I have Carl's bar in my car and cannot fully close my hood. Yes, its a lot less.
Strut bar - group buy??
- Thread starter Gary Knox
- Start date
I have Carl's bar in my car and cannot fully close my hood. Yes, its a lot less.
Hi John -- I agree wholeheartedly with you on the tire pressures issue. I started paying close attention to my tire pressures several years ago following a debate within the e39 community. The e39 debate was engendered by the different tire pressure recommendations in the US v. Europe. In short, BMW NA recommends an additional 4 psi in the rear tires of US e39s for reasons they did not explain at the time. Many of us concluded that this recommendation was made to encourage US drivers to set up their cars so as to understeer given the fact that US drivers cannot be trusted to deal with a big heavy powerful vehicle with neutral handling. After adjusting my tire pressures to European recommendations, I really liked the change in the ride and began to pay much closer attention to tire pressures.
Okay, I'll bite. (Sorry to go off topic...)
What are the European tire pressure recommendations?
What are the European tire pressure recommendations?
I suggest that with a typically flexible E9 chassis you won't notice a change in handling with the simple addition of a strut bar. The same as adding a bar to an already stiff chassis in any other car. It's the sum of many changes that will make a difference, i.e. stitch weld the chassis in structural areas, reinforce same, cross bracing, upgraded bushings, front strut bar, rear strut bar triangulated to diff / floor / chassis, Carl Nelson ( or similar ) suspension upgrade, tyre pressures, etc, etc. It would be interesting to compare someone's car that has all or more of these mods against a standard car. There will be an obvious difference In short - just a strut bar and nothing else will most likely be for appearance only. But so what?
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This is starting to sound more tempting. So is the deal now that it is $430 shipped to each of us OR to a central location?
daddywad
Well-Known Member
Hi all, no clearance problems with CSI, its the same engine as the CSL and we don't have problems with those. The bar was designed to clear the Alpina airbox when fitted with carbs. The Alpina airbox has chamfered ends that will go under the installed bar. Mark
Wise9uy, That is the cost for shipping to a somewhat central location. I've suggested the DC area where Ohmess is. My guess is $25-40 for shipping a single bar from there to a continental US location. I'll see if I can get the weight from Daddywad to be able to estimate that more accurately.
daddywad
Well-Known Member
Front brace is about 3.5kgs with some packaging.
Mark
Mark
So 7.7 or roughly 8 lbs. Anyone interested can get an estimate of shipping cost from Vienna VA to their location. Add about $10 for new shipping materials.
Thanks for the update. Shipping quotes will need dimensions but I have guestimated this based on the dimension from outer edge of the strut mount top with allowance for packaging. From VA to IN should be about $15-20 with USPS with the addition of packaging so that is not bad...
Wise9uy,
Are you ready for me to add your name to the list of 4 we have now???
Are you ready for me to add your name to the list of 4 we have now???
The debate surrounding this topic took place on Roadfly more than ten years ago. (Does anyone remember when Roadfly was a good place to visit?) Alas, I lack the technology skills to unearth the data necessary to prove my assertions. Feel free to either (1) reduce the rear tire pressures to more closely match the fronts on your V8 e39 and evaluate the handling yourself, or (2) dismiss my comments on this topic altogether.
Tone
Well-Known Member
Please add me to the list for one. Thx Tim.
Awesome looking bar, but not sure about having movable joints (heim?) on the end.
I think this one would work better?
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E9-E3-suspension-steering/e9sb01.html
I think this one would work better?
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E9-E3-suspension-steering/e9sb01.html
The question about the heim joint is actually a good one. This would appear to allow some displacement fore and aft, while retaining a consistent distance between the shock towers. Perhaps Alpina felt some fore and aft flexibility would come in handy in this particular situation:
As to the Ireland Engineering bar, it appears to me to be the same bar Carl Nelson sells, and as note above, I cannot fully close my hood with this bar installed. But yes, it is less expensive.
As to the Ireland Engineering bar, it appears to me to be the same bar Carl Nelson sells, and as note above, I cannot fully close my hood with this bar installed. But yes, it is less expensive.
I think it is good offer at that price. So yes. I am down.
The count is up to 6. Please let me know if this is incorrect:
Ohmess
Mauler
Lotuss7
Tone (Tim)
WISE9UY
Gary Knox
Any others should probably express their purchase plans relatively soon - no later than end of November.
Cheers, and happy cornering guys.
Ohmess
Mauler
Lotuss7
Tone (Tim)
WISE9UY
Gary Knox
Any others should probably express their purchase plans relatively soon - no later than end of November.
Cheers, and happy cornering guys.
Tone
Well-Known Member
Gary, thank you for organizing this.
Since the body of our cars is made from a number of panels that are spot welded together, I feel like it's good insurance against flex to have a bar installed even though I won't be taking mine to the track. The Z8, while a completely different animal with an aluminum frame, suffers when it hits a large pothole at speed. The tops of the strut mounts move closer together, visible as a gap change for the hood & fender.
Sure, our cars are different and steel is better than aluminum, but 40+ year old steel that is subject to corrosion and fatigue? I'm going to add a bar to my car when I'm done welding up the rusty bits. It will be functional, but not pretty. I won't be part of this group order, though it's a splendid example for sure.
Ian
Sure, our cars are different and steel is better than aluminum, but 40+ year old steel that is subject to corrosion and fatigue? I'm going to add a bar to my car when I'm done welding up the rusty bits. It will be functional, but not pretty. I won't be part of this group order, though it's a splendid example for sure.
Ian
daddywad
Well-Known Member
Hello all, all the parts are assembled with quite tight tolerances. the only movement is the adjustment on the spherical joint which is there to ensure a tight fit between towers. Mark