I just installed my M7 Strut bar, and I like it...I like it alot! I have the Alta intake, and it has to be modified a little bit. My intake was already modified because I had the DDM Works Ram Air Scoop. I have since sold that and the strut bar fits perfectly now, because of the mod. I will go take some pics and post them within the hour.

 

show us the gap between the strut and the MAF!

 

Here are the pics. In the Red Circle you can see I bent the upright back a little bit and it fits nice!

 

Nice, I bought the M7 STB for my 07, I have the Works Steet CAI. This Saturday I will be doing a little mod on the CAI to get the bar to fit.

Pictures to follow with measurements.

Question, do you get any rub on your MAF under heavy throttle. Does the engine torque back to the bar under acceleration?

How much space is between the MAF and STB, it looks like 1/4 inch in the picture? Right?

Thanks,
Don

 

I can go and measure the gap. Give me a bit and I can have the exact measurement for ya.

 

Great, did you get the rubbing issues with the heat shield fixed/settled/adjusted?

 

Nope I haven't figured the heatshield bit out yet. I just don't see how that could be adjusted at all. I am thinking of some sort of felt pad (like for chair bottoms) might work. What do you think? Here are some more pics of the MAF. It is hard to explain the distances. From the top it looks like about 1/8th of an inch, but when you look at it from the front, the bigger piece that is 1/8th of an inch away from above is under the bar anyways. Pics. If you have questions feel free to ask.

 

So where the plug hooks in, it's about a 1/4 inch away. Does that make sense?

 

Makes sense, the 1/8 inch is shown in your last picture on the piece with the part number that ends in 037, so no rub or hit under load. That is good.

I might not have to trim a lot off my DDM CAI, you will see what I mean after I take pictures, if you don't mind I will hijack some of your thread time.

The felt might work if it is fire-proof. Have you a bunch of bare metal on your bonnet or just a pencil head amount or less from the M7 heat-shield.

I think the heat shield is a good idea and does two things, heat reduction and make that area look better, I will order one in a couple of weeks.

 

Yeah the fireproof bit is what gets me. It is about the size of a pencil eraser.
Here is the link to some pics. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...87#post2424387

 

Interesting. felt and a thin turbo/exhaust wrap material for the fireproofing. But you will still have rub.

A small hit with a body shop hammer on that spot on the bonnet if it is structure brace and not the outer skin of the bonnet. Carefully of course.

Then some nice flat black touch up paint.

Might not want to take a hammer to your bonnet. But if it fixes the problem.

 

uhh... you realize that you can purchase the strut bar with different brackets that may allow the bar to clear you intake without modification.... M7 offers this in order to clear their AGS-R intake (which is pretty damn huge) so it may clear other intakes as weel.

 

Yeah, I realize that. But when ordering I figured the stock setup would probably be fine. I mean now you know that if you have the Alta maybe you want the other bar. But my intake was already modified, so I didn't have to do anything. It is a nice bar!

 

As promised some pictures. Masterd78, have you looked at your MAF plug under load, it may be hitting your STB.

These pictures are of the cuts made to my DDM Works Street CIA so the M7 STB would fit and have clearance for the fore and aft flex of the engine under load.

I do not have rub or hitting while doing some aggressive acceleration, which was a concern due to my MAF plug location.



View over drivers side.





You could get by with a little less of a mod/cut on the depth, but not much. This allows for full flex of the engine on the motor mounts.

 

Thanks for the pics old81. I was debating on going with this strut bar and the DDM. Looks like one of those is going to have to change.

Does anybody know the difference between the standard bar and the AGS-R compatible one? I'd like it if it was compatible with the DDM Street without modification, let alone the race/scoop version.

 

Has anyone installed the M7 Strut Bar on a stock MCS? Are there any issues with clearance or rubbing?

 

Mastard78, the bar looks great. Do you have any bulging in your hood? I can't wait to get my hands on that strut bar for my 09 MCS.
And also how noticeable was the difference in handling after the install?

 

What did you use to cut the DDM box?
I'm thinking me and a Dremel isn't going to be very neat.

 

If your steady the dremmel with a carbide cutting wheel, 2 clamps and a way to steady the whole thing is good.

Otherwise you will need a slow speed saw, vice and claps to do it right.

We clamped in 2 places, used the DDM set on the bench, one person holding and one doing a very slow dremmel cut. Of course both of us have been working on our race cars and fabrication for 30 years, so.....

 

+1
The MAF would still be close right? what about the stock airbox?

 

Per the M7 website.

You can get the full skinny here at M7. It appears they are making special brackets for some applications.

If you buy from any of the NAM vendors make sure you tell them your situation and ask for the proper brakets if available.

My purchase was at MITM3 and I knew it might not work with the DDM Street Intake, but I decided to mod the intake. Worked fine for me.

 

A Breeze to install with all the proper tools, a simple product that made a very large difference torque steer issue and very nice improved handling. Although torque steer is yet to be fully resolved, the M7 Strut Bar was a positive step into a cost effective way of eliminating it. My cornering felt tighter and smoother, and let's face it, the handling on the MINI is by no means bad, but when something can improve on an already great thing, you got a great product. Thumbs Ups to M7. I included some images, more to come.

 

Once again, awesome.

 

^^^Nice . It looks like your MAF sensor is turned towards the engine more compared to the pics above and also looks like it won't be hitting the bar.

 

Thanks! yeah, i removed the heat shield of the ALTA CAI because it was rattling and being a real big pain. So, I custom fit the hoses and now it freed up room to move it how I wanted. Just as an FYI, that is the OEM bracket model.