IND | Rogue Engineering E46 M3 Aluminum Lifting Block Set

[bmwfnatic]

old///MFanatic

As I said in my first post, I believe the rust to be a result of the problem and not the cause.

If you look at the second picture I posted you can see only the outer (super thin 0.8mm) panel was rusted a bit, which I believe happens because of the bends the metal makes the paint and sealer cracks and flakes away.

The internal much thicker support plate was pretty much not affected by rust.

So I am not 100% sure if we can blame this on rust, the evidence I have seen suggests not.

[old///MFanatic]

The info on the coupes being different from the sedan you cut is indeed fascinating. Thank you for sharing this info.

The other confirms in photos as was said these rust out. Then become damaged. I’ve had over 100 E46s on lifts and have yet to come across any with damage there in SoCal. I mention region because I don’t see rusted cars. This is my caveat. I do however know these do get damaged from seeing and reading feedback worldwide and rust. This is especially true in Europe. Companies make and sell this section of metal just to replace from rust damage. At all four jack pads and not just rear. But rears are most common rusted out area. Here’s one I know about from before showing those same plates and areas. You may find it interesting.

https://www.valcasgarage.com/product/e46-four-repair-kits-jacking-point-for-all-car/

[bmwfnatic]

I have never seen this design change. Do you happen to have info/documentation of this being a flawed different design between Coupes and Sedans/Convertibles? The only thing ever seen was it getting rusted out on some extreme cases. And the rears tend to be more prone to extreme rust.
And BMW never posted a TSB about this afaik, and jacking flaw knowledge would be a severe safety issue. If it were a rust issue that’s another story. But a major design flaw at jacking points would need a safety bulletin no?

I don’t think it has ever been publicly acknowledged, the cases of extreme rust originate from this though, because the jack pad tips in on the on the outside, the overlapped section on the inside opens up a bit, which allows moisture to get in and rots out the jacking point.

This is what happens to the jacking point if you just lift one rear corner with a floor jack, the outside tips inwards, it is supposed to be parralel to the arm of the lift.



If we cut away a part of the outer section we can see the structure within, the outside curves upwards further and is attached to the outside of the panel with 2 more spot welds.



I have modified a 2 foot crowbar to fit in the hole on the jacking point, which allows me to pull the jacking point back straight with only the length of the crowbar as leverage, the metal is that weak, I would imagine that lifting a car is much more stressful.
After pulling the jacking support back straight, we weld in a triangle shape to prevent it from tipping inwards again, it's not all that complicated but it's a fair amount of work.

For the reason why this only happens to the coupe, we cut open a sedan that was going to be scrapped and we found that there's an additional support on the outside of the jacking structure (exactly the part that fails on the coupes) which goes further upwards.
On the coupes this entire part just simply isn't there, I don't really know why.

[old///MFanatic]

I could not find that in the M3 specific manual. It only has the mobile tire kit instructions.

Well that’s because the M3 doesn’t get the jack and spare standard.
The E46 Coupe manual doesn’t have the instructions for the mobility kit if that helps answer that. Since they never got it.
But as stated the BMW space saver tire and BMW jack instructions for M3 show to use only those four.

[Slideways]

My document in post #23 is directly from the E46 3 Series Coupe owners manual.
As for the TIS I’ve seen both mentions of using a trolley jack at the six locations; four rail jack pads, center front and by rear diff. I’ll see if I can grab quick screen shot.

I could not find that in the M3 specific manual. It only has the mobile tire kit instructions.

[old///MFanatic]

BMW TIS only shows jacking up from the front center jack pad and raising the car on a four post lift. I could not find any info on jacking up from one of the side jacking pads.

My document in post #23 is directly from the E46 3 Series Coupe owners manual.
As for the TIS I’ve seen both mentions of using a trolley jack at the six locations; four rail jack pads, center front and by rear diff. I’ll see if I can grab quick screen shot.

[Slideways]

I have never seen this design change. Do you happen to have info/documentation of this being a flawed different design between Coupes and Sedans/Convertibles? The only thing ever seen was it getting rusted out on some extreme cases. And the rears tend to be more prone to extreme rust.
And BMW never posted a TSB about this afaik, and jacking flaw knowledge would be a severe safety issue. If it were a rust issue that’s another story. But a major design flaw at jacking points would need a safety bulletin no?

BMW TIS only shows jacking up from the front center jack pad and raising the car on a four post lift. I could not find any info on jacking up from one of the side jacking pads.

[SQ13]

Both of my rear jack pads are bent lol.

[old///MFanatic]

The rear jacking points in the E46 Coupe cannot support the weight of the car when lifted with a jack, the entire metal structure fails and tips inwards. It’s a design flaw, convertibles and sedans in my experience are not affected by this.

I have never seen this design change. Do you happen to have info/documentation of this being a flawed different design between Coupes and Sedans/Convertibles? The only thing ever seen was it getting rusted out on some extreme cases. And the rears tend to be more prone to extreme rust.
And BMW never posted a TSB about this afaik, and jacking flaw knowledge would be a severe safety issue. If it were a rust issue that’s another story. But a major design flaw at jacking points would need a safety bulletin no?

[1bluemcm]

we could use something like this for the Z4/Z4M cars. Glad I saw this thread, will have to look around.

[tnord]

I don't use the rear jack point other than to put the car on stands, but I don't think when using it you're really applying force equivalent to the weight of the car since at least two other wheels are on the ground. More like half the weight.

[bmwfnatic]

even if you're using ramps, in the end you're still setting the car down on the pucks, so what would be so bad about lifting the car from the same spot?

The rear jacking points in the E46 Coupe cannot support the weight of the car when lifted with a jack, the entire metal structure fails and tips inwards. It’s a design flaw, convertibles and sedans in my experience are not affected by this.

[tnord]

even if you're using ramps, in the end you're still setting the car down on the pucks, so what would be so bad about lifting the car from the same spot?

[old///MFanatic]

I thought it was ok to quickly lift from one rear point in a pinch for a flat

It is. The other E46s come with a factory jack that actually is made just for using any of the four factory jack pad locations.
The BMW accessory “Emergency Spacesaver Spare & Jack” kit come with similar jack and same use instructions.

[SQ13]

do you drive up boards or ramps to get enough height for a jack to get to the hockey puck?

I use a race jack on the front right or left jack pad to get the tire 1-2” off the ground, then I’ll use a low profile jack to lift from the center puck. Boards or ramps work too.