Z3 Roadster (E36/7) Roll hoops

Has anyone used these roll hoops?

http://www.ssautochrome.com/level.itml/icOid/1700

Would like to hear your feedback.
Thanks
2000 Z3, 2.3 Roadster

They're only cosmetic since the inner does not mount to anything.

And the outer only goes a few inches into the rear console. The only function of these roll bars might be to support a wind blocker. I emailed the vendor to ask what wind blocker they showed.

Do the stock roll bars provide rollover protection in the event of an accident? I have a 98 2.3l Roadster and am now curious. Those chrome bars would look cool! I have removed the stock roll bars for stereo work and saw that they went in a ways as vintage 42 implies but didnt know to what extent the stock would or could be structurally significant in a roll over.
Thanks!

personally, i like the look without the hoops. i've read that the windshield is reinforced and acts as roll protection. it isn't easy to roll one of these over anyway.

Originally Posted by rudyrov

Do the stock roll bars provide rollover protection in the event of an accident?... I have removed the stock roll bars for stereo work and saw that they went in a ways as vintage 42 implies but didnt know to what extent the stock would or could be structurally significant in a roll over.

I meant that the decorative chrome roll bars are mounted in the top few inches of the plastic rear console.
The stock roll hoops are structural, attached down into mounts installed on the floor pan, and provide roll-over protection. They were an option on the early Z3s. To retrofit my 1997 Z3 would cost many hundred$ in parts and labor.
One owner tried to sell their roll bars on a forum, but we found that the floor mounts are not sold separately. So roll bars alone can only be installed on a car that has lost their roll bars, like yours.

Here's an old post about a Z4 roll-over accident. I assume the Z3 has a similar roll-protection system.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19005
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19050

too bad the photos won't come up. i'd like to see how strong the windshield really is. there is a story about a Z3 rollover on a racetrack. reportedly, the windshield remained intact.

I believe the pictures are also shown at Wrecked Exotics /Z4 on page 3:
http://www.wreckedexotics.com/z4/index.shtml

There are also a few roll-over pix of Z3s at Wrecked Exotics /Z3:
http://www.wreckedexotics.com/z3/

thx blacklane. these are definitive enough for me. in fact, i'm surprised at how strong the windshield appears to be. not as strong as a rollcage, of course, but i'm don't see any pics where it has collapsed.

Originally Posted by tohbi

personally, i like the look without the hoops. i've read that the windshield is reinforced and acts as roll protection. it isn't easy to roll one of these over anyway.

The sedan-based convertibles don't have roll hoops, and have a higher center of gravity than our Z3 Roadsters.

If anyone is interested I have a set of factory roll hoops I took out of an 01 Z3 M just a few days after I bought it new. They are in excllant shape and I would like to have $200 for both of them. bmws54m@msn.com

Over on bf.com, when I raised this question w/re to buying a Z for my oldest, and where the wife was insistent that if she was going to get a Z it was going to have hoops: a couple people posted back that in their rollovers, they were absolutely grateful for the hoops, and were pretty sure they wouldn't have done as well as they did without them... so, for my oldest, it's a '98, or later Z, or one with a HardDog installed. YMMV

Originally Posted by CORONET

... I have a set of factory roll hoops I took out of an 01 Z3 M just a few days after I bought it new. They are in excllant shape and I would like to have $200 for both of them...

If they come with the floor mounts, they could be installed in a 1996 or 1997. If not, they would go in a 1998-on that has lost its hoops.

Correction: This article says about the roll hoop retrofit:

... it can only be used on Z3s built on or after 1/97. Specifically 1.9 VIN LB83105 and later; 2.8 VIN LC01377 and later. No earlier production will work (and remember - some "1997***8243; cars were actually built in 1996)...
http://mz3.net/retrofitting-bmw-roll-hoops.html

That leaves out my 1997 1.9, which was built in 10/96.

The mounts would have to be their or be ordered for mine to work or a good weilder and fab man could make a set pretty easy theirs not much to them.

Originally Posted by CORONET

The mounts would have to be their or be ordered for mine to work or a good weilder and fab man could make a set pretty easy theirs not much to them.

The floor mounts shown in these instructions look complicated to make:
http://mz3.net/retrofitting-bmw-roll-hoops.html