AMG3.2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-RACING...4d5eaa&vxp=mtr

I know E36 M3's have some sort of brace on the LTW car, but I've never seen this part for W203's...

Whare are your thoughts?

Marine Blue

Looks interesting and I know many sports cars have additional bracing front/rear in the suspension attachment points.

Will you be or are you currently tracking, AutoXing the car? I'm not sure it would be a huge benefit unless your really stressing the chassis.

Capn

I wouldn't put that on my W203, looks like some generic strut made to fit a bunch of cars.

AMG3.2

Yeah, it looks so janky lol

FrankW

X-brace is used when chassi flex too much like whne you chop off the top on a e36 i.e. E36 m3 convertible. People put the x-brace on the e36 sedan because basically e36 flex too much. The w203 has one of the stiffest chassi there is. Want flatter cornering? Eibach or h&r sway bars.

AMG3.2

I have front and rear H&R sways, I just came across this somehow lol But yes, my buddy has the ltw x-brace on his coupe and he said it made a difference.

Autotechnica

I had an x-brace on my eurospec E36 M3. I wouldn't bother with chassis braces unless you did track/auto-x. Before you buy a mod, first realize "why" you need it. Otherwise, they're just poser mods. If you're not running decent suspension on good tires, it's a waste of money. There are so many other things you could improve on before even considering something like this.

Autotechnica

I disagree with this. The W203 chassis doesn't seem as stiff as the E36. I've had both and tracked both. The W203 seems a bit weak in the mid section. There is significant chassis flex. Seems like the W203 body is longer as well. It's a different era, so obviously a longer body would mean more flex. The E36's weakpoint was the rear sub/frame differential mounts. Aside from that, a very solid car that didn't need much reinforcement.

Saaboteur

These type of braces are pretty common in the S2000 world. Lots of companies make them, like Spoon, Cusco and Whiteline, down to the more specialized S2000 Japanese tuners like ASM. That photo in the link doesn't even look like they made one for the car, it's just a drawing of one placed onto a photo of the underside of the car! I have stayed away from these braces on my S2000, though a previous owner of my car did install an x-brace on the front subframe.

As an aside, because there has been some discussion about BMW E36s, I understand those chassis sometimes have issues with the rear struts pounding their way through the sheet metal there? Sounds scary, but there are aftermarket fixes, right?

TemjinX2

i agree, i dont think you need it unless you autox. I don't think there's too much chassi flex in the w203 either. The thing that hurts the w203 the most is just the weight of the car itself and too much front weight bias

Capn

I totally agree there's quite a bit of understeer