oh look, another subframe removal thread

[hellakush]

i've been doing my research on removing this beast and i need a few things cleared up.

1 - is the hole from the inside of the car behind the interior quarter panels?

2 - i read in another thread to "knock the big pins up". is this referring to the threaded bolts?

3 - is this the best way?: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...1&postcount=87

let me know as i have every single thing disconnected and every single bolt/nut undone for removal. all i need to do is get this last part done to remove.

also, my abs things on the rear breaks are not coming off. is there a special way to pry these out without damaging them?

any help would be great.

[DJB]

The hole for the rear subframe mount bolt is under the rear seat. The bolt heads are recessed a bit -- look for the access hole.

Start by breaking loose the nuts at the subframe bracket with a 22mm (or 7/8") socket. Just loosening a turn will do. You don't want to be pulling the wrong way with the car on jack stands. You should also make certain that you can loosen the 6mm hex bracket screws -- you'll need a 6mm hex socket.

Then jack the car up and remove the wheels. Removing the wheels isn't strictly necessary, but it will make the first time a little easier. Place jack stands under both the body and the subframe beam -- you can use a floor jack on the subframe beam if you don't have four jack stands, but you'll need to be careful.

Finish removing the 6mm hex screws holding the brackets to the body, then the 22mm nut. If you are lucky, the subframe will lower gently onto the jack stands as you loosen the nut. Otherwise you'll need to hammer the center bolt out, into the car's interior, and use the technique above (5/8" bolt or lag screw threaded into the bushing, and hammering from above).

Once the bushing is free from the body, use your preferred method to extract the bushing. I prefer my 'bridge' approach, which uses a modified Pitman arm puller with a two jaw puller.

Installing the new bushing depends on the type. Polyurethane bushings slide in by hand, while stock style bushings need to be lubed up and pressed in. A bottle jack, pipe cap and metal strap or strong rope around the whole setup works pretty well. It will take between 500lbs and 1500lbs of force.


Subframe mount center bolt, M14x1.5 140Nm (33 33 3AZ)
Locating "angle" bracket to body, (6mm hex driver) screw 28Nm

[hellakush]

The hole for the rear subframe mount bolt is under the rear seat. The bolt heads are recessed a bit -- look for the access hole.

Start by breaking loose the nuts at the subframe bracket with a 22mm (or 7/8") socket. Just loosening a turn will do. You don't want to be pulling the wrong way with the car on jack stands. You should also make certain that you can loosen the 6mm hex bracket screws -- you'll need a 6mm hex socket.

Then jack the car up and remove the wheels. Removing the wheels isn't strictly necessary, but it will make the first time a little easier. Place jack stands under both the body and the subframe beam -- you can use a floor jack on the subframe beam if you don't have four jack stands, but you'll need to be careful.

Finish removing the 6mm hex screws holding the brackets to the body, then the 22mm nut. If you are lucky, the subframe will lower gently onto the jack stands as you loosen the nut. Otherwise you'll need to hammer the center bolt out, into the car's interior, and use the technique above (5/8" bolt or lag screw threaded into the bushing, and hammering from above).

Once the bushing is free from the body, use your preferred method to extract the bushing. I prefer my 'bridge' approach, which uses a modified Pitman arm puller with a two jaw puller.

Installing the new bushing depends on the type. Polyurethane bushings slide in by hand, while stock style bushings need to be lubed up and pressed in. A bottle jack, pipe cap and metal strap or strong rope around the whole setup works pretty well. It will take between 500lbs and 1500lbs of force.


Subframe mount center bolt, M14x1.5 140Nm (33 33 3AZ)
Locating "angle" bracket to body, (6mm hex driver) screw 28Nm

i have everything already unbolted and the subframe and pumpkin didn't just drop like i had hoped. as for the location under the seat, there are two holes on each side. there is a capped hole (i've taken the cap off but it's open all the way through to the underside of the car, and then there is another hole filled up with foam. which one is it?

so i guess i need to get out the air hammer to get the bolt out so i guess i have that figured out. as for the pressing the new bushing in, i have a bushing press & a porta-power to use so that shouldn't be a problem getting the new ones on.

i need to do more work than just replacing the bushings so i need the whole rear end out as i have to drill out a few broken bolts to tap new threads in a few areas, run new e-brakelines, run new hard lines, remove the old bearings as well as press in new ones, a clean up and paint job, and so on. is there a special trick to get these off together or is it something simple? i ask because i still have the swing arms attached.

thx for the help.

[TrentW]

Got my subframe out yesterday and found this thread very helpful. Fred, your lag bolt procedure worked like a charm. :)

One thing I would add is to start soaking all nuts & bolts with PB Blaster 24 hours before beginning and then again the day you start. Probably not as crucial for you guys in warm weather climates, but can't hurt either. Use plenty on the four M6 hex bolts on the brackets right in front of the wheelwells, both ends of the ebrake cables, and ABS sensors especially.

[Heysüß]

what is this bolt under the rear seat?

[lbreevesii]

^ the bolts that bolt the subframe to the car. They're a stud.


I used a tap to thread a 5/8 rod into the center of my bushings. worked great and worked to pull the whole bushings out of my subframe.

[Heysüß]

oh ok, I thought you guys were implying there was another bolt i had to loosen below the rear seats or something.

I got one bushing loose on one side. but the other bushing won't come lose so the subframe is still on the car. Gonna try and keep banging on it... any ideas?

I'm considering just ruining the bushing by cutting it or something to get the entire rear end down.

[JRowe]

I recommend an air chisel with a blunt round attachment or even I've even used a the pencil tip shaped attachment on the bolt that goes through the body. It only takes a few seconds and the bolt is free.

[rightcoastbias]

#02 KNURLED BOLT 2 51718181460 $6.63

For clarification, you are threading a large lag bolt into the bottom of the subframe bushing with the purpose of pushing the KNURLED BOLT (#2) out of the bushing and the body.

I thought those were welded into the body. My life just got easier. LoL.

[bmwmech1]

#02 KNURLED BOLT 2 51718181460 $6.63

For clarification, you are threading a large lag bolt into the bottom of the subframe bushing with the purpose of pushing the KNURLED BOLT (#2) out of the bushing and the body.

I thought those were welded into the body. My life just got easier. LoL.

Actually, for clarification, you are tapping the bushing from the bottom, to screw a lag bolt into it from the bottom, to have a positive stop to drive the subframe bolt back onto it from the top, for bushings that are stuck in the body. The knurled bolt is generally easy to pop out from underneath, since it is just splined the top 5mm of the shoulder. The knurled bolt would already be out before you start tapping the bushing from below. This procedure is for when the top of the subframe bushing has bonded itself to the body of the car and won't allow the subframe to drop. This method works very well, it just takes a little more time to get it done, but it beats the hell out of trying to pry or pound the subframe into submission...

Garey