ebay strut tower brace? shite or decent?

[Fidhle007]

$800? You HAVE to be shitting me... Especially as it was so clearly fake...

[RVAe30]

Before you spend your $ on a strut bar have you covered other areas that make a bigger impact/difference ? (tires,shocks,springs,bushings,camber/swaybars)

I have struts and springs. the reason i was asking was because i was browsing ebay and saw alot of strut braces for cheap and i was wondering about their quality. Obviously they are crap, but i wasnt sure exactyl how crappy they were. My next area for upgrade i think will be sway bars. Thanks for all your input

[Fidhle007]

Sway bars are a great upgrade to make, but be careful... I installed new sways recently and it's made me want to RE-upgrade my springs and possibly my shocks. I was really happy with my setup before (kind of an OE Sport sensation) but now I want STIFF.

[iNetMANN]

My strut brace experiences

I own 3 different sets of strut tower braces, reviews follow and why:

Bav Auto Preload adjustables;
-Have used them on the track car ('85 318i) and the summer car/track car ('86 325es)
-Worked pretty good on the 325es but found it not much help as there was some play in the brace no matter how much I tightened down the adjuster bolts.
-Worked BEAUTIFULLY on the 318i track car and made for even more adjustability into the front suspension. Stiff was stiff and loose was loose and everything in between. Just dialed adjusting bolts to desired ft/lbs and all was well.
- Needless to say these remain to this day on the 318i...

Sparco steel;
-There are 2 different versions of this brace Aluminium and steel, I have the steel one and a magnet confirms it
-Worked great on both the 318i as well as the 325es.
-On the 318i stiff was stiff and that was the only option. My 318i weighs 2269lbs and I needed something that at times could be softened up.
-On the 325es, which weighs 2944lbs, it was perfect. Great for aggressive daily driving and even better at the race track.
-This remains in the 325es at all times.

Generic Aluminium no name brand;
-Ok on the 318i track car.
-Ok on the 325es summer car/track car
-Just fine on the 318i Daily driver that is bone stock and weighs in at 2434lbs.
-Does what it needs to do and cost was minimal
-Would never dream of using it on a track driven car as it is not very rigid and flexes just jacking up the car.

These were my 'experiences' with these different braces. Does it prove anything? Nope, it don't prove Sh!t. So in other words YMMV...

RODD

[Fidhle007]

That's a great example, thanks! Which is the Bav Auto Adjustable? I'm not sure I'm familiar with it.

[iNetMANN]

That's a great example, thanks! Which is the Bav Auto Adjustable? I'm not sure I'm familiar with it.

Part# 010407

You'll notice that where the bar mounts to the strut cap there is a adjustable tension bolt pivot point at each end. These can be tightened and loosened to a disired force for removing or leaving flex at those points but still locking the strut towers together and improving the consistancy of the strut top position. Makes it capable of even more suspension fine tuning, works exceptionally well for autocross cars that see alot of different tracks and conditions.

RODD
"In no way affiliated with vendor, just love the product"