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BMW E46 Subframe issues

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:21 am
by 78dude
This looks very dramatic if you ask me, I found this information on a Norwegian car forum and here is the video of it...

Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8066992482

8O

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:27 am
by darkchild
Ah, E46 323i and 328i wrongness. The days of the E32/E34 are long gone when BMW would build a car to the highest standard and simply add a profit margin on top.

Re:

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:47 am
by JazzMan
Yeah luckily I have one where they had already started putting the ticker metal in the rear, I do give it a good inspection when ever it comes to service time to be sure though!

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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:55 pm
by nickso
JazzMan wrote:Yeah luckily I have one where they had already started putting the ticker metal in the rear, I do give it a good inspection when ever it comes to service time to be sure though!
what year would that be out of interest?

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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:48 pm
by Mox3d
Circa 98 to 01 or 02

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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:51 pm
by JazzMan
nickso wrote:
JazzMan wrote:Yeah luckily I have one where they had already started putting the ticker metal in the rear, I do give it a good inspection when ever it comes to service time to be sure though!
what year would that be out of interest?
IIRC it was around the time the M54 was introduced.

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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:54 pm
by nickso
JazzMan wrote:
nickso wrote:
JazzMan wrote:Yeah luckily I have one where they had already started putting the ticker metal in the rear, I do give it a good inspection when ever it comes to service time to be sure though!
what year would that be out of interest?
IIRC it was around the time the M54 was introduced.
lol sorry to be a pain but what year is that, i know fuck all after the e36 really.

01/02 as moxed says?

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:22 am
by JazzMan
I did a bit of looking around looks like it was sorted as of Feb 2000

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:17 am
by Mox3d
JazzMan wrote:I did a bit of looking around looks like it was sorted as of Feb 2000
Without checking I believe you're bang on. I tried to allow for later registered but early built cars. Hope that makes sense.

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:39 pm
by nickso
so feb 01 to feb02 is the car you want to avoid athe back end falling off and also to avoid the later tax issues. will have to remember that if i ever get an e46.

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:51 pm
by JazzMan
nickso wrote:so feb 01 to feb02 is the car you want to avoid athe back end falling off and also to avoid the later tax issues. will have to remember that if i ever get an e46.
I've got a 02 plate, tax is £210 this year on a 320Ci :(

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:06 pm
by nickso
JazzMan wrote:
nickso wrote:so feb 01 to feb02 is the car you want to avoid athe back end falling off and also to avoid the later tax issues. will have to remember that if i ever get an e46.
I've got a 02 plate, tax is £210 this year on a 320Ci :(
oops, i wasnt thinking when i wrote that. the car needs to be pre march 01 to beat the taxman. so what i meant was feb00 to feb01.

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:13 pm
by bss325i
A friend of mine had a 99 V reg 328Ci which had this problem as cracked the subframe mount on the nearside. It cost him the best part of a grand to be welded up!

This problem isn't exclusive to the 6 cylinder models either!

This is a W reg 2000 model 4dr 318i which came into my work for a noise from the rear,

this is what i found! :eek:

Image

Image

Image

Re:

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:16 pm
by B7
bss325i wrote:A friend of mine had a 99 V reg 328Ci which had this problem as cracked the subframe mount on the nearside. It cost him the best part of a grand to be welded up!

This problem isn't exclusive to the 6 cylinder models either!

This is a W reg 2000 model 4dr 318i which came into my work for a noise from the rear,

this is what i found! :eek:

Image

Image

Image

:eek: F*CK ME!!!!!! did the customer pay for a repair???

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:17 pm
by bss325i
No trev, they were told to scrap it!

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:20 pm
by JazzMan
yipes :eek: 8O

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:19 am
by SamiS
BMW are 100% aware of this issue and will fix it if you put a bit of pressure on it. My '99 323Ci had this and I took it in, they called saying they've found out and will get it sorted within 4 weeks. I didn't even need to push them.

Take a look here: http://www.e46zone.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=103

And you can see here there are hundreds with the issue, this helps when you argue with BMW!

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread ... 02&page=60

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:52 am
by Pilsbury
Interestingly, this is rather similar to the issue that affects the Z3...

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:10 pm
by pacerpete
E12 M535s were similarly afflicted ! :eek:

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:40 pm
by Jon_Bmw
I have always heard of people talking about this issue, but christ it is worse than I thought! Barry, are you sure thats not a c5 or something! :chuckle:

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 7:26 pm
by Mox3d
Pilsbury wrote:Interestingly, this is rather similar to the issue that affects the Z3...
The vary same. Earlier z3's, same era.

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:27 pm
by Pilsbury
Do E36 Compacts suffer from it too, as they are mechanically very similar to the Z3?

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:00 pm
by harry_p
i thought the z3 issue was more to do with the diff 'ear' mount tearing away from the boot floor, rather than the subrfame mounts themselves.

there have been some high power e30s that have suffered the same, and no doubt given enough power compacts would suffer too. most only have small engines so it's not likely to show up as often.

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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:01 pm
by Pilsbury
The Z3 suffers from subframe and diff problems. I heard of it happening on everything from 1.8's up.
I know there were 6 pot Compacts in LHD.