a funnel or remove the strut bar every oil change.

If you have a n54 I suggest purchasing the non 335i specific as it clears the oil cap.

Originally Posted by Trev88

Did u get the front and rear or just the front?

Just the front.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by NoPwrOvrMe

Out of all the available strut bars no matter the price, the ultra racing strut bars are superior by its design and structure. It's more secure and sturdy then those flimsy bars with joints.... The point of a strut bar is to be solid... The only issue I have is I bought the 335i specific model which was designed for the n55. So for n54 owners the strut bar blocks the oil cap resulting in having to remove the oil cap pin to remove the cap and use a funnel or remove the strut bar every oil change.

If you have a n54 I suggest purchasing the non 335i specific as it clears the oil cap.



Just the front.

Idk about that. The M3 one is solid as a rock when bolted together and has the advantage of being 3 point instead of 2. I know on mine it was an immediate difference. The ultra stops the distance between the shock towers from changing, but both towers can still flex together rotationally vs the firewall.

[NoPwrOvrMe]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Idk about that. The M3 one is solid as a rock when bolted together and has the advantage of being 3 point instead of 2. I know on mine it was an immediate difference. The ultra stops the distance between the shock towers from changing, but both towers can still flex together rotationally vs the firewall.

This is why you also keep your original strut bar that connects to the firewall...

[Fundguy1]

True but that one still flexes. It has one bolt on each side. The m3 has two to the firewall and three to each strut tower and when assembled is one rigid piece. The originals are two flimsy pieces. M3 isn't solid because it couldn't be fitted if it was but they make up for it with double bolts and overlapping tongue and grove construction at the joints to lock it together.

[NoPwrOvrMe]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

True but that one still flexes. It has one bolt on each side. The m3 has two to the firewall and three to each strut tower and when assembled is one rigid piece. The originals are two flimsy pieces. M3 isn't solid because it couldn't be fitted if it was but they make up for it with double bolts and overlapping tongue and grove construction at the joints to lock it together.

Correct, but no matter how many BOLTS there are, because of the triangular design the flex is extremely limited.

Also the m3 strut bar only has ONE to the firewall. See photo below:

[Trev88]

So let's have a tally. Which is better? H&R vs m3 sway bars? And for front strut bars ultra racing vs wiechers vs no front strut?