Presumably the standard factory black roll bars offer a good level of protection. Equally I'm assuming that the chrome roll hoops on e-bay are more cosmetic and therefore do not offer the same level of protection? If this is the case, despite the chrome ones looking great I would rather stay with the factory ones.
Hopefully no one has first hand knowledge due to experience but I would be interested in people's views.
Roll Hoops
Re: Roll Hoops
Yes, the OEM black hoops are designed to provide rollover protection. Some chrome ones, like the AC Schnitzer hoops are, but most I suspect are not. The proper dual hoops that utilise the inner roll hoop mounts are generally stronger. The dual hoops that do not use the inner mount are without exception cosmetic. Whilst a one piece bar in theory could provide decent protection, most are style bars that are designed to be cheap to fit.
Cheers R.
Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
Re: Roll Hoops
So far as I was aware the rollover protection is the windscreen hence why many zeds don't have rollhoops ie they are not needed with a combination of the seat back and screen doing the job.
I have the schnitzer hoops which are TUV approved like the OEM ones but I've also had the £80 ebay jobies and although they do not look as good as the schnitzers (in my opinion) they are surprisingly solid and well made. I was happy to fit them to my first Z3 and not feel as though I had compromised on safety.
I have the schnitzer hoops which are TUV approved like the OEM ones but I've also had the £80 ebay jobies and although they do not look as good as the schnitzers (in my opinion) they are surprisingly solid and well made. I was happy to fit them to my first Z3 and not feel as though I had compromised on safety.
Re: Roll Hoops
I don't know about the materials in the BMW hoops, but unless the aftermarket ones are CDS (cold drawn steel) of a decent wall thickness that is chromed they will do bugger all.
1998 Z3 2.8 Arctic Silver
1991 Mazda MX5
1987 Nissan Silvia
1991 Mazda MX5
1987 Nissan Silvia
Re: Roll Hoops
Thanks for the replies Gents. I think I'm erring towards the side of caution and will stick with the factory ones fitted. I might investigate changing the colour in some way just to brighten things up a little.
Perhaps there's a small market there for someone to create chrome plated plastic clip ons to cover the black plastic of the originals?
Perhaps there's a small market there for someone to create chrome plated plastic clip ons to cover the black plastic of the originals?
Re: Roll Hoops
I agree with Jonttt's statement, I've had them fitted for yearsJonttt wrote:So far as I was aware the rollover protection is the windscreen hence why many zeds don't have rollhoops ie they are not needed with a combination of the seat back and screen doing the job.
I've also had the £80 ebay jobies and they are surprisingly solid and well made. I was happy to fit them to my first Z3 and not feel as though I had compromised on safety.
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M CoupeRe: Roll Hoops
Yes, but how many times have you rolled it?
Re: Roll Hoops
I take your point re the windscreen supports and I was not aware the seats were heavy due the amount of structural steel in them - and at 5'8 I guess I sit a decent distance below both! So taking these points in to account I can see that fitting the right after market ones becomes less of an issue- and the chrome does look nice.....
Re your other point - I don't think you necessarily need to be "driving like a stunt driver" to need the best protection. I'm more concerned about the things I can't control such as oil spills, ice, other road users, mechanical breakages, tyre blow outs etc, etc.
Re your other point - I don't think you necessarily need to be "driving like a stunt driver" to need the best protection. I'm more concerned about the things I can't control such as oil spills, ice, other road users, mechanical breakages, tyre blow outs etc, etc.
Re: Roll Hoops
It is definitely true that the hoops stiffens up the car - I noticed that with mine it felt considerably more solid after fitting hoops.
Yes, the seat backs are part of the rollover protection, but as the top of my head is above the top of the seat, I do prefer having the hoops there as well. Having said that, I did drive the car quite happily for over 10 years without hoops. I installed mine as I liked the look and it gave better options for the wind deflector - the safety aspect is just an added bonus.
Cheers R.
