uhh ohh- dreaded sub-frame - United Bimmer Community

**E36Bimmer** · 06-02-2005, 12:22 PM

Yea so I was cleaning out my car, vacuuming the carpets and I notice that my rear floor mat was bulged upwards. I go to straighten it and it is straight. I pull up on the carpeting and notice that the plastic casing for all the wires that runs under the carpet has busted from its mounting points and is being forced upwards. WTF im thinking to myself and I look at the opposite side and it is even worse! The carpeting is all deformed and the same bulge is present. About 2 months ago I replaced all the seats in the car and surely would have noticed this problem then. So I conclude that this has happened within the last 2 months. You know what else I did around 2 months ago??? I lowered it. I am pretty certain that from lowering it the subframe couldnt handle the pressure and something is warping. My car rides fine, but certainly something is not right. She is going to BMW tonight to have it diagnosed. I will keep you guys posted..

**xsperf** · 06-02-2005, 02:32 PM

car is lowered here, and there is a little bit of a bulge in it, but i think thas because the previous owner tried to jack the car up from there b/c i can see little jack marks... and btw many other people lower their cars and i dont see anyone else having this problem

**E36Bimmer** · 06-02-2005, 03:44 PM

Right where the rear passengers would put their feet is where the 2 bulges are occuring. Come to think of it I just had a shop remount a tire for me and they used a lift that raised the car from the sideskirt area. I bet it has to do with that. Anyone wanna buy my car?

**E36Bimmer** · 06-03-2005, 02:36 PM

BMW said they couldnt do much and that I would have to go to a body shop. BUT they did say there are marks what looks they were straight lines. IE made from a rectangular object. They also noted no scratches so it wasnt made from an impact.. Conclusion is that the retards didnt set my car right on the lift and may have did some frame damage. The car is going on a machine next week. This blows.. I cant even prove anything either

**Dudesky** · 06-03-2005, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E36Bimmer

This blows.. I cant even prove anything either

Why not? If the rectangular impressions match their lift machine, there you go!

DEATH2000 · 06-03-2005, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky_E36

Why not? If the rectangular impressions match their lift machine, there you go!

he has a point. if u can get them to let u see the lift and prove it was them u can get them to pay for any damage. just remeber to take lots of pics of the damage for insurance purposes. it will help alot

**SHAHAB323IS** · 06-03-2005, 06:40 PM

i hope everything works out for you

**B_w.** · 06-03-2005, 10:01 PM

shitty. best of luck fixing this. some people are so stupid.

**Rooz** · 06-03-2005, 10:58 PM

God, I mean, our cars are SOOOoooo easy to set on lifts, I have set tons of cars on lifts and I prefer to set my car on a lift by far... I mean, the spots where the hands of the lifts would go are so freaking easy... on the back you put them where the two holes are a little past the skirts so that half the handles are on skirts, in the front if look where the other two holes are the frame is right past that, so you set the two fron ones on that... THAT EASY! YOu should complain to those peops that did that to your car...

**catalyst** · 06-03-2005, 11:31 PM

Get under the car ASAP and get pics, its very possible that their lift was painted a certain color and it may have left paint behind gouged(sp) into the frame at the impact points. I have no doubt that if you try hard enough you will be able to prove that this shop did it, just document EVERYTHING! Get into the shop and get pics of the lift if possible. If you are willing, take it back to the shop for an oil change or something like that, then if they lift the car improperly again you will have proof.

**Rooz** · 06-04-2005, 09:02 AM

Maybe try to get a letter from BMW saying that they suspect that this damage was done by a lift...?

**E36Bimmer** · 06-06-2005, 09:05 AM

Thanks for all the advice guys. First problem is that when I went to the shop, no invoice was involved (cash deal).. So they can turn around and say that i was never there. Second problem is I went to two different shops within that same week.. not sure which one could have done it. One of them was townfair tire which hires alot of retards..im afraid im beat on this one tho. Live and learn I guess. At least it isnt subframe failure from lowering it.

**xsperf** · 06-06-2005, 12:41 PM

you didnt have an invoice for either? interesting, but, since you are stuck, act like a body shop.

jack up your car so that its on the jack, not the suspension, and just take a sledge hammer and smash down on the subframe, you might need to use a rubber mallet, i dont know, ask them what they use, and if you take it to a body shop, thats what they will do

**E36Bimmer** · 06-06-2005, 02:14 PM

i'll take some pics and show you guys exactly what happened for future reference. As of right now my car rides fine. I am keeping a close eye on the areas and making sure it isnt getting worse.. I may end up trying XSPERF's advice and bangin this out myself.

**94bmw325i** · 06-06-2005, 02:26 PM

Well I hope this works out for you! Seems to me that you have done a lot of work to your car and it's not worth losing it!