f/r strut brace for e30 cabrio

[willy]

can anyone pls offer some suggestions.

i've been searching and have come up with very little to nothing. i've read that in coupes and 4 drs the front strut brace/bar is benificial to their cars handling. the rear one isn't as necessary and can be done without.

i've got a 87 convertible and i guess because there isn't a roof body flex is more noticeable. will a rear strut brace reduce this flex??? (with one infront as-well). if so where can i find one that will fit. most of the rear strut brace bars i find say they don't fit the convertibles.

pls offer your suggestions on front and rear bars. pm me if you've got any up for sale too.

little confused. please guide. thanks.
willy

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

Rear shock tower braces are not possible in our cars. The top of the shock mounts are directly below the portion of the body that holds the soft-top. You cannot install a rear shock tower brace in a convertible. If you took the time to look at how a rear shock bar is normally installed in any other vehicle (namely coupes and sedans) and then examine where our rear shock towers are located, you would quickly come to the same conclusion as me.

You could counter this by saying you could weld a bar lower between the towers and not at the mounts, but this would defeat the purpose of having a brace, because:
A) The metal on the tower is too thin and if the brace actually worked, it would just tear a hole into your body.
B) Braces are most efficient when used to connect top mounting points together.
C) It would not be sensible to commercialize such a bar because installation would involve welding and reinforcement plates. This kills the main selling point for most strut bars, which are easily installed by the end-user in under 30 minutes.
D) The cabriolet is already slightly reinforced to make up for not having a roof, a second wall between the cabin and the trunk, the door sills, and many other features I cannot think of off the top of my head. Obviously this doesn't make the cabriolet as rigid as a coupe or sedan, but BMW tried.

Just go and pick up a Sparco front strut tower bar for $99 or $109 or something like that. You can also always stick around and wait for a group buy on the sparco bars, they are popular GB fodder because E30s can always use them, and the same model works on multiple, different E30s.

[willy]

that explains why you can't find them up for sale.

thanks.willy