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I installed both the front & rear
Strong Strut braces today. The instructions couldn't have been better. It
took about 20 minutes for the rear and 30 minutes for the front. Here's a
pic of the parts: 
The instructions emphasize the need to ensure that the front Strong Strut mounting rings do not hit the underside of the hood (a "BAD THING"). First, you put the clay provided on the strut towers and close the hood. 
Then, if that checks out OK with measurements provided, you try the clay again with the rings on the strut towers. 
Then you connect everything, tighten up the nuts on the tower rings, then on the cross bar (proper torque for each specified) and your done. 
I'm amazed at the improvement the Strong Strut braces provide. I installed the rear brace first (sorry, no interesting photos), then took a 20 minute drive on a slow, but curvy route nearby. The first thing I noticed was that the rear end just felt tighter (no surprise). The steering also seemed more precise. But the biggest difference was going through curves and either accelerating sharply or letting off the gas. Before, the car was just plain squirrely under these conditions on the same route. Now it held the line much better and frankly felt safer. Also, hitting small bumps in a turn no longer produced the feeling that the rear end was doing some weird kind of dance. Then I returned home and put on the front brace. This tightened up the steering even more (again, no surprise). Drove the same route again and could hardly believe how much more confidence I had going through the exact same sharp turns. The car goes where I point it, regardless of bumps and/or changes in acceleration. Frankly, I don't understand why BMW didn't make the car this rigid to start with. I've only had mine for 3 weeks, but it's got about 52,000 miles on it. The Strong Strut braces made an even bigger difference than I had hoped for. BTW here's a pic of the car itself (and, yeah, I know I should have cleaned it up - especially the wheels - before the photo... ) 
Chip Oxford Green 2001 Z3 2.5 Strong Strut front & rear braces |
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