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[panda51829]

Does anyone have any tips or pointers on how to properly raise an e90 with a floor jack and stands? I tried this for my first time recently and failed miserably . It took me about 3 hours to finally get my car on both stands ( after messing around with the position of the jack, the jack was always getting in the way of the stands. Then once the car was finally raised, I had to lowered it again because you're suppose to loosen the bolts prior to raising it) So I called it a day. Any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thanks!

[Braumin]

Hope this helps:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461718

It's from the DIY section of the forums.

[panda51829]

This helps tremendously thank you !!

[BKV122]

Why not just jack up one corner and replace one tire/wheel at a time?

[Efthreeoh]

Please do not take offense to this; and I'm really not trying to flame you, but are you sure you are comfortable raising the car and removing the wheels? I only say this because it took you 3 hours to figure out some sort of method/procedure to get two wheels off the ground and then remember that the wheel bolts needed to be loosened first.

They way you described your trial and error method of getting the car off the ground seems VERY dangerous to me. Lifting any car shouldn't take 3 hours to figure out. I'm concerned that you were/are placing the jack on parts of the car that it is not supposed to be used on.

There are severy DIY posts on how to raise the E9X. The one linked is a good one and is the correct procedure for using a floor jack, but other posts should also be consulted. The issue being that the proper jack to lift the E90 is one that has a long, low saddle to SAFELY reach both the front central lift point and the rear differential. Looking at the other DIYs for lifting the car you will find many Members here have been very resourceful in pre-positioning the car for standard floor jacks to be used less dangerously.

Please be careful.

[DDS2015]

Originally Posted by Braumin

Hope this helps:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461718

It's from the DIY section of the forums.

This.

3.25 ton floor jack and an impact wrench followed by a torque wrench means that it takes longer for me to organize my tools than do all four changeovers.

In 3 hours I've gotten all the changeovers done on all 4 cars.

[panda51829]

Thanks for all your input. Prior to raising my car I observed that there are 4 lifting points near the fenders. The only reason why it took me that long to put the car on the support stands was because I used the lifting points to raise the car with the floor jack. Thus the floor jack is always in the way of the area that needs the stands. My jack is a compact jack so maybe thats the problem at hand? Or perhaps my garage is way too small. I would do one wheel at a time but its not safe to rely on just the floor jack. Any other DIY post on proper raising with photos would be welcomed.

- Tom

[MrRetep]

Hi tom, you are on the right track getting advice better to be safe than damaging your car or worse, yourself. Before taking on any project the most important thing is having the right tools and make sure that they are good quality. For wheel swaps I personally like living on the edge so I will simply use a jack (no jack stands) and I do one wheel at a time.

This is my procedure.

1. Using a breaker bar with a 17mm impact socket. I loosen all the lugs/bolts on the wheel I will be working on with the car still on the floor, this makes it much easier.
2. Line up your jack with the jack point (plastic protruding piece under the car nearest the wheel you are working on) begin the lifting.
3. for safety (priority #1 while working on a lifted car) I raise the car high enough to fit one of the spare wheels under the side skirt of the car.
(see pic below) this is your "lifeline" so to speak, if the jack fails the car will land on the wheel, saving your rotor/hub and most importantly any limbs that are under the car, which should be none to begin with granted you might ruin your wheel and sideskirt but i'd rather damage the car than lose a leg.

4. once your car is safely lifted, with a spare wheel under the side. You can remove the bolts/lugs the rest of the way and remove the wheel from the car.
5. Line up the new wheel, put it on the hub, add a bolt to hold it in place. then add the rest of them and tighten as much as possible.
6. double check the wheel is on properly (no wiggling, etc) remove all tools from under the car, remove the spare safety wheel. SLOWLY lower the jack until the car is back on the floor.
7. using a torque wrench set to 88ft/lbs tighten the bolts until you reach the desired torque. double check all of them, twice so technically quadruple check. You DO NOT want these falling off.
8. rinse and repeat for the rest of the wheels.

I noticed your location says Orange County, if that is Orange County CA. I would be more than happy to lend you hand and tools if needed

[BrazilianBimmer]

Originally Posted by MrRetep

I noticed your location says Orange County, if that is Orange County CA. I would be more than happy to lend you hand and tools if needed

Vote for MrRetep, he seems likes a nice guy.

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by MrRetep

Hi tom, you are on the right track getting advice better to be safe than damaging your car or worse, yourself. Before taking on any project the most important thing is having the right tools and make sure that they are good quality. For wheel swaps I personally like living on the edge so I will simply use a jack (no jack stands) and I do one wheel at a time.

This is my procedure.

1. Using a breaker bar with a 17mm impact socket. I loosen all the lugs/bolts on the wheel I will be working on with the car still on the floor, this makes it much easier.
2. Line up your jack with the jack point (plastic protruding piece under the car nearest the wheel you are working on) begin the lifting.
3. for safety (priority #1 while working on a lifted car) I raise the car high enough to fit one of the spare wheels under the side skirt of the car.
(see pic below) this is your "lifeline" so to speak, if the jack fails the car will land on the wheel, saving your rotor/hub and most importantly any limbs that are under the car, which should be none to begin with granted you might ruin your wheel and sideskirt but i'd rather damage the car than lose a leg.

4. once your car is safely lifted, with a spare wheel under the side. You can remove the bolts/lugs the rest of the way and remove the wheel from the car.
5. Line up the new wheel, put it on the hub, add a bolt to hold it in place. then add the rest of them and tighten as much as possible.
6. double check the wheel is on properly (no wiggling, etc) remove all tools from under the car, remove the spare safety wheel. SLOWLY lower the jack until the car is back on the floor.
7. using a torque wrench set to 98ft/lbs tighten the bolts until you reach the desired torque. double check all of them, twice so technically quadruple check. You DO NOT want these falling off.
8. rinse and repeat for the rest of the wheels.

I noticed your location says Orange County, if that is Orange County CA. I would be more than happy to lend you hand and tools if needed

The torque spec listed above is inaccurate. The BMW torque spec for e90x wheel lugs is 87 lb ft, +/- 7. Most folks target 87 or 88 ft lbs. Be sure to re-torque your lugs to this setting after driving ~50 miles. A recheck once a month is not a bad idea either. This is the wrench I purchased and use - it's accurate, easy to set/use and has a nice solid feel.

[MrRetep]

Originally Posted by zzzbullseye

The torque spec listed above is inaccurate. The BMW torque spec for e90x wheel lugs is 87 lb ft, +/- 7. Most folks target 87 or 88 ft lbs. Be sure to re-torque your lugs to this setting after driving ~50 miles. A recheck once a month is not a bad idea either. This is the wrench I purchased and use - it's accurate, easy to set/use and has nice solid feel.

Thanks for the correction

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by MrRetep

Thanks for the correction

No problem.

[panda51829]

"Mrretep" Your creative way of using a spare tire instead of those obnoxious stands is brilliant! I honestly would have never even thought of that. I'll be trying this after winter I'm attending school out of state but thanks for offering help!

Happy Holidays everyone!
- tom

[VMRWheels]

Good point on leaving your wheel under your car. I always do the same as well.