Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
H&R sport springs, UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers
Since I'll have the wheels off to get cleaned up and powder-coated, and was going to doing FCABs then, I guess it'll also be the perfect time to do the reinforcement plates and a strut bar.
Thanks for posting this!!!
SC
2004 ZHP Vert - Titanium Silver 6MT
BMW CCA Rocky Mountain Chapter #504522
ZHP Replacement: 2012 E93 M3 * Daily Driver: 2007 Hummer H3 Adventure * Wife-mobile: 2016 VW Touareg Exec
good thread. I thought I was pretty much covered with just the M3 strut bar protecting the top of the struts towers. Good wake up call. Watch out for those grand canyon sized road imperfections!
2005 BMW 330i ZHP 6MT. Built 11-19-04. Bought 4-2012.
Stock: Nav, leather, PDC, Xenon
Added by me: OEM Alarm, OEM heated seats, OEM aux kit, OEM Bluetooth, intravee, M3 strut brace, BMW Performance Intake, Nappa leather arm rest, updated LCM (triple blink, euro hazards, trifecta lighting, 3 stage brakes), temp gauge
Did you replace the spring pad/shock mount at the same time? Probably not, I guess... It looks like it's not really necessary unless the tower is so badly mushroomed, that the bolts start splaying out of vertical.
SC
2004 ZHP Vert - Titanium Silver 6MT
BMW CCA Rocky Mountain Chapter #504522
ZHP Replacement: 2012 E93 M3 * Daily Driver: 2007 Hummer H3 Adventure * Wife-mobile: 2016 VW Touareg Exec
His: 05 330 ZHP Imola Red - 07 Z4 M Coupe Imola Red
Hers: 04 330i ZSP
2004 325 M56 Steel Blue Metallic - Sold
Stephen's DD & AutoX/HPDE Build Thread
Stewart WP - Z4M LCAB - M3 trans/motor mounts - DICE MediageBridge Duo - ARC-8 17x8.5"
DrVANOS - Mason Engineering Race Strut Bar - E30 Exp. Cap - Custom Black+Beige Interior - M3 Seats
Bilstein PSS10 - Turner Sway Bars 27/21 - ECST RTAB Limiters - R.E. RSM
Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
H&R sport springs, UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers
Bummer. Good call on the drill stops. Easy repair, just time consuming.
Yep, much easier than the other body/frame failures on this car...I'm eventually going to install all of the reinforcement kits for this car. I want to keep it a very long time.
Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
H&R sport springs, UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers
With all due respect, I can't see how a strut brace will prevent any deformation of the shock tower - at all. The force is in the wrong direction.
IMHO, there is no stage 1 or 2. There's only "spreading out the forces all over the top of the shock tower" and "not spreading out all the forces all over the shock tower."
It looks like to me, if you DD your ZHP on rough east-coast streets in northern climates, or if your car sees track duty, then this is a mandatory mod.
My car is a low-mileage fair-weather car, but its clear this is a weak-point in the E46 chassis design, and I will certainly address it, especially given the low cost.
SC
2004 ZHP Vert - Titanium Silver 6MT
BMW CCA Rocky Mountain Chapter #504522
ZHP Replacement: 2012 E93 M3 * Daily Driver: 2007 Hummer H3 Adventure * Wife-mobile: 2016 VW Touareg Exec