SEVEN SERIES E 38 customer testimonials
Don......A couple
of weeks ago, I installed a Strong Strut tower brace on my '01 740IL. Paul at
Strong Strut was extremely professional, sent the Strong-Strut promptly, and it
was very well made. This was my first modification to the car and I did it
because it looked like a job I could handle. It turns out it was so easy my 5
year old helped.
The results were amazing to me. The steering with the strut brace is
surprisingly more precise. No more long hesitation between turning the wheel and
the steering response. I am very happy with this entire experience. I purchased
the special order fully chrome plated version with
the option machined holes in the cross bar. The quality of workmanship is
astounding!
Dave......(WA)
I'll give my strong and enthusiastic vote. Unfortunately,
I have been very busy with my work, family and personal life over the last six
months or so. That has left little time for car activities, including working on
the car, taking pictures, updating my Car Domain page and posting reviews of a
number of projects that were completed long ago.
I received one of the very first E38 Strong Struts and I am very impressed with
it. For those of you that are concerned about the price, I can only refer to the
old saying about "you get what you pay for". It is a solid, beefy and strong bar
that undoubtedly would hold up to the strongest abuse without flexing.
If you are looking for price, I have seen them for under $10! They will bolt
right up to your Neon! If you don’t believe me, search for yourself.
However, if you drive an E38 BMW that originally cost between $75K and $100K you
deserve something better. You are also a lot more limited with your choices. As
far as I know, there are only two bars that will fit on the E38. At last word
the only other bar out there in production is from Bavarian Auto. It
costs $199.95 and is made from welded aluminum tubing with thin stamped steel strut rings
that bend when tightened on the strut towers. It is half the normal
retail price of the strong-strut. Does that mean that you get half the quality?
I don’t have one and likely never will, so I really can’t say.
One word of caution. The Bav Auto bar is listed as fitting only the “i” models
and not the “iL” models. In the US, that means that it will fit only on the 740i
and not the 740iL or 750iL. A number of people have purchased Bav Auto strut
bars and ended up returning them because they did not fit on their “iL” long
wheelbase cars.
Common wisdom dictates that all versions of the E38, both long and short
wheelbase and with various engine sizes would have the exact same chassis
dimensions and clearances between the strut towers and the hood. The BMW parts
catalogs show the same parts and there is not “supposed” to be any difference.
As previously noted above, I helped Strong Strut with fitment issues on the
750iL. I fit the prototype onto more than one car and I can absolutely confirm
that the clearance is different, not only between the strut bar and the engine,
where you’d expect it, but also between the strut bar and the hood, where you
would NOT expect a difference. I cannot say exactly what the difference is, but
I can confirm that there is a big difference. For those cars with the tighter
clearance there is a very small clearance “window” between the top of the engine
and the bottom of the hood and the Strong Strut hit it right on the nose.
For those that are curious, please take a look page 20 of my Car Domain site.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/205279/20
I have included some pictures of one of the Strong Strut prototypes installed on
my car and some of the clearance testing that was involved. Note that the
prototype has simulated holes that were drawn on with magic market. This page
also includes some pictures of an angular design mock up that I experimented
with on my own. It was an interesting experiment, but I ended up liking
Strong-Strut’s curved design better.
The final Strong-Strut production design is remarkably similar to the prototype
with just a few minor fitment and manufacturing tweaks to make it fit properly.
I selected one without the holes, as I preferred the cleaner look.
Unfortunately, I have yet to take any pictures of my engine compartment with the
final product installed. Maybe once the weather is nice I will spruce up the
engine compartment and snap some pictures. What’s that? The weather has been
nice for months already? Oh, maybe when summer is over and work slows down I
will have more time. What? You say that the weather will be crummy in Seattle
and it will be RAINING by then? Oh no! When will I ever find time to do this???
John....(MI)
Here's a picture of the Strong-Strut installed on my car, it is a great design
and you will notice a difference especially in those fast turns. I would
strongly recommend this bar especially at this price.
John