Front Centre Jacking Point For Non-M

[Jl-c]

Firstly, I am not saying you are wrong Ewazix however the car shown underneath has only two exhausts so can’t be an M however I totally agree with what you are saying reference jacking points and crushing things, just too risky in my book. I’ll stick to the side jacking points and awkward it may be but it’s safe.

 

[MJJamieson]

Could an M brace be fitted to a non M car to facilitate a jacking point?

 

[mjennings23]

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e85-z4-3.0i-roa/repair-manuals/00-maintenance-general-note/00-02-raise-vehicle-tow-away/FiJt7rY

The fact that BMWs own factory repair manuals show it as a safe lifting point means more to me than hearsay on the internet. You'll notice its very explicit about having to remove the metal under tray from the rear before using the rear diff as a lifting point. No such qualifications made about anything at the front.

Take care the document you linked to is NOT a BMW factory repair manual at all!, on the home page it says "newTIS.info is not an official source of information and is not affiliated with BMW in any way". Its wrong and is showing a schematic of of the ///M which has jacking point access, the rest of the range don't. If you check any manual supplied with a non-M car the front point is not a safe jacking point because it's a light alloy honeycomb brace that will crush and will lose it's structural integrity.

TIS (Technical Information System) is BMW's official factory repair manuals. This website is merely an unofficial hosting of it as BMW don't officially release it to anyone outside the dealer chain, hence the website stating they are not affiliated.

I can open up the official BMW TIS software on my pc and it's the exact same. Unfortunately I can't very well link the software on here for every question.

Please do some research before jumping on people's comments and preaching "hearsay" as factual information. Do you honestly believe the subframe of a steel chassis car is lightweight honeycomb aluminium?

 

[Ewazix]

Please do some research before jumping on people's comments and preaching "hearsay" as factual information. Do you honestly believe the subframe of a steel chassis car is lightweight honeycomb aluminium?

Never mind 'research' or 'preachy hearsay' you cheeky sod, I happen to believe it's hollow alloy because I've removed it!

The part we are beefing about is called a front suspension reinforcing plate (the clue to its function is in the name) it's there to add lateral rigidity to the front suspension (stop it slopping about) and people who have driven without it report the car feeling strangely wallowy on the front end. It's part number 51717028433 (shared with the E46 and E86) and is made of hollow, reinforced aluminium alloy. Because it's there to provide lateral stiffness only, and is light alloy hollow section with some lattice reinforcement inside, crushing it or deforming it's lateral strength or dimensions will risk unwanted suspension 'slop'. It's not designed to be used as a jacking point, if you remove it, then yes you will have a jacking point underneath per the ///M, which may explain why some diagrams show it.

In fairness members say they have used it and found that crushing this member hasn't caused there car to collapse or crash in a ball of flames, so maybe crack on :hattip:

A vid on removing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnv4egujpHY

One for sale https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/product/1943145-used?product=B51717028433

Real oem https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BT52-EUR-04-2004-E85-BMW-Z4_30i&diagId=31_0642

 

[mjennings23]

Please do some research before jumping on people's comments and preaching "hearsay" as factual information. Do you honestly believe the subframe of a steel chassis car is lightweight honeycomb aluminium?

Never mind 'research' or 'preachy hearsay' you cheeky sod, I happen to believe it's hollow alloy because I've removed it!

Seems we have a misunderstanding here. I was not advocating using the aluminium plate as a lifting point, bit the cutout on them fits a jacking adaptor perfectly and is positioned directly against the structural cross member behind. Perhaps you missed my earlier point about it not doing any damage or bending anything using the correct jacking pad.

 

[Ewazix]

So this part is lightweight hollow aluminium and I wasn't trotting out 'hearsay' then? :wink:

The area under the indent is still a cavity, pad or no pad I can't see how it will not crush. People who have done it report it crushing even with a pad, which is why I didn't try. It sounds like you have actually done this? If you get a chance a video of how you use a pad on the alloy member would be a really useful for members thinking of using what would be a great facility.

 

[Migizi]

related question to this thread,

my reinforcement plate does NOT have the rubber jack pad, and I cannot find the part number on Real OEM (maybe I'm just not seeing it).
Does anyone know that part number?

2006 E85 3.0si

Here is a pic of what I am referencing...

 

[G600]

related question to this thread,

my reinforcement plate does NOT have the rubber jack pad, and I cannot find the part number on Real OEM (maybe I'm just not seeing it).
Does anyone know that part number?

2006 E85 3.0si

Here is a pic of what I am referencing...

Because it's only fitted to the M you won't find it if you're looking at realoem under a 3.0si

 

[Migizi]

would the rubber jack pad for the M fit on a non-M?

 

[Ewazix]

would the rubber jack pad for the M fit on a non-M?

No, the front axle assembly including the alloy reinforcing plate are different part numbers on the M. The reinforcing plate of the M is a different construction and also has a cut-out for the jack pad. You can see the assembly and part numbers on real oem, unfortunately the non-M cars don't have the cut out through the hollow section for a pad.

But looking at the two they both are fitted with 8 x M10x35mm bolts so wonder if the complete M reinforcing plate with it's cut-out and pad can be fitted to other models? :scratchhead:

///M https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BT92-EUR-01-2006-E85-BMW-Z4_M32&diagId=31_0779

Other e85/86 https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BT52-EUR-04-2004-E85-BMW-Z4_30i&diagId=31_0642

 

[Ruofdez]

I started this thread to try and clear things up which I think it's done with both the case both for and against but as an update with my own situation I got some ramps with the low car extensions. Failed miserably. I'm not sure whether my car has been lowered but it wasn't even close to getting up them. The ground clearance is tiny. So plan B and did the following:
1. Used rear jacking point to raise car enough to put axle stands under front jacking point being careful with the placement where the car comes down at an angle.
2. Repeat on other side.
3. Used centre rear jacking point to add axle stands on both of the rear side jacking points.

It was fine, no movement/rocking on the axle stands and my only tip would be to check the first axle stand as you're raising and lowering the car onto the second. Perhaps the reason the M car has the front jacking point is the extra weight with the engine making the process I mention above a bit more hairy.

 

[Liam22]

For the race car I plan to cut a hole through the indent section of the reinforcement plate and screw a jacking pad onto the cross member. If this works out well then I will document the process/parts.