E46 subframe mount torn from floor...

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thefool1983

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My 1999/2000 e46 323ci has been making a loud clicking noise from the rear end. So I got under the car this afternoon and found that the near side subframe mount at rear of car had torn right out through the floor.

From trawling google I see this is quite a common problem. Has anyone ever come across this before?

I guess I could fix it by welding a doubler plate on the bottom face of the floor and weld it all back up. Is there any parts you can buy to fix it?

I will upload pics in a bit.

Cheers
 

s13rab

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bmw covered theses under warranty but no longer im afraid :9 sorry to hear it ,its common amount the 6cyl cars more than anything
 

thefool1983

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image-2.jpg

image-1.jpg

image.jpg
 

Coog

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Flippin heck when did that happen?

Was always really paranoid about that going on her but thought she was one of the good ones. Hopefully it doesn't cause too much bother to fix.
 

thefool1983

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Do ya reckon it will be alright to drive in the mean time?

Aye coog seems to have happened really quick like over last few weeks. Yhought it was ARB bushes or broken spring at 1st. But sure life has way of testing us!!

That link makes it a little more clear what needs done. Hopefully I can do all stripping out and cutting then het my unlce who is handy with the welder to give it a good seeing to
 

Boydie

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Do a lot of crying to BMW and see what they say - send pictures and emails off to BMW uk and make a fuss.

Worth a shot.
 

s13rab

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they wont do anything the cars way outside the warranty period and they stop issuing theses under that about 2 years ago iirc
 

ANDYBL4IR

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These issues were covered under warranty if the car was within 10 years of the build date. Not sure if they are still doing them. Might be worth giving Agnews Bodyshop a call to see.

If you are just going to weld it up make sure and weld it from the top of the box section as well or you will still get a rattle
 

chrisQ

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My dads e46 done the exact same thing and it got a new boot floor in agnews bodyshop bout 3 years ago, is a common issue on these. ring jonny martin in agnews repair centre and see what he has to say although as rab says i have heard lately that bm have stopped repairing them under warranty. If agnews want to see it dont touch it with a welder or try a temporary repair as they will walk away. Problem is also it pulls a section out of the chassis up inside the boot floor also, at least my dads did anyway. Good luck
 

Ben P

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it was only the early e46's that suffered the subframe/bootfloor issue. <early 2000.

unlucky that yours is 99/00.

you can get it repaired, not the handiest, but not the biggest job in the world.

If you know anyone handy with a welder thats a good start!
 

VWChrisMk2

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My dads e46 done the exact same thing and it got a new boot floor in agnews bodyshop bout 3 years ago, is a common issue on these. ring jonny martin in agnews repair centre and see what he has to say although as rab says i have heard lately that bm have stopped repairing them under warranty. If agnews want to see it dont touch it with a welder or try a temporary repair as they will walk away. Problem is also it pulls a section out of the chassis up inside the boot floor also, at least my dads did anyway. Good luck

I had the exact same thing happen,

Just spoke to Kev there and explained how i got around it. Hopefully they will stand over it.. Its not a warranty issue.. its a manufacture defect, so they should have to stand over it regardless
 

thefool1983

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Right guys,

As requested heres a some pics of theSubframe DIY that i did on my coupe.

Took a while as I thought id do a bit of a write up to go with the pictures.

After investigating a serious knocking noise, this is how i noticed that i had the problem.

This is looking at the mount from underneath the car as you can see the mount has ripped right through.

rsz27072010004.jpg


So i started by stripping the carpets out of the boot and covered the boot in dust sheets. I then marked were i was going to cut boot floor with masking tape.

rsz15082010027.jpg


This then revealed a box section underneath the three holes are were the orginal welds were holding the mount in place.

15082010028.jpg


I then cut into the box section to reveal the actual Subframe mount. Note I kept all the pieces i had cut out so that they could be welded back in later.

15082010030.jpg


I then removed this mount to show where the mount had torn through the body.

15082010033.jpg


Once i had removed all the parts that i needed i started cleaning up the metal around the tear and the bottom of the mount.

15082010035.jpg


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Now that it was all cleaned up i made a piece to fit into the tear hole and a clamp to hold it in place, welded it up and then started to linished it back

18082010042.jpg


22082010044z.jpg

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The tear hole was now filled in, So i went about giving it some more strength.

To do this i fabricated a plate that would be fitted into the box section.

16082010038.jpg


Again i used the clamp i made earlier to hold the plate in place whilst i spot welded it into position.

22082010046.jpg


Once this was spot welded into postion i run some welds around the edges for more support and spot welded the mount into position on the new plate.

22082010049.jpg


I was now happy and made a start on rebuilding the box section. I welded the pieces back in that i had cut out earlier re welded the original spot welders for the mount and gave it a lick of paint for protection. (The photo shows it not painted)

22082010051.jpg


Now to rebuild the boot floor. i didnt want to run masses of weld around this part so i spot welded it and ran some sealant around it.

22082010052z.jpg


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Once this was done i rubbed it bck with sandpaper and primered it.

Heres the fininshed result in the boot.

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and from underneath. Now that it has got a bit of dirt on it you dont even notice it.

22082010054.jpg


It can be done even by a novice, the hardest part is getting the bottle to do it

and as i said before it hasn't let me down yet



POSTED FOR CLARITY OF PICTURES
 

stevieturbo

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No way should any section of metal removed like that simply be tacked back into position. It MUST be fully seam welded.
 

thefool1983

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Yea pabs. Thems the photos from the how to. Posted them again as I wanted easy access to the pics

Gonna tackle this either this weekend or next. So wish me luck
 
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