Yes, the seat backs are part of the rollover protection, but as the top of my head is above the top of the seat, I do prefer having the hoops there as well. Having said that, I did drive the car quite happily for over 10 years without hoops. I installed mine as I liked the look and it gave better options for the wind deflector - the safety aspect is just an added bonus.
Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
Re: Roll Hoops
You could always wear a Crash Helmet for added protection
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M CoupeRe: Roll Hoops
Better still I could get a roof welded on. I think I might be on to something....
Re: Roll Hoops
You'd be suprised how easy it is to roll a car!
If the tube is seamed it's not strong enough for a safety application and stainless isnt as strong as mild steel. New regs for roll cage tube are 40/50mm 2.0mm wall thickness CDS tube but even these are designed to deform to remove energy from the incident. The old standard 38mm 2.6 CDS I like better, that takes a real pounding
But like all safety equipment chances are you'll never need it . . . but if you do need it and then you'll be very glad you have it!
It's personal choice at the end of the day, one of lifes many gambles.
If the tube is seamed it's not strong enough for a safety application and stainless isnt as strong as mild steel. New regs for roll cage tube are 40/50mm 2.0mm wall thickness CDS tube but even these are designed to deform to remove energy from the incident. The old standard 38mm 2.6 CDS I like better, that takes a real pounding
But like all safety equipment chances are you'll never need it . . . but if you do need it and then you'll be very glad you have it!
It's personal choice at the end of the day, one of lifes many gambles.
1998 Z3 2.8 Arctic Silver
1991 Mazda MX5
1987 Nissan Silvia
1991 Mazda MX5
1987 Nissan Silvia
Re: Roll Hoops
I have fitted aftermarket ebay chrome roll hoops to my car and yes they do look good.
A couple of things worth mentioning about mine are a) where the hoops fit into the turrets a large rubber "o" ring was supplied because the fit of the bottom of the hoops against the turret top is not that great, due to the angle of the bottom of visible part of the hoop is not quite right and so does not meet with the turret cover very well. They have supplied the rubber ring to mask this but I elected not to fit this as I thought it looked worse with them on.
b) I have also found that with the hood closed the top of the roll hoops touches against the hood, causing a very slight bulge in the hood either side, although small this is in fact enough to raise the rubber seal around the door glass on each side, preventing a perfect seal and consequently in a heavy downpour while driving a small amount of water comes in and runs down the window inside.
This may over a period of time correct itself if the fabric stretches, though I thought it worth mentioning as it is irritating to say the least.
I paid about £88 for the hoops on ebay and thought from pics were the best looking ones on there.
Will I keep them on, I am not sure, I also bought the perspex wind deflector for the chrome hoops from Justroadster, which looks great but does not function as well as the mesh one IMO. Also has a tendency to rattle against the metal hoop at speed, which aggravates the hell out of the missus but for me is no problem as I am quite deaf and can't hear it. (One and only time deafness has been an advantage to me
A couple of things worth mentioning about mine are a) where the hoops fit into the turrets a large rubber "o" ring was supplied because the fit of the bottom of the hoops against the turret top is not that great, due to the angle of the bottom of visible part of the hoop is not quite right and so does not meet with the turret cover very well. They have supplied the rubber ring to mask this but I elected not to fit this as I thought it looked worse with them on.
b) I have also found that with the hood closed the top of the roll hoops touches against the hood, causing a very slight bulge in the hood either side, although small this is in fact enough to raise the rubber seal around the door glass on each side, preventing a perfect seal and consequently in a heavy downpour while driving a small amount of water comes in and runs down the window inside.
This may over a period of time correct itself if the fabric stretches, though I thought it worth mentioning as it is irritating to say the least.
I paid about £88 for the hoops on ebay and thought from pics were the best looking ones on there.
Will I keep them on, I am not sure, I also bought the perspex wind deflector for the chrome hoops from Justroadster, which looks great but does not function as well as the mesh one IMO. Also has a tendency to rattle against the metal hoop at speed, which aggravates the hell out of the missus but for me is no problem as I am quite deaf and can't hear it. (One and only time deafness has been an advantage to me
