Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia
    Posts
    1,008

    Wyatt's Subframe Repair and Reinforcement.

    We are not immune to the infamous subframe issue that most E46's face. I thought I'd share the Repair and Reinforcement of the subframe mounting mounts on my ZHP. I knew this day would come. It wasn't a matter of if it would happen, but more a matter of when.

    I normally have the help of Eurocentric with these big projects. Unfortunately they are backed up for weeks (which is great, I am thrilled that they are) and this is my only car. They will be building my High Comp S54 in a few years.

    For this job I've reach out to the very talented Matt Gross and Justin Davenport. They are long time gear-heads and have each built some pretty gnarly cars. They are in the process of opening their own performance shop and agreed to fix my car out of their personal garage in their spare time. Keep an eye out for them. Matt's next personal project starts soon. I won't say much, but it involves a gutted E46 M3, a V8, and lots of boost.


    They started after work this evening around 6:45pm.





    Unbolting stuff....



    Subframe getting ready to be dropped out



    and it's out!



    This setup worked beautifully to move the subframe around.



    Subframe itself is cracking on the diff mount!



    This is what we were greeted with.



    Stripping the trunk out a bit



    Parts pile is still small



    Fuel tank has been dropped



    I asked Matt to quickly clean the area up around the crack so I could see just how bad it really was.





    We all left the garage at 9:30 to grab some Chick-Fil-A and head home. I'll be over there tomorrow after work to watch them start prepping for the welding portion of this project.
    Last edited by wertyu78; 03-31-2014 at 07:52 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    18,064
    Great update/info.

    Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
    Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
    "ZHP or not, I still like you"


    ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
    ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
    Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
    Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
    BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
    Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    6,847
    Holy moly that crack is huge!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Posts
    6,871
    Quote Originally Posted by derbo View Post
    Holy moly that crack is huge!
    +1

    Wyatt, you are an animal of a driver.

    Good luck with the fix. Gonna be some damn good info on this site after this thread, too.
    In the market for an E90 M3

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia
    Posts
    1,008
    Quote Originally Posted by Avetiso View Post
    +1

    Wyatt, you are an animal of a driver.

    Good luck with the fix. Gonna be some damn good info on this site after this thread, too.
    Truth be told I don't drive this car any more aggressively than your basic street warrior. It does see some hooning, track events, hard mountain drives and autox's; but 80% of the time I'm simply commuting/hypermiling.

    BMW made this area too thin/weak. Time to have some plates welded in to make up for that!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia
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    Quote Originally Posted by derbo View Post
    Holy moly that crack is huge!
    It was bigger than I anticipated but still a very easy fix. I am glad it didn't find its way into the trunk.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Montreal, Canada
    Posts
    1,939
    Holy cow, what a crack. What were the symptoms ? Just looked under it ? Probably time to inspect mine with nearly 225k on the clock.
    Alex'16 Melbourne Red 328d Touring
    M Sport + M Performance Package

    Gone, but not forgotten: '03 Imola Red 330i ZHP - 6MT


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    1,684
    oh my god. Yes it was bigger than I anticipated too. And your subframe is cracked too! What are you going to do about that?

    Whats the consensus here? Based on what we are seeing on those cracks, would one of those "reinforcement kits"...sold by turner?....work well?

    Whats the plan of attack for this specific car, OP?
    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

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexandre View Post
    Holy cow, what a crack. What were the symptoms ? Just looked under it ? Probably time to inspect mine with nearly 225k on the clock.
    I had a terrible clunking sound with suspension travel/bumps. Everything was tight and in good order, so it had to be the subframe. Sure enough.... it was. It's best to reinforce if budget allows, whether or not you have any issues. Understandably that's not a very efficient solution. If you catch the crack early then you should be okay. I stopped driving the car until I could get it over to their garage to fix.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia
    Posts
    1,008
    Quote Originally Posted by NorCalZman View Post
    oh my god. Yes it was bigger than I anticipated too. And your subframe is cracked too! What are you going to do about that?

    Whats the consensus here? Based on what we are seeing on those cracks, would one of those "reinforcement kits"...sold by turner?....work well?

    Whats the plan of attack for this specific car, OP?
    I have an extra subframe at Eurocentric. We will likely repair this one, though. I am using the Bimmerworld kit. I like BW and the customer service they provide. Great group of guys. Matt and Justin will clean everything up and weld the kit in. Afterward they will determine whether or not we should add more reinforcement plates (that they will fab).

    http://store.bimmerworld.com/e46-rea...kit-p1176.aspx

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