Carbon Fibre Brace Removal

[Paisano]

Just curious as to what everyones opinion is regarding the replacement of the bolts involved with mounting the Carbon Brace?

From my understanding, every single time the Carbon Brace is removed, the mounting bolts have to be replaced. Seems as if it's a bit of overkill, especially when changing/cleaning air filters, or removing spark plugs/coils.

Curious as to opinions regarding bolt replacement.

[SYT_Shadow]

I've removed mine multiple times for different reasons. Never replaced the bolts. They aren't torqued that hard so I don't think it's needed

It reminds me of the underbelly brace on the E46 back in the stone age. You were also supposed to replace those bolts every use but people have recycled them dozens of times

[gatorfast]

Where did you read that these bolts are one-time use? I have never replaced mine. They arent stretch bolts or even torqued that tightly so I dont see the need to replace.

[Paisano]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Where did you read that these bolts are one-time use? I have never replaced mine. They arent stretch bolts or even torqued that tightly so I dont see the need to replace.

Directly from my service centre and SA. Newtis also specifies replacement of bolts as well the BMW shop book (at least when performing warranty work).

[hellokitty]

Meh I just reuse the old bolts.

[ellipsis212]

Agree with the above. These bolts are not torqued much and they don't appear to need replacement for any reason.

I'm a bolt replacer by nature and these seem to be extreme overkill.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by Paisano

Directly from my service centre and SA. Newtis also specifies replacement of bolts as well the BMW shop book (at least when performing warranty work).

I like to follow the service manual, if it says replace the bolts then replace it.

Btw the dealer had to replace the bolts on the lower engine cover and three bolts were "rusted" and snapped. I find this highly unlikely, that cover has come off a few times and I never saw any paperwork state they replaced all the bolts which is stated in the service manual. I am pretty sure they don't torque it also to the service manuals spec leaving it to stretch more than necessary.

[NYG]

If the opinion of a structural engineer matters, the one time use bolt thing is probably related to insurance/litigation. If the bolt remains in its elastic range and hasn't deformed or had any threads damaged then there should be zero reason to replace it.

[allinon72]

I'll take the BMW recommendation to replace torque to yield suspension bolts, for example, but these, no. There's simply no reason.

[Ferg]

I still have the bolts I ordered when I first took mine off sitting in a bag, just keep reusing the old ones.

[Paisano]

Based off of everyone's responses I'll probably replace the bolts every 2nd or 3rd brace removal.

Thanks everyone.

[9M71]

Originally Posted by hatepotholez

I like to follow the service manual, if it says replace the bolts then replace it.

Btw the dealer had to replace the bolts on the lower engine cover and three bolts were "rusted" and snapped. I find this highly unlikely, that cover has come off a few times and I never saw any paperwork state they replaced all the bolts which is stated in the service manual. I am pretty sure they don't torque it also to the service manuals spec leaving it to stretch more than necessary.

Apples to oranges here. the bolts in the engine are not exposed to the elements that the bolts securing the undertray are. Additionally the bolts holding the brace are prob 3-4x larger than the skinny bolts holding the undertray. I snapped a few undertray bolts with just 15k miles on the car... grabbed a few extra and will only replace when they break.

[domino_z]

No thread lock and little torque = wotam to replace