Hi.. How come I have never seen any strut bar or tie bar that goes right under the hood? I know BMW all have those strut bar for better cornering..What's up with that?? M-Benz is really unique in that there is no coilover either... BMW is more performance- oriented i guess.. I know you can buy sway bars though... Let me know what you think..Thanks..

Bmw does use a coil-over set-up, so the upper strut mount is the stressed member. On benzes the coil spring is seperate & the strut mounting isn't a stressed member.

MB Doc,
Agreed, so why do Porsche 911 owners install strut braces when the cars also don't have coil springs up in the strut towers? It is sprung with torsion bars off the lower control arms but cornering forces are transmitted to the upper inner fender wells by the Mcpherson struts.

TobiasMB
300SE, 300CE, 190/5.0

With the type of control arms & spring location that Benzes have the strut tower isn't stressed like on other brands. Also the strut mounting doesn't have to be as strong, with bearings. The newer C, E, & S-classes even use an upper control arm.
The Newest S-Class does use Stressed upper strut mount.

Interesting. Bekkers sells Sparco strut bars for most MB models, and quoted me ~$359 or so for my 300E. I just submitted the request out of curiosity along with some other parts inquiries. Of course, this installation even requires some cutting through the second firewall on this model!

If you sell it then someone will buy it!!!

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MERCEDES BENZ MASTER GUILD TECHNICIAN
ASE MASTER TECHNICIAN
27 YEARS DEALER M.B. TECH
190E 2.3 ITS RACECAR
1986 190E 16V

You said it, Doc!

Maybe the fact that the W201 has this nice thick tubular bar going between the body sides under the dash adds some stiffness to the front end?

JJE,
That brace going under the dash...or doorpost to doorpost is really there to keep the windshield from cracking. No lie, the older MB's had windshield seals which allowed for movement but the newer ones are glued in and can NOT tolerate movement. Just ask any tech that has put in evaporators in a newer chassis. Take the bar out, open a door and viola, cracked windshield!
Tobias MB
300SE, 300CE, 190/5.0