Mason Engineering Strut Bar

[cpt97m3]

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

I just placed my order for an aluminum bar with the diagonal bars. Terry, I also ordered some 5200's through Harold at HP Autowerks. I'm looking forward to getting this car setup!!!

Let us know how you like the 5200's on the 135i. We just put some on a friends AutoX E36 M3 last week.

[shadowiix]

just installed the bar tonight in the dark 11pm because i was too excited. thought it would be a simple install, as all you have to do really is remove 6 nuts and two bolts altogether. easy enough. the bar fits, but had to work carefully as the diangler support bars dont have a lot of vertical movement to work with. as i went to bolt up my bolts again thinking this was way to easy, only 5 of the 6 nuts went in as smoothly as removing them. Having not tighten all the nuts and bolts yet, i tried to move the bar around to see if it would help, it didnt. the nut i am trying to tighten is located in one of the water well looking holes, the nut would not line up for whatever reason. having done this in the middle of the night i didnt have any open hardware stores to get a nut without the washer built into it. lucky i had removed my center console ealier this week and remembered that i seen a nut that might work. found it and installed the nut into that hole, while replacing the other nut (with the washer base) back into the center console slot. tightened everything and gave my car a run around the local runabout and a couple of freeway ramps. the car feels more solid around corners, which is just what i wanted. the bar seems to make me notice the understeer this car has more than before. being tired and somewhat frustrated with the install i will just say i was relieved with the results. i will post more pictures up when i get the chance and show you guys the area i was having problems with. A great bar even though mine wasnt the perfect bolt on.

[Yearofthe1]

Thank you for the write up shadow.

I am 1 month out from purchasing this bar, but the only hang-up I have is whether to get the Mason diagonals or keep the stock ones.

Is it really difficult installing the diagonals? Do you have a tool list you can post here, or is the install pretty straight-forward. I'm only concerned about the diagonals, the strut bar itself should be easy cheese.

Thanks!!!

[shadowiix]

as for the optional part you have to remove that stupid cowel thing. its time consuming and a pain of a but to remove/install. i used a wrench to get into that tight spot where the diangle brace was. if you are removing the cowel you wont need it.



The Side i had a problem with.





This Side was a close fit.




The End Bits i used.

[shadowiix]

i think i just made my car feel boring after this mod, i only have the sports package on my 128i. its flat around the corners and ramps i been on. i feel like the steering is a bit slow now. this makes the turn in feel "lazy". maybe this mod is overkill for everyday driving? the bar does not add any harshness to the ride, if anything it soaks up bumps and uneven roads better (socal roads). have a hotchicks bar coming in, we will see if that adds some zest to my car. still it could also be the suspension being nearly stock and all. so much money to invest in a complete and ultimate suspenion though. i will have to make due untill i save enough money.

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by shadowiix

i think i just made my car feel boring after this mod, i only have the sports package on my 128i. its flat around the corners and ramps i been on. i feel like the steering is a bit slow now. this makes the turn in feel "lazy". maybe this mod is overkill for everyday driving? the bar does not add any harshness to the ride, if anything it soaks up bumps and uneven roads better (socal roads). have a hotchicks bar coming in, we will see if that adds some zest to my car. still it could also be the suspension being nearly stock and all. so much money to invest in a complete and ultimate suspenion though. i will have to make due untill i save enough money.

hmm, that's interesting, when you say steering is slower, I don't know how that could be the case. on my 135, steering is definitely quicker than before in terms of the car responding to steering input (I did ditch the run crap tires and when with some RE01R). It feels noticeably heavier than before, I'm not sure if this is what you mean. You'll feel that it'll be even heavier and stiffer after the hotchkis front sway installed. And you'll feel that your front is ultra solid, where your rear is bouncy... I'm gonna do something about mine soon, I hope...
Also, by boring, do you mean the car now roll less, and it just seems like you aren't going fast anymore? I did have that feeling for a while, but you'll soon learn that ok, because, that just mean you aren't going fast enough for you new setup, step on it
take your car to the newly reopened Angel Crest Highway, you will NOT be disappointed.

[Fair]

Just wanted to update the thread after the first batch of steel and aluminum E82 bars came in. This side-by-side picture below shows the differences in the braces if you order it with the additional diagonal bracing. Note the raised mount shown. The new diagonals Mason makes are shorter so that they do not cross over the top of the strut tower opening to attach at the factory hole.



The black brace below is a steel unit. We always order steel braces bare and have them powder coated here by Vorshlag. The gloss black powder coating we use is different than what Mason offers (which is more of a flat black). Looks very sharp and is super strong.



