- #E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY FULL#
- #E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY SERIES#
- #E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY CRACK#
Regarding the rear mount, since I had the subframe out I chose to blank off the rear cavity (using expanding foam) from the bottom of the car rather than inside the boot as per BMW’s T.I.S.
#E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY FULL#
There are plenty of DIY’s out there so I haven’t gone into the full detail here, a few things to note though. The other 2 mounts (and ultimately the whole floor panel) really only seem to fail once these 2 stressed mounts have failed. The RHF subframe mount is subjected to compression stress (i.e. This is because the LHR subframe mount is subjected to tensile stress (from motor induced rotational torque (anti-clockwise look at the rear of the car) and axle induced rotational torque (anti-clockwise looking at the right hand rear wheel). I also decided to use the structural foam in the LHR and RHF cavities as these are the 2 places where the cracking normally begins. I had the necessary gear/skills to weld and it would have been cheaper but I felt it would have been too “invasive” when all things were taken into account.
#E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY CRACK#
Based on this I decided to weld the crack, fit reinforcing plates, inject BMW structural “foam” and repaint the underneath of the car.īearing in mind that the size of the crack (small) + the internal and external reinforcing being applied I chose to epoxy the reinforcement plates on rather than weld them. After stripping the vehicle underside and inspecting all of the subframe mounting points I found that there was only 1 crack and that it was fairly small (30mm long). km’s) the instances increase exponentially. Why do our cars fail here? Don’t know but previously we could comfort ourselves that very few cars were affected but it seems to me that as time goes on (i.e. left hand rear subframe mount at the floor crease). In my case the crack was located in the classic spot (i.e. I found the crack after viewing a Reddish Motorsport video, I had looked before (with the entire subframe out) but I did not look in all of the right places so I don’t know if is new or was existing.
The kit consists of 8 individual plates, part numbered and tailored to specific locations on the E46’s chassis,Īlong with a set of comprehensive fitting instructions.Īs featured in Performance BMW Magazine Summer 2017 and regularly reviewed/displayed on internet forums, such as .uk and m3forum.I have been in 2 minds as to whether I should post my experience with the dreaded E46 M3 chassis crack, on one hand it is negative for resale purposes while on the other it is potentially good information for fellow Bimmersporters and I reckon the repair is up to any scrutiny.
#E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY SERIES#
The kit is universal to the entire E46 BMW 3 Series model range regardless of body type, transmission or engine size/type. The PSDesigns-E46-Rear-Subframe-Reinforcement-kit® has been designed to provide the best repair and reinforcement option available on the market, regardless of crack damage, age, mileage, service history or modifications made. We invested a lot of time and money into them. If the “other kits” on the market have holes in different locations I would question why, the spot welds/features are in fixed locations on the car’s rear axle carrier panel so why are the holes located differently? Additionally there is a specific number of holes in our kit so as not to interfere with the structural integrity of the plate and how they dissipate loading forces across their surface area, we didn’t just design a kit, we engineered it (probably over engineered it) to be the best we could make it, it took 6 mths to develop and correctly test. This kit has been designed to fit perfectly, each hole lines up with a corresponding feature, as it is supposed to,īe it spot weld locations, the contour of the panel, the shape of the floor or bolt hole/mounting features etc.Įach kit is checked before it leaves our workshop to ensure this is the case. The above images clearly show fatigue cracks 2 separate locations on the rear axle carrier panel. From continuous transition between on-off throttle, the panel begins to fatigue due to a pitching movement of the rear subframe. The rear axle carrier panel is highly susceptible to cracking and tearing due to varying design flaws. The BMW E46 has been plagued with an unfortunate weak point since the birth of it's chassis. PSDesigns have redeveloped our original famous plate kit to offer an even better cost effective long term solution to the well-documented problem of floor cracking which the BMW E46 series suffers.
If you have a question please don’t hesitate to ask.
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