Bimmerphile Lou Gubitosi is interested in buying a bra for his E36er ['92 - '99 3-Series]. These leather-like devices fit over the front end of the car and are intended to protect the paint from stone chipping. Most car bras are held in place with Velcro straps [hmmmm...] to facilitate quick removal, and many are two-piece to permit opening the hood while the bra is installed. A disadvantage of some car bras is that they can, at high speeds, flap in the airstream and abrade the very paint they are supposed to protect. Other than this, I don't know very much about car bras, so I told Lou I would run his question as an item in Philes' Forum. Anyone who has info to share may contact Lou at 973.386.4368 [work], lhg@us.ibm.com, or lhg@lucent.com. Tell him Philes' Forum sent you, and if you contact Lou via e-mail, I would appreciate a copy.

Bimmerphile Bob Hoyvald had a real interesting problem [Actually, I thought it was interesting. I suspect Bob would suggest a different adjective!] with a front strut tower brace he purchased for his '95 M3. Strut tower braces are aftermarket devices which bolt onto your Bimmer's unibody and connect the left and right-side strut [or shock] towers together. The braces are generally easy to install by simply removing the three strut [or shock] retaining nuts from each side, installing the brace, then replacing and torquing the nuts. The whole operation should take 10 minutes. I am not sure of the efficacy of the braces, but the aluminum ones are way cool. I have one on my 320is.

Bob's problem was that his strut brace was about 1/4" too long to fit his car. The supplier of the brace told Bob that his Bimmer's unibody must have been deformed in a collision, and that all their braces were identically made on a jig.

My suggestions to Bob were as follows:

Contact the manufacturer of the brace with its measurements to verify that the correct brace was in fact shipped.
If the brace is correct, have the unibody checked at a body shop to determine if it is out of tolerance. A 1/4 inch error is not necessarily the result of a collision.
If the unibody is within the factory tolerance for the strut-to-strut measurement. Then the strut brace supplier should either furnish a brace which fits or refund your money.
If the unibody is out-of-tolerance, the shop can restore it with the proper bending technique.
Let me know how things are resolved so we can put it in Philes' Forum.

Well, Bob took his M3 to our friends at Hunterdon BMW. They, after checking that the brace would fit on another '95 M3, determined that his front strut towers were in fact a bit too close together and rectified the problem.

Bob reports, 'Thank you for the Help!........The car drives great!'.

It used to be that one rarely saw a trailer at a driver school. Nowadays, however, more and more folks are trailering, and a few have sent in questions. Here are a few of my responses.

When you chose your tow vehicle, consider more than the manufacturer's published towing capacity. Although short and long wheelbase versions of similar chassis' may have similar tow ratings, the long wheelbase version should be more stable at highway speeds. I recently switched tow vehicles from a full-size Ford Bronco to an extended-cab Ford F-150 pickup. The two vehicles have identical powertrains, and I switched the Bronco's tires to the pickup when I bought it. Well, the difference in highway speed stability is simply amazing. Perhaps the difference is best quantified by the fact that the tow to Summit Point took 4 hours in the Bronco, and the Pickup does it in 3 1/2.

Trailers are relatively simple devices, but they do require a fair amount of maintenance for safe highway speed towing. If you are considering buying a used trailer, be sure to allocate some of your budget for a thorough inspection and preventive maintenance. The main things to check are rust [You think old Bimmers rust? I swear I can hear my trailer rusting while its sitting behind the shop!], brakes, suspension, coupler, tires, wheel bearings, and wiring. You will probably find that it is not cost-effective to buy an old steel trailer and then pay someone to recondition it.

Two areas where some trailer manufacturers seem to skimp the most are paint and wiring. [Aluminum trailers are generally not painted.] One thing to explore with the prospective supplier of a new trailer is how they prepare, prime and paint their trailers. Before you buy a used trailer which needs refinishing, be sure to investigate how much abrasive-blasting and refinishing will cost. This process may be required for more than cosmetic reasons. Highly stressed members may fail if the rust progresses too far.

Trailer wiring is another of my pet peeves. Most trailers are wired using crimp-type connectors for everything, including the electric brakes! One of the first things I did to my year-old trailer when I bought it was to replace all the crimp-type connections in the brake circuits with soldered ones. Let me tell you, you do not want to have brake problems while towing 4500 lbs!

I'll continue these 'few comments' on trailers next month. If you read this and have questions/ comments, let me know.

Anyone wishing to contribute to Philes' Forum should contact me via the info on the masthead. I'm interested in tech tips, repair /maintenance questions and/or tips, dealer horror stories, product evaluations, etc. Please call before 8 PM, and if you leave a message, PLEASE INCLUDE A PHONE NUMBER WHERE I CAN REACH YOU ON WEEKDAYS. Also, please be patient, I try to return every phone call, but it sometimes takes a while. If you don't hear back from me within a few days, please call again. The best way to contact me is via e-mail.

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