I just put in the Kirk roll bar on my e36 M3 and I made sure that the bolt heads are in the wheel wells and the nuts in the car. My M3 has the GC track school set up. Has anyone had tire rubbing issues on the bolt heads in a lowered car? What best to seal the underbody to prevent leakage?

jb

and I'm running K1's with 245/40/17's in the rear. Should I have any rubbing with this set up? anyone?

jb

Nope, no issues whatsoever. I didn't do any sealing, either...although I probably should have. Anyone care to comment with that regard?

You can buy spray cans of undercoating at your local auto parts store. WalMart may have it too.

Jay

this is good to know, considering im installing a kirk cage in my e36 this weekend and i have the gc track/school kit.

how difficult is the install? time wise?

Nope, no issues whatsoever. I didn't do any sealing, either...although I probably should have. Anyone care to comment with that regard?

I used 3M underbody seal and after it dried I applied sprayable undercoating. No leaks so far. The sprayable undercoating was black so I still need to spray paint it helrot for my application to make it look more factory.

That brings up another question, does anyone no where to buy spray paint that matchs our BMW paint codes if they even exist? Doubtful.

I just used some rubberized spray coating, yellow and blue can IIRC.

I actually am installing a 4-point bar in my e30 today and finishing it up tomorrow. i bought some Wurth seam sealer that I applied around the bolt holes. I also applied it around the perimeter of the plate on the underside of the car today. Tomorrow I'll spray over it all with Wurth undercoating spray. Not the least expensive options (walmart stuff is cheaper) but I like the wurth stuff and it's really pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. I don't know where to buy it locally, my local dealer stocks the stuff for their service department, gave me some

this is good to know, considering im installing a kirk cage in my e36 this weekend and i have the gc track/school kit.

how difficult is the install? time wise?

Your probably well on your way into the project. But 2 things that may help. I had an engineer budy of mine look at the design and recommended upgrading to grade 8 shear resistant bolts instead of the bolts supplied. He says that many of the failures in bolt in roll bars are shear forces on the bolts.
Also it may be useful to have multiple sizes of bolts. Some places I found the 1 inch bolts work where 2 inch bolts were best in other places. Some people bent the fittings on the wheel well to fit better. I did not. I thought this might cause the weaking of the weld points of the bar itself.

jb

Your probably well on your way into the project. But 2 things that may help. I had an engineer budy of mine look at the design and recommended upgrading to grade 8 shear resistant bolts instead of the bolts supplied. He says that many of the failures in bolt in roll bars are shear forces on the bolts.
Also it may be useful to have multiple sizes of bolts. Some places I found the 1 inch bolts work where 2 inch bolts were best in other places. Some people bent the fittings on the wheel well to fit better. I did not. I thought this might cause the weaking of the weld points of the bar itself.

jb

actually im having a lazy weekend. i havent gotten to it yet.

one reason is because im getting a buddy of mine to pick me up some grade 8 bolts. i looked at them and a red flag shot up, so i figured id wait and get the grade 8 bolts.

I think you would have other issues if that was hitting those bolt heads WAYYYY up in there. Mine aren't even close with 245 slicks on 8.5" wheels.

Should be no problemo!

I think you would have other issues if that was hitting those bolt heads WAYYYY up in there. Mine aren't even close with 245 slicks on 8.5" wheels.

Should be no problemo!


Yeah i was look at my fender wells and it seemed like there was more then enough room.

for people that have installed them, question. did your metal around where the rear feet attach on the rear well deform? or get pressed in or bend around where the plates are?? (sorry if thats not 100% clear, its been a long week)

Yes. Even if you bend it pretty well it is going to pull a bit.

I used black rtv sealant and then coated with krylon xtreme duty. THE paint weasrs off of the bolt heads fast. The sealant was a great call

I used 3M underbody seal and after it dried I applied sprayable undercoating. No leaks so far. The sprayable undercoating was black so I still need to spray paint it helrot for my application to make it look more factory.

That brings up another question, does anyone no where to buy spray paint that matchs our BMW paint codes if they even exist? Doubtful.

This is exactly what I did with my roll bar installation.

As far as the spray paint goes, try this link: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

for people that have installed them, question. did your metal around where the rear feet attach on the rear well deform? or get pressed in or bend around where the plates are?? (sorry if thats not 100% clear, its been a long week)

I installed mine 2 weeks ago in my E36 and we "pre-bent" the feet on the legs to match the contour of the wheel well and pressed a 15* angle in the mounting plates from behind. I think that the fear of not prebending is that the sheet metal of the wheel well could rip/tear as you are tightening the bolts.

Also, the bolts on the outside of the main hoop flanges will seem a little too short, in fact, almost caused us to stop the install. However, with a little friendly floorboard persuasion they fit perfectly.

This is really not that hard to do. I procrastinated because everything I read made it sound really difficult. IMO, the keys are: pre bending the feet, dremeling off the little studs that hold your wiring harness in place, and perfectly marking your hole locations before drilling.

Good luck.

This is exactly what I did with my roll bar installation.

As far as the spray paint goes, try this link: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

Thank you Kane!

thanks for the good info gents ;)

jb

Thank you Kane!

No problem! I have a friend who used them and the results look great.