Collapsed jack point

[eacmen]

What do people do when their jack point collapses? I was doing some track side work this past weekend and heard a pop while jacking up. Suspected the jack point had given out and I was right 😬

[mrgizmo04]

It is now work-hardened and probably won't just fall off, so can use it as "normal" going forward.

Just account for the fact that going forward, when your car is on all 4 jack stands or on a lift, the frame is no longer square since your driver rear will be sitting lower, when you need to weld anything (like rear bracing, etc). More of a comment for others since I think you have a cage, but good note. I know shops don't actually account for collapsed jack points and then weld in cages or rear reinforcements and then things like normal shock tower braces/etc don't fit properly.

I have opted for a hydrolic jack + a crappy scissor jack when jacking up a side of the car so I have 2 points to spread the load at the track.

Sent from my SM-S911U1 using Tapatalk

[cobra]

One of mine is like this but I never did anything out of the ordinary...

What causes it?

[bigjae46]

I have the same thing. Most roll cages and bars will have the main hoop footings right above this. I hit it with a mallet to flatten it and welded a plate on top.

Is that the right procedure? I have no idea...

[Slideways]

I have the same thing. Most roll cages and bars will have the main hoop footings right above this. I hit it with a mallet to flatten it and welded a plate on top.

Is that the right procedure? I have no idea...

Only if you had a cigar and 3 beers during :P

[eacmen]

Sorta hard to see but I have a box welded where that jack point is, might be hard to repair from above 😞

[Riley]

Redish motorsports has some good videos on youtube of restorations they have done on e46s showing the process to repairing the jacking points.
You are going to need to cut into the rocker panel to perform the repairs though.

[Pklauser]

Am I dense, or are my jack points collapsed too? I don't think I see what's collapsed in that photo

[eacmen]

Am I dense, or are my jack points collapsed too? I don't think I see what's collapsed in that photo

My jack pad used to sit under the rocker panel cover. Now its flush and crooked. So yours may have always been collapsed? Very common failure on e46.

[Pklauser]

My jack pad used to sit under the rocker panel cover. Now its flush and crooked. So yours may have always been collapsed? Very common failure on e46.

I'll have to go out and look at mine. Could be the angle playing games on me too

[usdmej]

One of mine is like this but I never did anything out of the ordinary...

What causes it?

these jacking points dont seem to be strong enough to handle being used one point at a time like when using a regular floor jack

[heinzboehmer]

these jacking points dont seem to be strong enough to handle being used one point at a time like when using a regular floor jack

Yeah this. Seems like they were designed to only be used in situations where the load is spread across multiple jack points, like when on a two post lift. Fronts actually seem okay with a floor jack, but rears tend to cave in

[Slideways]

TIS says to use the jack pads at the four corners when using a lift and the center jack pad under the front subframe when using a floor jack. There is nothing about jacking up the rear with a floor jack. I guess BMW does not recommend using the corner jack points with a floor jack. They probably are not designed to take all that weight, which is why the bent rear corner jack point can happen.

[bmwfnatic]

The jacking points bending only happens on the coupe, the convertible is apparently stronger.

The outside of the jacking point is the weak part, the inside is quite strong because of the multi-layer connection there, so they do not catastrophically fail, but rather just tip to where they are no longer horizontal.

The worst side effect is that it causes the panel to slightly open up letting moisture and therefore rust in, which rots out the whole jacking point area over time.

I know of one publicly available repair kit at the moment which is made by Lewis from Weldtech.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr03LXsKAzc/

It works by cutting the panel open, pulling the bent portion straight, and then inserting a triangle which is welded in place.

This distributes the load from the weaker outside to the inside panel, making it impossible for the jacking point to bend again.

[jdamore44]

I picked up these to use with my floor jack. Seems to help?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0725GCJ6T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1