e30 Jacking Points

[aaron_silva]

Where are the best places to jack up the e30 and the best places for the jack stands (when all four corners are up)? I remeber seeing a website about this topic but I dont recall where.

TIA

[MattM20]

here's a good site with pics http://s00r.van.wessem.net:81/vehicles/BMW/jacking/ although it says to jack up the rear by the diff bellhousing, which i'm sure people here would advise against.

also, here's an article from roadfly:
Front - Jack - Place floor jack on center of main crossmember to lift entire front end. This runs from side to side and is about four inches wide. Be careful not to get it to far back (oil pan) or to far forward (stabilizer bar).
Front - Jack Stands - Two choices: 1) Underneath the rails which are welded to the floor pan. These are about three inches wide located on both sides of the car about one foot on either side of the transmission. They extend back about as far as the midpoint of the door. Place the stands as close as possible to front where they curve up the firewall so that the rails are leveraging as little weight as possible. 2) The reinforcement "squares" located on the floorpan near where the rocker panel meets the front fender. Some jack stands won't fit in these squares - then use #1. If you live in a corrosion area always use a double redundancy - removed wheel and tire underneath rocker panel, etc. I've seen jack stands push through rusted floors of E30s.
Rear - Jack - A little trickier - There has always been debate on whether or not it is ok to lift the entire rear with a floor jack underneath the differential. Structurally it is fine. What will eventually happen if you do it alot is the upper rubber bushing between the differential and subframe will wear out from the excess compression. E30 M3s use a solid bushing which can help this problem (at the expense of a harsher ride). The best structural location to place the jack is beneath the mounts for the rear subframe. These are the circular mounts near the side of the car with the vertical bolts through the middle. The problem is now you won't have a place for the jack stand and you can only lift one side at a time. If your jack has a small enough lift plate, you can lift from the tire jack lift point in the rocker panel. These is located in the rocker panel about a foot in front of the rear wheel. You will see an extra welded plate about two inches long and one inch wide with a hole in the center.
Rear: Jack stands - Beneath the circular subframe mounts mentioned above. I welded custom jack stands with holes in the top to clear the nuts of the verticle bolts which extend through the center of the mounts. There is enough surface area to place some stands on the mounts to the side of the nuts.
Do not lift or place stands underneath the main rear subframe crossmember or rear lower control arms. You will be applying an axial torque in the wrong direction to the vertical bolts in the subframe mounts.

[Jordan]

On e30's there is nothing wrong with jacking on the diff. You arent going to harm anything.

Here is what I would recommend.

[aaron_silva]

Thanks to both. Jordan, thanks for the pic (sure beats the hell out of reading). :D

[Red325es]

In my early dumbness when I first got my e30 I used to use those square things in the corners for jack stand placement. Did I harm anything doing so?

[UNHCLL]

On e30's there is nothing wrong with jacking on the diff. You arent going to harm anything.

Jordan is correct, just remember to place it forward of the rear cover and DO NOT JACK ON THE FINS.

[Norbert]

I have a question. Does anybody have/know a guide on how to reweld the original jack point positions? And how to do it properly? Mine are rusted out and i kinda like them being there, however original once don't seem to be strong enough in my eyes.

anyone?

[27boyd]

Most useful picture I've ever found

[Norbert]

Most useful picture I've ever found

THanks for your notice, but it is not the questionn i asked. I asked if somebody knows a guide on how to properly reweld jack stand points. Not their location :)

But thanks non the less :)

[ThatOneEuroE30]

THanks for your notice, but it is not the questionn i asked. I asked if somebody knows a guide on how to properly reweld jack stand points. Not their location :)



But thanks non the less :)

Just weld them on? Welding is welding. And as long as the jack isnt going into the floor i don't see the deal. And honestly i dont even use the original jack point. I lift it by the rear diff and front sub frame.