2006+ Center Jacking Points

[FlyPenFly]

Is it safe to jack on the spot?

In the pelican guide, there's supposed to be some rubber part there but mine doesn't have it as it's a normal 3.0i N52 2006.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/BMW_Z4M/87-BASICS-Jacking_Your_Vehicle/87-BASICS-Jacking_Your_Vehicle.htm

Other threads I've searched for say it's going to completely mess up the suspension... and other threads says it's fine even though I'll hear a horrible crunching noise at first..

 

[Scooba_Steve]

It will crumple unless an M, but solid behind.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Okay so does that mean it's okay to jack on this point? Doing the brakes soon and this will make it a lot easier.

 

[patriot66]

It will definitely crumple. It is made from very thin and malleable aluminium sheet I haven't and never will jack mine on it

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I prefer not to - despite my undertray already being crumpled. You can jack at the rear and put a stand under the front point (sides) to get one wheel in the air.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Okay hopefully this doesn't lead me astray...

https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148342

 

[Ewazix]

I looked in to this when first getting to grips with jacking-up and working on my car. The front centre cross member belly plate on the non-M cars is not the same as the M and although it's a very lightweight alloy is actually a structural strengthening member referred to as a "reinforcement plate" on TIS and real-oem. People often refer to it as a 'cover' but it has a complex triangulated box construction which provides strength and displaces forces around the front suspension. Jacking the non-M cars at this point crushes the box profiles destroying the structural integrity of the "reinforcement plate".

Several people report using this point crushing the plate and haven't mentioned problems (would they realise?) but the choice is yours. I work on the assumption it's not OK which is why BMW went to the expense of fitting a pad for the ///M in the knowledge that they were more likely to be tracked and centre jacked. I've found the four sill points and centre rear do the job just fine.

RealOem 2003 3.0 https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BT53-USA-06-2003-E85-BMW-Z4_30i&diagId=31_0642

 

[FlyPenFly]

I prefer not to - despite my undertray already being crumpled. You can jack at the rear and put a stand under the front point (sides) to get one wheel in the air.

Hmm are you saying that jacking the rear can get the car high enough to put jack stands at the front?

 

[Silverzedtom]

I think he means for the front:

Rear side pad jacked and a stand under the front jack pad on the same side, same for the other side.

Then if you have four stands you can lift the rear middle point, and pop two stands under the rear side jack pads.

 

[FlyPenFly]

I think he means for the front:

Rear side pad jacked and a stand under the front jack pad on the same side, same for the other side.

Then if you have four stands you can lift the rear middle point, and pop two stands under the rear side jack pads.

Yeah that makes sense. I guess I wonder if that's bad for the car to be tilted that much sideways. It would also make it impossible to raise the car very high.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I was just saying do one side at a time. On the side points jacking from the rear gets the front side point high enough to get a stand under it.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Okay so I think get the rear side jack points up with my low profile lift, then get one of these jack stands with integrated bottle jack under the front on each side:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Powerbuilt-620470-UniJack-4000-Lb-Capacity/2254380258?iid=192628497868&chn=ps

Then raise rear center jack point and put normal jack stands at rear side points.

So the procedure would be:
1. low profile floor jack under rear passenger side, raise until I can fit bottle jack stand under front passenger side
2. lower low profile jack, car is now raised only front passenger side
3. low profile floor jack under rear driver side, raise until I can fit bottle jack stand under front driver side
4. lower low profile jack, car is now raised fully on front
5. raise rear center jack point where braces meet, raise until desired height
6. place jack stands under rear side jack points, lower low profile jack
7. raise front bottle jack stands to match height of rear jack stands.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I don't like jacking up around a single point, if you have ramps to get the front on then I'd do that in preference first, then jack each side from the rear unless you can get under the rear centre with the front raised.

 

[FlyPenFly]

If I use ramps, I won't be able to get jack stands under the front wheels unfortunately.