If you want the shorter diagonals you need to decide that up front, because to use them its a different brace altogether. This is mostly why we asked Mason to make this brace - for our customers with adjustable struts that need access to a knob at the top, or that have inverted struts with remote reservoir hoses (AST 5200/5300) that need to route up through the top.



Some BMW owners also have MINIs, and we're stocking Mason's R53 and R56 offerings now as well...



Thanks,

[Fair]

Hey guys.... just got a message form someone installing the E82 Mason brace with the optional diagonals. Apparently Mason forgot to include the 4 mounting bolts needed to mount the optional diagonals to the brace and I didn't catch it before they all shipped out. We shipped our last E82 brace from stock yesterday, so I cannot measure the holes on one in-house to figure out what bolts, nuts and washers to include.


Need to measure the two holes on the right...

Can someone that has received one of these braces with the optional diagonals stick a caliper on one of these holes and PM me with the size? I think its approx 10mm from the pictures but I want to get a measurement before we buy a bunch of hardware. Once we get it sorted out we will send everyone that ordered through us the correct hardware at no charge. Its pretty simple - a few bucks worth of bolts and nuts that can be sourced from a hardware store now, if you don't want to wait.

Thanks,

[turbobmw]

I got mine without hardware too. Best fit I found was M8 x 25mm.
25mm long is more than enough with a washer under the bolt head and
a lock washer on the bottom with the nut. Could probably have gone with 20mm length.

I got the black powedercoated version so a M10 bolt was too tight to fit the hole but that
may be due to the powdercoating thickness.

[Fair]

Originally Posted by turbobmw

I got mine without hardware too. Best fit I found was M8 x 25mm.
25mm long is more than enough with a washer under the bolt head and
a lock washer on the bottom with the nut. Could probably have gone with 20mm length.

I got the black powedercoated version so a M10 bolt was too tight to fit the hole but that
may be due to the powdercoating thickness.

Thanks, I'll round up some M8 hardware.

edit: just heard from Mason (who's on vacation) and he says the mounts were made for M8 x 25mm long bolts, washers and Nylock nuts. We have the nylocks and washers and I'll go round up some bolts later today. More soon.

[Yearofthe1]

Just ordered mine today. Unfortunately, I likely won't see it for a few weeks, as Mason is vacationing

Originally Posted by Fair

just heard from Mason (who's on vacation)

I'll post up a DIY with pics. I ordered this bar with the Mason diagonals. I got the steel bar as I wasn't too concerned about the few extra pounds and the $aving$ didn't hurt much either. Plus, I like the powder-coating job by Vorshlag and the steel bar will be stronger, the point of this mod being rigidity.

[nordique14]

I just installed the steel bar along with the optional braces. The steel bar is actually much lighter than I expected. The powder coating is very nice.

The only install issue I ran into with the fitment was due to my messing with the alignment pins. I removed them earlier to get additional camber. If you removed the pins and pushed in the struts then you will need to move them back to the stock location for the bar to fit. The bar fits perfectly if you have not messed with the alignment pins.

Note that the bar installs fine on my 135i convertible.

[shadowiix]

As a follow up to my review, i just installed the hot chicks sway bar, the car is flat around the corners and is enjoyable to drive around town now. The sway helped improve the chassis response something that was lacking with just the strut alone. the car is very predictable around everything. If you are going to buy this sturt, buy a sway bar/s to go along with this. adding the sway makes bumps harsher and you can feel them inside the car, so some people may say you lose some comfort but i dont care about comfort to much it still has its nice ride around town not to harsh for me.

[Justin(OKC)]

hmm, still waiting on mine that was ordered in June. Can't wait to get this any my AST's but it looks like I've got a bit of a wait.

[Yearofthe1]

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

hmm, still waiting on mine that was ordered in June. Can't wait to get this any my AST's but it looks like I've got a bit of a wait.

Give Mason a call. If you're nice, he'll put your order at the top of his to-do list.

I've been waiting on mine as well, ordered the 1st of July.

[stunn2night]

how can i get my hads on one?

[Justin(OKC)]

Originally Posted by stunn2night

how can i get my hads on one?

Order online at Vorshlag's website and wait, and wait, and wait some more I'm sure it will be worth it.

[Justin(OKC)]

Finally came today!!! It was worth the wait. I am so glad I got the aluminum bar. I could not believe how light it was in the box

[Yearofthe1]

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

Finally came today!!! It was worth the wait. I am so glad I got the aluminum bar. I could not believe how light it was in the box

Must be nice living so close to Vorshlag. Mine isn't due in until tomorrow.