Good price! I can't afford much more...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=8064267400

What do you think?

 

Very cheap price, but looks reasonable. Don't be surprised if it breaks at a welded joint. Strut braces are more about bling than structural rigidity. Just about anybody's brace will perform about the same. Just make sure it clears the air box and ecu cover, and comes with hardware.

 

Be careful. A person in my club bought one and the knuckles stuck out too far - he has two dents on his hood to prove it.

 

Yikes...! (I'm in one of those moods today ... )
Firstly, that eBay strut bar is only good for one thing and that's to open your hood and show the boys a little 'bling' in thar.. As far as doing what a strut bar is supposed to do, it's garbage.

Now, not all strut bars perform the same. There are some that are built to do what they designed to and then there are crap ones like these, and everything in between.

 

Same as this one??

 

Here's what you do. Save your money up, and get a good one. You've gone this long without one, then you can go a few more paychecks without one.

 

my mini is going to be picked up in the next 3-10 days, then I have to wait and another "7-14" days for transport

so I don't have one yet. what makes one better than another?

the seller said As long as we have been selling a lot of strut bars of "Cooper S", we have not received any complaint...
We have sold hundreds of these strut bars.
We currently do not offer rear strut bars for Mini Cooper S"

Why not this one? the price is right...

 

which one do you recommend?

 

i think if you are looking to make the car look nicer, go ahead. just make sure you get everything, ebay sellers are shady like that

 

not trying to make it look better, I really want it to perform better

 

buy the one m7 sells or the promini. the jcw is nice as well

 

Buy one that isn't hinged.

 

black ones work better as well

 

I am curious why you think they are for looks? Properly designed strut braces, much like the m7, not only offer stability across the strut towers, they can help to reduce the mushrooming effect in the strut tower tops....

I disagree with the statement that anyone's will perform about the same.

opinions are always welcome just try not and state them as fact.

 

Me wishes me had a M7 strut bar like yours...

 

You get what you pay for. Go with the M7.

 

Thanks all for your responses. I have definately changed my mind

 

Save the $ and put it towards a V1.
Don't be too freaked out about mushrooming. On my way home with my car I hit a CRATER in New Mexico that wrapped the tire up around the rim, causing a bubble in the sidewall - no mushrooming.

In general, you get what you pay for, especially at the lower end.
In time you'll learn that, after you throw away some of the 'super cheap and not quite worth the price' purchases.

 

anyone looking at these ebay strut braces, DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY, i bought one and now have fitted a dinan strut tower brace and am giving away the ebay brace for free.

 

Yeah, like I said before, go with a good one. However, the rear bar, I bought off EBAY and it's great. I didn't worry about the rear because there are no vital parts to break and cause an accident. The quality was good, and I did feel the difference. Plus, the rear seats still snapped into place when raised.

 

Really? What type of rear one did you get on eBay? Do you have an item #? How much did you pay (shipped)?

TIA.
b.

 

I personally wouldn't buy any sort of performance part off of Ebay, unless it was from a vendor I knew, and he was selling name brand products, not cheap imitations. If you want to buy something cosmetic, like clear tail lights or something similar...its not a big deal if that fails. But what if your rear sway bar you bought for 30 dollars snaps at 75 miles an hour...now its no longer worth the cheaper price.

 

if they don't cost too much, snapping one would be some trophy, lol! I might be willing to pay like a fifth as much and havve it last for 6 months if I could have it snap.

 

(1) If they DO reduce chassis flex appreciably (and there shouldn't be much given the close proximity of the strut towers to the bulkhead portion of the unit body), aren't you just transferring force to some other part of the car? Perhaps to a part of the car that is not designed to cope with it? Perhaps increasing fatigue to the strut tower tops which have become an area of concern to NAMers?

(2) Will they adversely affect the function of crumple zones should your MINI be called upon to keep you safe in a collosion?

 

1. Almost certainly

2. I'd like to think JCW have tested this to avoid litigation.
Most crumple zones are designed to tunnel the front mass below the "People" area.