Jacking points

Kingash

Member
 Auckland, NZ
Where is the best place to jack the M on the front? Im abit of a big lad so getting under the car and having a feel is awkward ha, I went over a pothole the other day and i may have knocked something loose underneath, everytime i go over a bumpy surface at low speed it knocks around.
 
I'm not sure you can just jack the front up like we all used to do on the Sump as there's a tray in place, it would be much easier, think you'll have to use the side jacking points and look one side at a time .
 
Yeah i dont mind one side at a time aslong as i can have a look under there, take it they are shown in the manual?
 
There are two different ways that you can lift the front end of the car, only.

1. There is a central jacking point on the metal "tray" under the engine (a circular black plastic pad). This lifts the car equally on both sides.
2. There are two plastic jacking pads under the cills about 30cms behind the front wheel. You can lift the car on one side only or both.

The fact that you are asking this question sounds to me that you're not too familiar with lifting cars, so be very careful and make sure that the car is lifted safely and that it cannot fall off the jack(s) before you get underneath the car.
 
Don't hurt to ask does it, was wondering if there was anything i should careful about thats all as you never know if you haven't done it before on a new car.
 
Kingash said:
Don't hurt to ask does it, was wondering if there was anything i should careful about thats all as you never know if you haven't done it before on a new car.


If your into home maintenance I'd invest in some ramps, I got myself a pair with extensions for low cars.
Safest way for oil changes etc.
 
Kingash said:
Don't hurt to ask does it, was wondering if there was anything i should careful about thats all as you never know if you haven't done it before on a new car.

Of course it doesn't. I'm always happy to chip in if I can help and always happy to ask others if I want to know something. IMO that's what forums are all about. :thumbsup:
 
I've used the "jack it up each side under the side cills" method before. Can I enquire: "1. There is a central jacking point on the metal "tray" under the engine (a circular black plastic pad). This lifts the car equally on both sides." - do you need to remove anything (plastic undertray?) to access the black plastic/rubber pad? I think I've seen this pad but have been worried about using it and will remain so unless one of you helpful lads can confirm it's fine to use it directly with the jack. I'd normally put a bit of wood between the jack and whatever I'm jacking up so I understand this is likely to mean driving the car onto planks in order to raise it up sufficiently to get the jack and wood under the plastic pad. Grateful for confirmation though.
Stevo
 
Adamski said:
Yes, they have unique jacking points these M cars don't they 8)

They do actually - the front central one is not present on any other Z :wink:

And you can use it directly with the jack, assuming you have one that will reach :thumbsup:
 
stevo///m3 said:
I've used the "jack it up each side under the side cills" method before. Can I enquire: "1. There is a central jacking point on the metal "tray" under the engine (a circular black plastic pad). This lifts the car equally on both sides." - do you need to remove anything (plastic undertray?) to access the black plastic/rubber pad? I think I've seen this pad but have been worried about using it and will remain so unless one of you helpful lads can confirm it's fine to use it directly with the jack. I'd normally put a bit of wood between the jack and whatever I'm jacking up so I understand this is likely to mean driving the car onto planks in order to raise it up sufficiently to get the jack and wood under the plastic pad. Grateful for confirmation though.
Stevo

You can sit the jack directly under the black pad of central jacking point. The hardest part about using this point is that you need to already have the car lifted slightly (i.e. drive the car onto a plank under each front wheel or onto ramps) otherwise you won't have enough room to use the lever on the hydraulic jack until the car's been lifted a bit. I like to use the central jacking point because, once the car is lifted, I can then carefully lower the car onto stands under the two side jacking points, which is safest.
 
Is the rear central jacking point the same as other Zs, where the struts meet under the diff ?
 
Bing said:
Is the rear central jacking point the same as other Zs, where the struts meet under the diff ?

Yes, you need to be careful to position your jack so that the cup of the jack doesn't move as the car is lifted.
 
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