I know there are posts about this product, bur I am interested of anyone who have this products for more than 3 months. Could you please tell me the following?

1) Condition of the studs and nuts?
2) Condition of the plates?
3) Condition of the strut guide? Any tear, etc
4) Original paint condition of the towers if anyone has removed the plates?

Thank you all in advance.

 

I think you are being way to too A.R. in this. I don't know of anyone who has had even the slightest issue with M7 SRPs. I owned mine for months before buying the M7 stree bar - essentially the same plates with a stress bar added to it.
If you are having issues call M7. They would surely have a clearer idea of any problems than waiting for NAMers to respond.
Happy Motoring,
Paul

 

he's asking if they work or not

 

Re. item 3, the SRPs only resist sheetmetal mushrooming. They will not prevent cracking/tearing/failure of the strut mount. That will continue to require inspection and ultimately replacement if cracking/tearing/failing is noticed.

Re. item 4, there is a chance that the paint may get abraided if there is less than a perfect (e.g. the slightest amount of mushrooming is present when the plates are installed). You might want to put a thin sheet of rubber pad between the strut tower and the plate. Peter may comment on this item, though.

 

i would say that the rubber pad would allow for mushrooming. the tight hard bolting of the plates to the surface stop metal from bending in the slightest.

if you have an issue with paint on the inside of an engine area, gota really look at the who cares factor and consider mushrooming and then hammering making a mess out of your car vs a lil (if it even does which i doubt) scraping here and there from the metal to metal contact.

 

I think the paint question has to do with taking the plates off before going back to the dealer without being detected and risking warranty denial.
It was a straight forward question. I have the same question but so far no answers just speculation.
caminifan: do you have the plates installed?

 

I have had them for months and my towers look flat and the plates are still like the day I bought them. Which I think is the whole point for buying them.

Haven't taken them off though so I don't know how the paint is underneath.

 

I checked with the service manager at Niello, and he says neither the plates or the strut will void the warranty.

 

Same here.

 

I have removed my plates and had a chance to inspect the tops of the strut towers at that time (the plates came off temporarily before I got camber plates). There are marks on my strut towers from the plates.

The problem in my case was caused by the channel that is cut into the bottom of the plates. It was not chamfered (this may have been changed on later plates, but I can't confirm that.) The lack of a chamfer caused the edge of the plates to dig in a bit into the area around the undercut. Therefore, on my strut towers, there are marks when the plates are removed and it is pretty clear something has been rubbing on that surface.

Note: I have one of the earliest sets of plates, and while I have heard there may have been a design change to address this, I can't confirm that as I have not seen photos or plates other than my own.

your mileage may vary.

 

Thank you all for the responses. The reasons why I ask for ownership experience are:

1) Want to know if the plates can cause other issue like the strut guide or studs, etc while strengthening the sheet metal.

2) Want to know if there's any visual hints of the plates' presence that could possible cost my warranty. You and I know darn well how some service advisors/managers can make a Fed case out of aftermarket parts. If in any doubt, the odd is against the owners. There's a huge sticker both under the hood and in the left top corner of the windshield, saying aftermarket parts can void warranty.

3) I am NOT doubting the products, I do want to know the overall experience before purchasing.

Right now, I am struggling between the beefy size of the SRP and the warranty piece of mind of the way too expensive JCW brace.

Thank you to all of you nevertheless.

 

Dave,

Do you have the M7 Strut Tower Brace (STB) or just the Strut Reinforcement Plates (SRP). The STB is just milled out around the ribs at the top of the strut tower, while the SRP seems to be contoured with no sharp edges (and looks better on install). This is something I mentioned to Peter a while back, I would love to see them update the STB plates to the same contour as the SRP. I think they use a different machine shop right now for each...

Anyway, yes I had fears of what you mentioned with my STB install and am considering a very thin film of Silicone on the plate before install to keep the scratching down. I have to fix the mushroom first, however... I would take the scratches over a mushroom any day.

-EK

 

SRPs

 

Look at what could be warranteed:
1. the struts.
These are best REPLACED anyways with FSD's for a safer and more comfortable ride anyway. An excuse to get something greater, and struts are like tires, they are meant to be worn out and replaced anyway!

2. the tower metal holder domed thing.
This often is not covered as you can see by many posts. I wouldnt be worried about voiding warranty on a part that doesnt fall under warranty!! Who wants their car's body to get deformed???

Get the plates or strut brace and be happy was my conclusion. Plates are arriving 2 weeks before I get my brand new mini

shows you how little I care about lying/theiving/responsibility denying dealers and corporations!

My car will be the ultimate test of avoiding deformation while keeping the suspension stock.

plates on brand new MCS 06 applied from day 1
15x7 Konig Rewinds and 205/60/15 Falken 512 M+S tires on from day 2
I live and drive in Metro NYC area 2-3x a week on the worst roads.

I am confident that the tower cannot mushroom on my car the way I will have it. However, the strut thing cracking is another issue that I will report on with photo's monthly.

 

I wouldnt add anything under the plate. It works on the ability to keep things motionless and reflecting as much energy back into the strut as possible.