E36 x brace install on e30; factory style.

[Wanganstyle]

Has been Installed on my car for a month or so now; the difference is worth the time.

Baseline footwork prep for me is chassis strength/ structure increase on standard tires, footwork. Improve the body first!!

Done as factory as possible, oem bmw hardware and nutserts and nut sert setting rivit nut tool used.

Driving impression; much more noticeable than installing same item on e36m3 with Coilovers, this is my e30's first chassis modification from original spec.

Factory BMW OEM Parts required:

4 m8 nutserts and 4 matching 13mm bolts

2 m10 nutserts and 2 matching
16mm Bolts

1 Oem x brace for e36.

pn's:

X-Brace 51718410212

M8X20-Z1 Hex Bolt with Washer 07119915093
BMW M8 Nutsert 51718175003

M10 bolts : 33306760652
M10 nutsert: ??










One modification to angle of x brace must be made to fit e30 chassis.
The rear m10 mounting point of the brace must be adjusted about 15 degrees to match the e30 chassis curve. Simple vise +slow human push will do it.

[Wh33lhop]

Wonder how this is compared to the raceskids or Mason x-brace.

[Wanganstyle]

Wonder how this is compared to the raceskids or Mason x-brace.

dunno, any idea how to test?

mason products are excellent, I ran his braces and pedal on my E36m.

[E30SPDFRK]

Looks like it hang's low. Any pictures from oil pan height to show off how it sits?


Cool idea!

[Wh33lhop]

Not sure beyond the usual torsional rigidity test (affix three corners of the chassis and measure force applied -> displacement on the forth corner). The raceskids piece is certainly a lot more plug-and-play.

[robrez]

Thanks for posting. I'll be going with either the Mason, Raceskids, or this route.

[Wanganstyle]

Looks like it hang's low. Any pictures from oil pan height to show off how it sits?


Cool idea!

thanks!

my car is stock suspension, I've been romping over speed bumps and no contact yet.

the clearance is about as close as it can be to clear OEM headers, no modification to clear headers was needed.

if your car is very low, I'm sure the oil pan would hit before this thing as its much further back- at least for driveways is concerned. random things hitting it I have not had issues at all.

if you add the thickness of the tube (30mm) under the header and 1-1.5cm header clearance, that is all protrusion there is.

realistically, measure 45mm under your header and ponder the additional ground clearance issue. I am not a super low vip car guy - Although I think it looks very nice @ Shows :)


I will try to measure the added overall thickness to clearance the x brace adds @ each corner of it and middle next time the car is in the air-

Not sure beyond the usual torsional rigidity test (affix three corners of the chassis and measure force applied -> displacement on the forth corner). The raceskids piece is certainly a lot more plug-and-play.

does anyone local have a race skids unit and want to drive my car to compare?; ideally a stock suspension e30 street car with stock wheels.

how do they test? I would be game to test this thingus for fun.

how involved is the install of the mason and other brace offerings?

[robrez]

How did you figure out where to line it up? Edit, I guess once your have it under the car, you can space it correctly.

Do you have the part numbers for these oem parts you used?

4 m8 nutserts and 4 matching 13mm bolts

2 m10 nutserts and 2 matching
16mm Bolts

[Wanganstyle]

How did you figure out where to line it up? Edit, I guess once your have it under the car, you can space it correctly.

Do you have the part numbers for these oem parts you used?

4 m8 nutserts and 4 matching 13mm bolts

2 m10 nutserts and 2 matching
16mm Bolts

Brace aligned via the center hole; center hole is already in the E30 X member, just enlarge for sert with stepper bit (snap on has good ones).

I don't have the m10 sert pn's off hand, but it will be counterpart to OEM e36 chassis brace bolts (re-used from my E36M3)

most BMW parts counter guys will probably be able to look them up!

One could also source aftermarket items of similar high quality but the OEM units were only $1-$2 per nut sert; at the time it was not really worth the time to find and buy a pack of aftermarket or equal items. Somebody with higher grade fastener knowledge could perhaps chime in or consult a fastener shop?

[Wh33lhop]

does anyone local have a race skids unit and want to drive my car to compare?; ideally a stock suspension e30 street car with stock wheels.

I wouldn't be surprised if you were the only person on r3v with stock suspension and any bracing beyond a strut bar. :p

how involved is the install of the mason and other brace offerings?

Pretty much bolt-on. They attach at the subframe bolts (or possibly at the steering rack bolts, I can't remember) and at the lollipops.

I'm surprised that you are noticing a difference on stock suspension. I'd like to get one of these soon; I hate wet noodle chassis and the E30 does not really seem on the stiff side.

[Wanganstyle]

I wouldn't be surprised if you were the only person on r3v with stock suspension and any bracing beyond a strut bar. :p



Pretty much bolt-on. They attach at the subframe bolts (or possibly at the steering rack bolts, I can't remember) and at the lollipops.

I'm surprised that you are noticing a difference on stock suspension. I'd like to get one of these soon; I hate wet noodle chassis and the E30 does not really seem on the stiff side.

I enjoy driving the car to its chassis flex limits :)

The car also has a 4 clutch high lock LSD, a PWR e36M radiator, rather few people would mod like this with stock suspension I know :)
I initially drove the car with HR race springs and bilsteins/konis +top hats and its great, but not a ideal setup to my style so I reverted to 100% stock to learn the e30 chassis.

I drove a 100% stock e36M for a while before diving into the S54 transplant project, helped me learn :)

[Wh33lhop]

I can definitely appreciate unspottable yet solid mods like chassis strengthening or diff modification before doing anything else. I rode around with an M50/stock exhaust, stock suspension and UUC swaybars on bottlecaps for quite awhile--I wanted to retain stock ride height for shits and giggles when I first put the GCs on, but the way I pieced them together I didn't have adjustable rear ride height so that didn't fly.

[Wanganstyle]

Ground clearance shot

[diegom6]

I wonder what would be the difference between the shock strut brace and the X brace like this one. Or even two of them installed or might be to overkill?

Nice job.

[Wanganstyle]

in prior experience, the under body bracing does more to improve the chassis dynamics than top bracing.

I have had this experience with e30,e36, GC8 (subaru) chassis and these kind of bracing.

in my prior 3 e36M's I have played with various combinations of front brace, rear brace, and oem X brace.

E36 also has one big Bar that goes across chassis, I am planning on installing that one also on my e30 @ the end of the front chassis rails, and foam-reienforcing the rails :)