Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
Page 3 of 8 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 76
  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    VA/DC
    Posts
    14,445
    Hmm the mystery deepens. Makes me want to rip all the crap out of my trunk to. Well almost. I'm lazy (and sick).


    ---
    "ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - an e46fanatic

  2. #22
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Charleston SC
    Posts
    6,149
    You only have to take out the floor liner and the floor over the spare tire... if you get around to checking it, can you post your build date and whether the plastic filler is in there or not?

    I'm getting down with the sickness too... must be going around...
    Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
    M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
    H&R sport springs,
    UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
    Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    6,847
    Pretty interesting. My car is 10/03 so I followed the instructions.

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    College Station, Texas
    Posts
    244
    Ok, here's some new information! I contacted Redish Motorsport in England. They're experts at repairing and reinforcing e46 chassis that have cracked where the subframe mounts. They were kind enough to send me a link to a video they recently put together outlining the two major changes BMW made to the floors of our cars in the later model years (approx Oct '04 production onward, but may have started a little earlier). Here's the video describing the new plastic insert a couple of us have found in our cars, as well as a change in the spot welding location to lower the risk of subframe cracking...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxLW...ature=youtu.be

    I'm going to contact them back and try some other leads as well. I'm not convinced that their guess is correct about why BMW added the plastic piece. Why would they add a plastic dam to make epoxy filling easier if they forbid their techs from doing the epoxy fill on post 10/2004 cars? The first suggestion in the video seems more likely - that it's there to stiffen the sheetmetal (stiff plastic can be an effective middle layer in a "composite" type structure since it can have high compressive strength). Anyways, I'll let you all know if I can find out any more info.

    Blake - 2005 330i ZHP 6-sp

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    10,244
    Very interesting. I'm impressed with your diligence. I'll take a look at my coupe tomorrow and see what's going on all up in dat trunk (build date 02/05).

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    1,684
    Is there a way to find out what this plastic piece looks like? From a part number diagram maybe?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
    2005 BMW 330i ZHP 6MT. Built 11-19-04. Bought 4-2012.
    Stock: Nav, leather, PDC, Xenon
    Added by me: OEM Alarm, OEM heated seats, OEM aux kit, OEM Bluetooth, intravee, M3 strut brace, BMW Performance Intake, Nappa leather arm rest, updated LCM (triple blink, euro hazards, trifecta lighting, 3 stage brakes), temp gauge

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    VA/DC
    Posts
    14,445
    Nice investigating.

    Did you see this one??
    http://youtu.be/fH1MqZ3ncMQ


    ---
    "ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - an e46fanatic

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    College Station, Texas
    Posts
    244
    Wow, Shawn, that's a nightmare! The e46 M3's do seem to suffer the worst of it, don't they.

    I've sent emails to a couple BMW divisions to see if anyone will clarify, but I'm not holding my breath. I talked to another friend who wrenches with Bimmerworld's race team. He says they just weld the crap out of everything in the rear on their track e46's - not just the subframe mounts, but every suspension point gets significant plate reinforcements. It's almost a custom rear chassis by the time they're done.

    Blake - 2005 330i ZHP 6-sp

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Kitchener, ON
    Posts
    6,036
    Quote Originally Posted by AggieBlake View Post
    Ok, here's some new information! I contacted Redish Motorsport in England. They're experts at repairing and reinforcing e46 chassis that have cracked where the subframe mounts. They were kind enough to send me a link to a video they recently put together outlining the two major changes BMW made to the floors of our cars in the later model years (approx Oct '04 production onward, but may have started a little earlier). Here's the video describing the new plastic insert a couple of us have found in our cars, as well as a change in the spot welding location to lower the risk of subframe cracking...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxLW...ature=youtu.be

    I'm going to contact them back and try some other leads as well. I'm not convinced that their guess is correct about why BMW added the plastic piece. Why would they add a plastic dam to make epoxy filling easier if they forbid their techs from doing the epoxy fill on post 10/2004 cars? The first suggestion in the video seems more likely - that it's there to stiffen the sheetmetal (stiff plastic can be an effective middle layer in a "composite" type structure since it can have high compressive strength). Anyways, I'll let you all know if I can find out any more info.
    very cool stuff. seeing that it's held in with two skimpy plastic plugs, does it move around at all when you touch it? i can't say at that would do much for the structure. filling still seems like the best method overall as it "locks" the threaded sleeves for the subframe bolts down and keeps them from moving, and also keeps the floor panels stable.

    my car is a 6/04 sedan and did not have the plastic piece (not surprising given your research).

    are you going to fill it? i would.
    peter

    2004 330i ZHP
    2005 330iT ZHP
    2010 328iT M Sport

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    College Station, Texas
    Posts
    244
    It is held in place tightly by the clips - it can't be moved. And if it is a structural filler piece, then it would be effective even without more attachment points - it's just a spacer preventing the sheet metal plates from buckling towards one another under load (if that theory is correct).

    Yes, I am still expecting to fill both sides with epoxy. The problem is that the BMW technical article on the epoxy method says not to do this. I want to know why before I fill it. There's got to some reason they wouldn't let their techs do it. I just hate working in the dark (I was an engineer by training - I like to understand something before I do it). Furthermore, if the Reddish theory is correct, then my method will need to be adjusted - no foam filler before the epoxy. Or perhaps just foam filler on one part.

    Blake - 2005 330i ZHP 6-sp

Page 3 of 8 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Subframe Reinforcement
    By BavarianZHP in forum Maintenance
    Replies: 37
    Last Post: 02-12-2017, 06:52 PM
  2. Wyatt's Subframe Repair and Reinforcement.
    By wertyu78 in forum Projects
    Replies: 29
    Last Post: 04-03-2015, 01:41 PM
  3. Bluetooth technical help needed
    By Rtroupe241 in forum Audio | In Car Entertainment (ICE)
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 09-14-2014, 06:22 AM
  4. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-18-2014, 05:27 PM
  5. My BMW 330 ZHP production date is 10-05 ?
    By larzhp in forum General -- ZHP Related
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 03-12-2011, 10:35 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •