BMW Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates (Pair) for 1999-2006 BMW 3-Series & M3 [E46]

MSRP: $222.00

$155.95

( saved $66.05 )

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Product Description
Specifications

BMW Engineers have long been in a struggle to save weight wherever possible as they've added more and more features to the 3-Series - BMW created a lightweight chassis that could withstand the load of the STOCK suspension without deflection or deforming, allowing BMW to make the materials of the shock tower area itself as thin as is possible while still retaining the strength to withstand the load of the car's projected lifespan.

This means is that because of the thin materials, if you increase the loads on the towers (ie by installing stiffer, lower springs or coilovers that transmit more load than the OEM shocks), the shock towers can't stand up to the forces it is being subjected to. With the car sitting lower, the potential for bottoming out the suspension is much greater as well - so when the car bottoms out on something like a pot-hole, the force thrusting upwards causes the strut tower to ""mushroom"" open, bending the strut mount studs outwards.

Note: The stock M3 upper strut mount already does a good job of dispersing the loads of the suspension for the OEM springs/shocks. These reinforcement plates will fit a stock mount for added strength but need to be trimmed to fit inside the strut tower of the M3. These are very strongly recommended for all M3s with coil over suspensions because aftermarket coil overs typically have a smaller surface area for their strut mounts, concentrating the load.