BMW E46 M3 SUBFRAME CRACKS at 60,000 miles with original owner
This car has 60,000 miles
Was built April 2002
Is owned by the original same owner that bought it brand new in April 2002 from a SJ BMW, London, UK.
This is a rare example, but worth making people aware of how much damage the 'E46 Subframe Crack' problem can do to an E46 M3.
This car was recently brought to us for our Redish Motorsport E46 Subframe Repair & Reinforcement Process:
Unfortunately we cannot offer this car our 'Repair & Reinforcement' process as the cracks are too developed, too long outside of our reinforcement plates, as well as in multiple locations away from plates with known weak points where opposite forces are at work (spring perch).
We all know 'anybody' can physically weld these cracks, but it's knowing how long they'll last for, and in our experience of having to replace entire Rear Axle Carrier Panel's on other people's previously repaired cars, we know more than anyone how this sort of damage is extremely hard to contain for the rest of the car's life (which is how long we'd like to think our repairs will hopefully last).
In our opinion, this BMW E46 M3 requires the Rear Axle Carrier Panel to be REPLACED rather than just repaired.
An example of our REPLACE process can be seen here:
This is the same process which BMW dealers/bodyshop offer, however, ours is more involved and includes additional plug welding and stitch welding, as well as internal reinforcement of the new RACP, as well as Redish Motorsport Reinforcement Plates, and BMW Structural Resin, plus better corrosion-protection and final visual finishes.
If you have a BMW E46 'Subframe' concern, contact us at Redish Motorsport, UK on 01179 781889
We also sell our Redish Motorsport E46 Subframe Reinforcement Plate Kit V2 which can be seen here: