Bad Strut Towers?

[ZHP330CI]

Hi,
I recently bought a 2005 330Ci vert ZHP with 70k miles on it. Ive been reading about the strut towers becoming damaged. Just wanted to ask if mine look ok or if they are messed up.
Thanks

[johnrando]

i'm not a suspension guy nor have I seen mushroomed strut towers, but these look fine to me. Why do you think they are bad? I'm sure someone with more knowledge could chime in.

[az3579]

I'm not familiar with verts, but something looks off to me. On mine, the bolts are parallel to the flat surface of the shock tower. On yours, it looks like the bolts are kind of... slanted...

Shit, maybe MINE are effed up... I don't know...

EDIT: Just looked at some pics of mushroomed strut towers. The nuts on those towers were angled, like yours are... mine are not angled!

Here is the link to the results of the image search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=e46+mushroomed+strut+tower&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=955&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ZFFCVebjAoHVggSK54LIAw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgrc=_

Here's the one in particular that I'm referring to:
http://personal.linkline.com/sevan/photos/strut/4.JPG

[ZHP330CI]

i'm not a suspension guy nor have I seen mushroomed strut towers, but these look fine to me. Why do you think they are bad? I'm sure someone with more knowledge could chime in.

Im just getting familiar with the car and when I saw this I was wondering if mine were bad thats all.
Do you have any pics of yours?
Thanks

[ZHP330CI]

My towers look pretty flat to me, its just that they sit at the angle maybe?

[az3579]

My towers look pretty flat to me, its just that they sit at the angle maybe?

You know what, at fourth glance (I looked a few times lol), they actually kind of look normal to me now. I compared it to the other pic endlessly and that's why I'm thinking this now.

[johnrando]

Mine has a strut bar on it so I'm not sure if a pic helps. I'll see what I have.

[johnrando]

Not a ton of help.

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc481/johnrando/DSC_0150.jpg (http://s1214.photobucket.com/user/johnrando/media/DSC_0150.jpg.html)

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc481/johnrando/2012-10-19190343.jpg (http://s1214.photobucket.com/user/johnrando/media/2012-10-19190343.jpg.html)

[ZHP330CI]

[QUOTE=johnrando;432055]Not a ton of help.


/QUOTE]

Thanks I think mine are ok based on your pics.

[wstr75]

I found out the beautiful ZHP convertible I purchased three months ago has some shock tower damage via getting a wheel alignment. The shop informed me they were barely able to get the alignment into specs and told me it was because the shock towers a wee bit mushroomed. It was a BMW independent service shop and they more or less said, "hey we've seen a lot worse", "we got it into specs so you are good for now" and they also said, "when you're ready we can beat down the mushrooming and put on reinforcing plates".

[ELCID86]

OP, those don't look bad. Rando, move that engine bling! ;-)


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[ZHP330CI]

Thanks to all

[Oli77]

In photos 2 and 3, I "see" the forward nut lower than the 2 back nuts. Non?

Front end shock?

Here is my sedan below.

[Oli77]

1948719488

[squashman702]

Don't look bad to me, but why not get the rough road plates as cheap insurance? They're under $20 for both sides.

[BCS_ZHP]

You've got to take the pressure of the front strut off of that shock tower first, then put a 2x4 across the hole and smack it with a hammer. That sheet metal is not very strong and will readily bend. Smack it until you think the strut tower is factory flat and then reinstall the strut with a reinforcement plate. You'll see the reinforcement plate is 2-3 times the thickness of the shock tower itself, this is an easy DIY fix.

[ZHP330CI]

Don't look bad to me, but why not get the rough road plates as cheap insurance? They're under $20 for both sides.

What are rough road plates?

[BCS_ZHP]

Rough road plates are same as the reinforcement plates, look under suspension for an e46 on ECSTuning.com and you'll see them. They install from under the shock tower so no change to the under hood appearance.

[wstr75]

BCS_ZHP,

You've got to take the pressure of the front strut off of that shock tower first, then put a 2x4 across the hole and smack it with a hammer. That sheet metal is not very strong and will readily bend. Smack it until you think the strut tower is factory flat and then reinstall the strut with a reinforcement plate. You'll see the reinforcement plate is 2-3 times the thickness of the shock tower itself, this is an easy DIY fix.

You say "take the pressure off the front strut . . . . ". My assumption is you are saying jack the front of the car off the ground so as to let the wheels hang and then put a 2x4 across the strut hole and smack it. Is that the correct assumption for how to take the pressure off the front strut tower?

[BCS_ZHP]

BCS_ZHP,


You say "take the pressure off the front strut . . . . ". My assumption is you are saying jack the front of the car off the ground so as to let the wheels hang and then put a 2x4 across the strut hole and smack it. Is that the correct assumption for how to take the pressure off the front strut tower?

Yes, that will work for minor deformations. I had one once that was really badly deformed and I had to remove the strut to get it straight. Try the jack up method, get some of the pressure off of it and give it a wack.

[ELCID86]

And in order to install the reinforcement plate (not sure about "rough road") you have to release the end links (and adaptive headlight lever on driver's side if so equipped). Leant that from Bruce ;-)


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[BCS_ZHP]

Shawn, the headlight lever is on the front passenger side. And the reinforcement plate and rough road plate are one in the same, different suppliers call them different names.

[az3579]

Shawn, the headlight lever is on the front passenger side. And the reinforcement plate and rough road plate are one in the same, different suppliers call them different names.

This is a leveling sensor that's on the passenger side. I'm not sure if Shawn is referring to the adaptive headlight portion (I don't know what hardware that operates off of) or if he's referring to the leveling sensor.

[ZHP330CI]

Thanks guys, but Im getting mixed comments here. Some say that mine look ok and others dont. Now Im really confused. lol

[JB3]

Honestly it's tough to tell in the pics. I've seen some that were way worse than that, so compared to those, these look fine.

If you're going to reinforce them, you'll know as soon as you try to mount the plates. If they tighten down flush, you're good. If not, beat them down a bit and mount them. I wouldn't lose sleep on those based on what I am seeing in the pics.

[ZHP330CI]

Honestly it's tough to tell in the pics. I've seen some that were way worse than that, so compared to those, these look fine.

If you're going to reinforce them, you'll know as soon as you try to mount the plates. If they tighten down flush, you're good. If not, beat them down a bit and mount them. I wouldn't lose sleep on those based on what I am seeing in the pics.

Thank you :)

[ELCID86]

Shawn, the headlight lever is on the front passenger side. And the reinforcement plate and rough road plate are one in the same, different suppliers call them different names.

Oops. Of course it is. Got my hands mixed up.


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[ELCID86]

Honestly it's tough to tell in the pics. I've seen some that were way worse than that, so compared to those, these look fine.

If you're going to reinforce them, you'll know as soon as you try to mount the plates. If they tighten down flush, you're good. If not, beat them down a bit and mount them. I wouldn't lose sleep on those based on what I am seeing in the pics.

+1


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[ZHP330CI]

Is ECS the only place that sells this kit for the convertible? Or Can I get them for less someplace else? Thanks

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330Ci-M54_3.0L/Suspension/Reinforcement/ES2718691/

[johnrando]

ECS pricing is typically OK but their shipping charges tend to be higher. Not sure where else this kit would be but if you haven't, I'd try Turner Motorsports.