Stress Bars - Pros & Cons

[JME36]

I have a 99 M3 convertible and am considering front stress bars. What is the overall impact? Are there any downsides? Are they all essentially the same or is there one or two that are better for some reason? Thanks is advance for any input.

[rlabair]

This topic has been beat to death in many forums so you will have plenty of research to analyze. So heres the short story on my reseach. Basically, go with an x-brace first then add stress bar. tighter in the turns during moderate to hard driving. downsides?, don't know of any. No, they are not all the same, some are hinged, some solid, some aluminum, some magnesium and some carbon fiber. look at uuc, dinan, ireland engineering, rogue, sparco, and mason.

I have found that Mason and Ireland offer one near the old oem's which are going for ridiculous $$. Irelands are solid while Mason offers an adjustable one. There is or was a recent group buy on any of mason's strut bars. I personally picked up an adjustable one for my M3. It's near OEM specs, tight and clean looking and will adjust if you have any funk in your towers. I ordered a powder black steel one. I already have an x-brace so I'm not worried about having to have a massively strong bar.

I also have an e30 with a very strong an affordable Sparco bar. Very happy with it too. There are many opinions out there on the best. Check out the companies that I mentioned, compare materials, fit, price and finally looks. They are all quality companies so it just boils down to what you like. But...spend the money on the x-brace first.

Good luck.

[JME36]

Thanks - great information. I did do a search and did find good bit of data but it is often a challenge to determine what is truly most applicable across various model years and models. Cheers.

[shamulater]

E36 Convertible should have a factory installed X-brace already in place.

[JME36]

Thanks - was wondering if that might be the case. Sounds like a stress bar is my best bet to tighten things up.

[Pinecone]

Stress or strut bars work. Beyond putting one on, the rest is basically cosmetics. Lighter is better, just because extra wieght never helps.

Hinges don't matter as a) most of the time the bar is in tension, and b) the engine compartment is a trapazoid, which will not bend at the corners as you stress it.

I have OEM barson both M3s and a Strong Strut on the Roadster. They all work.