Let's go over the story again.
V6 owners can easily get strut bars, including using those made for G37 or Q50 vehicles. The problem with the V8s is the interference due to the height of the engine which requires some creativity & extensive design to make an FSTB work.
I know of at least one big name manufacturer who tried to make an M56 strut bar, but ultimately chose to bow out of the challenge.

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Someone is making a custom strut bar. It will fit the V8 and thus would also fit the V6.
It's not going to be a bunch of metal pieces slapped together welded on flimsy brackets; but rather a properly designed & machined unit.

The estimated retail price is going to be approx $400, judging from preliminary design.
Point blank question - Would anyone here be interested at that price point and actually buy it?

This is not a group buy and no-one is being asked to put a penny down. Just a question to gauge interest and adequately prepare for production since it's going to be a one-time deal.

Semi interested for the simple fact that the 5.6 has no aftermarket support however that price point is a bit high and I'm guessing may deter people. I can already hear Ilya having something to say about it

lol Don.

Yes, at that price point, it will be a tough ask to get this community to buy in. Especially because SoulFunction was going to make one for less and it was still like pulling teeth to get enough buy-in (before SoulFunction inexplicably decided not to move forward with the product).

To make matters worse, I understand supply and demand, but it's hard for many of us who came from cars like Maxima's where Strut Bars are like $120.

Personally, I'd consider a product if it was more in the $250 neighborhood.

Interested, but yea, i don't think i would pay $400 for it also. Do you have a concept picture of it? Is it going to look like the BMW's M3 U brace?

Thanks for the feedback guys.
As part of the project plan, we need to lay out the best estimate for external demand and right now, it's standing at zero. The price point will not change, as engineering & manufacturing costs are what they are.
Unlike other applications, the M56 doesn't have a clean path between the strut towers to buy a rod from the hardware store and weld up a part.

Yoda, no mock-ups to show as of yet. Could you link one of those M3 bars you referenced? I am not familiar with the part specifically.

Btw, we're still going to do it whether there's customer interest or not. We'll make a limited supply and use them on our fleet. There will be provisions to attach various accessories that come with intake manifold modifications.

how about CAI?

Not ruling it out, would be nice to see some type of rendering or initial product before being able to decide one way or the other

Thanks for the pic Yoda, I see why theirs is shaped thus.
Our preliminary implementation is rather conventional in shape, but just takes a lot of creative approaches to going from one strut tower to the other, and being bolted down.

On the CAI, we have no intentions at the moment. We are looking at forced induction & our efforts at intake modifications will be saved for that project.

This car is just a showcase for what we can do and how fast it can be done.
The whole project is in the early stages, so I won't divulge too much. However I can share that the bigger picture is in the general arena of manufacturing - both additive & subtractive manufacturing will be employed.

In a counterintuitive way, peddling strut bars & other low-demand goodies for the M56 would be a rather inefficient use of our resources. Even at $400 per strut bar, the margins are very slim and the customers are very cost conscious.
Our efforts will be invaluable to our target customers and the discussions would lie less on "how much will this cost me?" and more on, "when can I have it delivered?"

I hope that helps explain the 400-Dollar strut bar in a way.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and much success!

I would love one but at that price it'll be almost impossible for me to do it. I would love it to be around $250. Unless it's a carbon fiber piece them hell ya.

When you get mockups and what the meterials that it'll be made from and quality is huge but if your involved in sure it'll be an awesome piece.

Thanks again for doing all you do for our community.

Your a great guy Ed.

Andy

Thanks guys. I hope to get back in the swing of things soon, and get on with the product design.

For now, I'm preparing for my move to another city & state, and we know how much fun that can be.

Any update(s) on this Ed?

We are putting a pause to this, and will re-evaluate once the pandemic is behind us.

That's our stance since we see ourselves as a "manufacturing company that once made a few strut bars" instead of a "strut bar manufacturing company".

What is your company anyways?

I would buy it if it is more than just a strut bar... maybe if it had braces that could be screwed on the firewall that ties into a strut bar or is just integrated in
I totally understand the demand is low, and parts cost. Tbh, I can say I'm very interested in how it turns out. If it's a premium product, personally I have no problem paying the tax that comes with it.

Finflaps wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:37 pm

I would buy it if it is more than just a strut bar... maybe if it had braces that could be screwed on the firewall that ties into a strut bar or is just integrated in

Fin, I'll keep you in mind.
What I can tell you is that we do not intend for it to triangulate off the firewall. For a stock M56, it would be just that, a strut bar.
For people with catch cans, it would offer a mounting solution close to the PCV system.
For those with intake modifications, it would offer mounting support for a lot of those related accessories - we are looking at serious intake mods. One is supercharging, the other one involves a way to clean the intake valves. None of those are set in stone yet, so I hope you understand that we can't lock a design yet because the height to be cleared hasn't even been determined.

This single design is supposed to cater to all those variables...including the possibility of acting as an intercooler core support (hood modification very likely).
So is it a mere strut bar? Could be. It will be what the buyer makes of it, but it would be made for multi-functionality.

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Yoda's Master wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2020 3:17 pm

What is your company anyways?

Short statement, loaded answer.
The short version is that my affiliates and I are a bunch of hobbyists with varying interests, skillsets and have all worked as consultants at one point or another.
One thing we've discussed is the substandard nature of products in niche markets. We want to solve the problems no-one wants to touch, and this is mainly in manufacturing. We might be making parts for medical devices, heavy industry or even automotive parts; we honestly haven't locked it yet.
Our value proposal is going to be quality & speed of delivery. Again, niche markets - we aren't interested in selling commodities haggling over pennies and being the lowest bidder.

The car stuff mentioned above falls under our pet projects portfolio that we are using to showcase our capabilities. Making multiples just helps spread the manufacturing cost.
***
That was the narrative before all this Covid-19 madness. We are all hunkering down to focus on our other responsibilities.
For now, EdBwoy LLC continues operation as a media company.

updates?

No updates for the near future. The strut bar project has been shelved.