Harness Bar

[FMD]

What options do we have when it comes to harness bars, are the fitment points essentially identical to those of the other E36s?

Thanks.

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by FMD

What options do we have when it comes to harness bars, are the fitment points essentially identical to those of the other E36s?

Thanks.

http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant...oduct_Code=GB3
sells a harness bar. I would not use it for harnesses. There is too much play in the bar itself and you can not adjust your seats back very far. I have one that I use to mount a camera. I needed to fit a t-brace so the bar could be mounted further back.

[KetteringTi]

For your safety, wrap your brain around this.

If you wear a normal seatbelt, and you flip your car, as the roof collapses it pushes you down in your seat. With harnesses, if you roll it, unless you have a roll bar, the roof collapsing tries to push you down in your seat, but instead just snaps your spine at the base of your skull. So if you wear harnesses, get a roll bar first. Then you can have a harness bar installed on it anyway.

$.02

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by KetteringTi

For your safety, wrap your brain around this.

Although the odds of a rollover are very slim as compared to going into a tirewall or armco. I'm waiting for a set of Schroth belts with ASM which mount to my exisiting seatbelt hardware. The harness bar is still only for a camera mount.

In my 6 years I have seen 2 rollovers. One was with stock belts and the other was a prepared E30 M3 race car. The point is, the chances of a rollover are very small. I don't say it can't happen. It is far more dangerous driving to the track than driving on the track.

Although I do share the argument, rollbar requires a racing seat and 5 point harnesses at a minimum. Whether I follow my own advice is my own decision.

[KetteringTi]

I was referring more to a rollover on public roads as opposed to a racetrack.

95% of all rollovers are caused by "tripping", which just means that the tires hit something or quickly transition between surface mu's while sliding sideways. One reason for the Ford Explorer debacle is that Ford was actually underinflating the tires on the Explorer to make the ride softer. As a result, the tires had more lateral capability (the less lat. g's the tires can pull the better when it comes to rollovers) due to the footprint being much larger, and because of the huge increase in friction caused by an underinflated tire, the rubber simply delaminated and "tread separation" ensued. The main cause however was BAD DRIVERS.

C&D ran a test where they rigged up an Explorer with a remote inflation/deflation system and drove it down a drag strip and purged all the tire pressure in one tire. They did it at all different speeds, and at 80mph, the driver let go of the wheel during the blow out with very anticlimactic results. Hmm... Wonder what all those Explorer drivers were thinking???

Boy I went on an extremely OT tangent!

Just a little tidbit about rollovers I picked up in my engineering days.

[FMD]

So all harness bars that fit other e36 models should work than from what I understand.

Track driving is the motivating factor for getting a harness bar also.

[Jean H.318TI]

im interested in the harness bar and the 5-point Harness

[mohaughn]

If you do DE's in your car keep in mind who you run with and what their requirements are. PCA is now almost to the point of requiring roll bar or roll cage along with harnesses to have a complete safety system. The national PCA doesn't say it is required, but it is left up to the regions running the events. The regions in Florida would prefer that you have atleast a roll bar with harnesses. 5 point harnesses are required, and the seats have to be racing style seats with the proper cut outs for shoulder and anti-submarine belts. You can no longer use harnesses with stock BMW seats.

Only a matter of time until other DE organizations follow with similar rules for harnesses.