Foam subframe reinforcement - production date question - technical

[nsk040]

I have a mid-04 production and I noticed that I have a third hole (circled in red) b/w the two large, plugged holes, however it's not precisely b/w the two. When I peer into the third hole, or when I look into the driver's hole that's plugged, I can see two layers of metal and it doesn't appear that there's any foam that has hardened in there. That the third hole exists make me thinks a prior owner had this done, however, it doesn't seem to be in the right place based on the BMW bulletin. Also, I'm the only owner of the car out of warranty so if this was done it would have been done by a dealer. Further, the other hole that's supposed to be accessed under the sound deadening material (not visible but would be far top left of my photo) does not exist - all the sound deadening material is intact.

Any ideas?

[Sockethead]

If you don't see it, it's probably not there. Looks like they might of started with it in September of '04 since me and Salty both have September '04 production dates and the modification is there... Perhaps BMW said October 04 to cover cars already in production...

Do you know the month of production on your car?

[nsk040]

Realoem has mine as a July '04 production date - but I will try to confirm this elsewhere.

Salty seems to have a similarly located "third hole" which can be seen to the right of the red square in post #50

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...862#post551862

Does the existence of this third hole mean that someone at some point drilled it, or did it come that way from the factory? In the BMW service bulletin (the pdf), it says that this hole does not exist and must be drilled...but it also says that it should be drilled half-way b/w the left and right side of the vehicle...mine is clearly more towards the left side.

Salty - In that post you seem to conclude that BMW did do the reinforcement. I thought that the foam reinforcement (assuming this is what you're talking about) would literally have filled up the lower cavity and likely spilled somewhat into the upper cavity as well - I don't see this when I look at the 2nd photo in your post. Can you clarify and explain what you mean by Blue Epoxy and Black Plastic Reinforcement Block?

[Sockethead]

The support we are taking about is hard composite added between the layers during production. The foam reinforcement is preventative maintenance done at the dealership

[SaltyNC]

^ This. The factory production modification of gluing in a hard plastic/composite piece with blue epoxy to prevent flex didn't come into play until late in the lifecycle of the E46's production. The reinforced epoxy fill of the cavity was an in-field solution.

[nsk040]

Got it - mine is not reinforced in any way. Odd that the third hole exists, however.

I'll create a separate thread seeking to clarify a few items from the BMW pdf bulletin b/c I do want to do the foam.