First off I would never have paid what they are asking for this...$400 ...no way for a front strut brace...BLING.

So I got a great deal on the JCW front Strut Brace....Ist thing I noticed was the rather poorly made Nuts w/ attached "sleeves" that replace the oem parts ...Ok...I removed the strut from the brace plates 1st and what should have been a 15 minute installl turned into a 1.5 hr nightmare on Elm St!!!

I used a small torque wrench set at 18lbs (was suspicious of that hardware! POP went the 1st one just below 18 ft lbs of torque!!! The other 2 went on gingerly...then to the other side...POP went another!!...the other 2 went on gingerly again!

Had to remove the braces to get those now shattered "sleeves" off the studs....(yes, I hand tightened the new hardware into those enlarged holes to make sure it fit correctly!)

I used a few parts I had around to fasten another 2 replacement bolts w/ inserts to fill the oversized holes and all seemed well so I installed the strut. I also put Red Loctite on the nuts just to make sure! BLING GONE! (Actually the red looks good in there!)

Then I had a look at my handywork...there were gaps at certain points in the strut towers between the tower "bumps" and the shaped portion of the braces....NOT a good fitment at all!

Now grant you, this is a used 04 but the towers were in perfect shape and thoroughly checked out an independent German mechanic (My old Porsche Mechanic who I trust!) before I bought it!! (knowing in advance of the mushrooming strut problem!)

Should have spent a few $$ more and bought the Helix! (or maybe the M7...) Had I paid retail or anything close...it would have gone right back!!!
Rant over...no more JCW for me at any price!! Almost done anyway...only thing remaining is a rear sway bar.... (JCW should have their stuff made by Milltech!)