E30 roll cage

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:59 am

Where can I get someone to put in a roll cage in my 1987 E30?
I will become a dedicated track/autocross car.
Thanks.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:03 pm

WalterHouston wrote:

Where can I get someone to put in a roll cage in my 1987 E30?
I will become a dedicated track/autocross car.
Thanks.

Contact Chris at Competition Cages. It should be a no brainer for him since he has done probably 50% of the spec E30 cages for local NASA competitors.

Expect a long wait though. But it is well worth the wait.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:03 pm

jimpastorius wrote:

WalterHouston wrote:

Where can I get someone to put in a roll cage in my 1987 E30?
I will become a dedicated track/autocross car.
Thanks.

Contact Chris at Competition Cages. It should be a no brainer for him since he has done probably 50% of the spec E30 cages for local NASA competitors.

Expect a long wait though. But it is well worth the wait.

When I talked to Chris two months ago he said he had a 3 month backlog at the time.

FYI Walter, Chris did the bar in my car.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:35 pm

You want a roll bar not a roll cage. When you say cage, people start thinking door bars and such.

Call Kirk Racing and see what they can do for you in a bolt in roll bar. The one in my 240 is a Kirk and its pretty damn nice. Chris is the best, but this is a super busy time of year for him.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:39 pm

Ryan Holton wrote:

You want a roll bar not a roll cage. When you say cage, people start thinking door bars and such.

To clarify just tells us how many contact points. I have a 4-point as do most. Cages are at least 6-point and include bars at the A-pillars.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:17 pm

Here is my take on it FWIW. He said it is going to be a dedicated track/ax car. I say go with the full cage. A cage is not a whole lot more expensive than a four point bar. Then you save yourself from paying twice.

A roll bar will help you if you rollover. How many rollovers have you seen? Usually they occur after heavy impact. A cage provides you with all around protection for just a few more dollars. Plus you gain a lot of rigidity to the car.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:50 pm

E36 BMW cage is approx. 2.5X$ the price of a bar. i wrote the check sunday. i did sell my existing bar for 75% of purchase price however.

i do however agree with Jim on this one Walter from a safety perspective. the body will also be stiffer with a cage. weight differential is not excessive as tubing is smaller in a cage. you will need race seats at time of cage build otherwise you may end up as i did with crossbar being too high due to it being built for stock seats.

either way if you want Chris to do it you need to call him today!!!!!!!!

Stacy King · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:19 pm

CAll or email April Curtis NOW...

They may still have a Schimmel bolt-in 4-point for sale (not sure though)

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

To counterbalance Jim's point (not arguing, I just have my own opinion) -- a full roll cage does add hard metal tubing closer to your head, arms, and legs that can cause secondary injuries in a bad hit or roll. In my opinion, the extra safety of a full cage is most effective for car-on-car impacts (think T-bone) which are a bit less likely in a DE/TT environment.

For non wheel-to-wheel competitive driving I personally will take a 4-point bar with the tradeoff of less body/structure safety but retain the openness of the driver area and manufacturer designed interior impact areas over metal tubes near my body. Particularly in a well-designed tub like a modern BMW.

DanDurusky · **Joined:** Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:31 pm **Posts:** 686

You should be able to find a bolt in 4pt Kirk rollbar for under $300. Keep an eye on the specE30 forums and e30tech and r3vlimited, etc.

I had great luck w/ mine. My gf and I had it in in an hour, fit like a glove. Another fried of mine had a harder time w/ fitment, but who knows what he was doing.

$300 is cheap enough for a temporary safety solution until its cage time. When it is cage time, you should have no trouble recouping the $300.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:09 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

To counterbalance Jim's point (not arguing, I just have my own opinion) -- a full roll cage does add hard metal tubing closer to your head, arms, and legs that can cause secondary injuries in a bad hit or roll. In my opinion, the extra safety of a full cage is most effective for car-on-car impacts (think T-bone) which are a bit less likely in a DE/TT environment.

For non wheel-to-wheel competitive driving I personally will take a 4-point bar with the tradeoff of less body/structure safety but retain the openness of the driver area and manufacturer designed interior impact areas over metal tubes near my body. Particularly in a well-designed tub like a modern BMW.

I agree. Being 6'-3" every car I get in is tight. Having bars right beside my head isn't something I like.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:20 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

To counterbalance Jim's point (not arguing, I just have my own opinion) -- a full roll cage does add hard metal tubing closer to your head, arms, and legs that can cause secondary injuries in a bad hit or roll. In my opinion, the extra safety of a full cage is most effective for car-on-car impacts (think T-bone) which are a bit less likely in a DE/TT environment.

For non wheel-to-wheel competitive driving I personally will take a 4-point bar with the tradeoff of less body/structure safety but retain the openness of the driver area and manufacturer designed interior impact areas over metal tubes near my body. Particularly in a well-designed tub like a modern BMW.

I agree with your point when people are playing with the bolt in cages and leaving the interior in place.

But to each their own when it comes to safety. All I know is when I hit the inside wall at Roebling Road, I want to walk away like the driver did at our HPDE this past June.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:35 am

Do you have a full cage in your street car? You could hit a wall or something on I-40 :wink:

Your use of "when I hit the wall" is a bit disturbing for a HPDE. I know its possible for anything to happen but you make it sound like there is no other possible outcome.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:07 am

Ryan Holton wrote:

Do you have a full cage in your street car? You could hit a wall or something on I-40 :wink:

Your use of "when I hit the wall" is a bit disturbing for a HPDE. I know its possible for anything to happen but you make it sound like there is no other possible outcome.

The guy wants a dedicated track car and was asking about cages. Y'all want to dissuade him with a $300 bolt in roll bar. And to justify your point using the government mandated crash ratings for the street carries over to the track does not make much sense.

As for "when", it is always "when" and never "if". The more you do and the faster you go the higher the risk. I don't care if it is an HPDE or CMC race. Everyone has their own level of risk versus reward.

If someone wants to build a dedicated track car and trailer it to and from the track, I say go for the cage and skip the $300 rollbar.

Bernie Baake · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:15 am

Having had more than a little experience with this subject in the past year, let me express my opinion on cage versus bar. With race seats and appropriate harnesses the cage is the way to go. When you’re strapped in tightly you don’t really flop around all that much, the seats and the harness really do their job. As most of you know by now I hit the tire wall at southbend at 68 mph in Adams Protégé .(which is now my pile of j…er...car) I’m glad I was in that car at that speed. Had it been any other car without the cage, seats and harnesses there would most certainly have been a much worse outcome. If it were the vette I would not be writing this.
Cage vs roll bar, cage is best, roll bar is really good. Seats and harnesses are a must.
Just my opinion BTDT.

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