I suppose I probably have an opposing view here, but years ago when I had a Z3 I got the strut tower brace for it. And after using it for a couple of months, I took it off and sold it.

I do agree that it made the car feel more solid and handle slightly better. But sometimes "more solid" is not a good thing. There is a reason your car has a suspension. One of those reasons is to absorb bumps and imperfections in the road. By tying the left and right sides together, you eliminate some of the advantages of having an independent front suspension. Overall, I felt that the handling improved slightly, and the quality of ride over rough roads got much much worse.

Anyway, I have never purchased a strut tower brace for any car since then, and I probably never will.

This is the same argument that some have for selecting the standard suspension vs. the sports package suspension. Handling always comes at the expense of ride comfort. It's the owner's preference as to whether or not the tradeoff is worthwhile.

iam not sure the 4.8 really needs it to be honest.

The look factor is a "10" on a strut bar, bang for the buck for the average X5 driver is very low (if any) I would bet.

was there ever any progress made on this?:dunno:

i know i posted this before...

for those that care, here's some light technical reading: http://www.e46m3performance.com/tech/strutbar/index.htm

but the purpose of the front strut bar is to minimize the movement of the two strut towers. mainly from moving outwards. but they do get pushed in together as well as move up and down separately.

the design flaw with the dinan and other hinged type of strut bars is that they allow independent movement up and down. they do 2 out of the 3 things correctly.

but imo, if you are going to do something, do it right. strongstrut is the better design here and i believe ricky was trying to get folks to sign up for a group buy so they will build a proper strut bar for the x5.

but to answer the question is there a difference? yes, there is a difference. the x5 strut towers are floating design and do move quite a bit. how much difference? very little but it does add to a more precise feeling in the steering wheel.

I'd need to see a LOT more interest and then go talk to the people at RD. I am not even sure they'd get into making a brace bar, but they do make some for other BMW models, so maybe they would do it if they knew they had some people waiting in the wings to buy.

I'll ask some preliminary questions and then start a new thread about this if I like what I hear.

JV

quick question....i know its kind of the drivers preference of what you want....but if you have a limited fund of money(like me) would you get a Dinan CAI or strut bar?????

what is your goal with the mods? bling? bragging rights? real performance?

the cai will change the sound as it will be more throaty intake noise.. questionable power gains. it is something that you, your passengers, and those outside your car can hear right away and be able to differentiate it from stock.

afe vs dinan vs stock... the aftermarket claims increase in hp. no one has produced any intake temp and flow rate readings (other then me with the stock intake) nor produced any a/f ratio charts showing the difference. i doubt anyone here with power mods (cai, chip, exhaust) have before and after dyno readings to see a change either (at least i haven't seen any yet)...

the strut bar will have bling appeal only when you pop the hood to show it off. you may or may not feel the difference. your passengers won't feel the difference or know about it at all...

thanks for you input hayaku