[ENINTY]

Since there has been a lot of discussion on how to safely lift the the E9x. Here is the official procedure from the BMW TIS. Please be safe. This is BMW copywrited information used without permission.

[Mega Man]

Cool find. Do you have the same thing for e82?

[John_01]

Thanks for posting. This is good info. What concerns me is what happens after the car is lifted. How can we support the car with stands placed at the regular jack points?
Is it ok to put stands on the car's jack pads?

I am worried the plastic jack point may be crushed and the car could fall off the jack stands. Especially since the car is not level when only using stands at the front. Do you have an opinion about this?

[FCP Euro]

Awesome find, thanks for the info.

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Hmm. . . So is it ok to use the rear diff or not??

[raceyBMW]

Yes, just not the diff cover

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by John_01

Thanks for posting. This is good info. What concerns me is what happens after the car is lifted. How can we support the car with stands placed at the regular jack points?
Is it ok to put stands on the car's jack pads?

I am worried the plastic jack point may be crushed and the car could fall off the jack stands. Especially since the car is not level when only using stands at the front. Do you have an opinion about this?

The lift points under the rocker panels are for lifting the car (on a commercial lift) so they are safe to put stands under. The palstic is very tough and will not break.

[zhangzeyuandss]

good info.. thanks for the posting

[John_01]

Thanks for the reply. I did the oil change last weekend. I jacked up the car and as high as my jack would go, then put 3 large concrete pavers under each front tyre. This keeps the front tyres 6" above the ground. I am not going to recommend anything at all for other people, but it worked for me.

[JTZimmerman]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

The lift points under the rocker panels are for lifting the car (on a commercial lift) so they are safe to put stands under. The palstic is very tough and will not break.

Not that tough, I cracked mine. I'd be very cautious about what kind of jack stand you use on these. In any event you will have to distribute the weight evenly across the pad so that will depend highly on the type of jack stand you use.

[eltoshan]

So has anyone figured out a way to put jack stands in the front without crushing pads? At least in the back you can put the jack stands under the subframe, but the subframe is covered by the plastic stuff in the front, isn't it?

[JTZimmerman]

Originally Posted by eltoshan

So has anyone figured out a way to put jack stands in the front without crushing pads? At least in the back you can put the jack stands under the subframe, but the subframe is covered by the plastic stuff in the front, isn't it?

I made some jack pads for mine out of TREX. I have no idea what others are doing but this worked for me.

[nestillo335i]

Originally Posted by JTZimmerman

I made some jack pads for mine out of TREX. I have no idea what others are doing but this worked for me.

This is nice. I just crushed mine today after lifting the car. It damaged the side skirt too. I heard a cracking sound, so I lowered the car just in time, before something really bad happens. I can't belief BMW use plastic on that important part which has to support the car's weight

[jemanner]

Surely someone will come out soon with an aftermaket accessory to enable us to safely lift our vehicles with a standard floor ("trolly") jack? Worse yet, did not realize BMW's came with the plastic gadgets already on the car, and ordered some while my vehicle was on on it's way. Oh well, will have one available for a guide to build a matching pad. Don't wish to appear naive, but what is "TREX", and where can one get this material?

[JTZimmerman]

Originally Posted by jemanner

Surely someone will come out soon with an aftermaket accessory to enable us to safely lift our vehicles with a standard floor ("trolly") jack? Worse yet, did not realize BMW's came with the plastic gadgets already on the car, and ordered some while my vehicle was on on it's way. Oh well, will have one available for a guide to build a matching pad. Don't wish to appear naive, but what is "TREX", and where can one get this material?

Trex is a composite lumber, you can buy it at any big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot. It is mostly plastic but it isn't the brittle type of plastic like the BMW jack pads are made of, it is really almost perfect for the application since it won't crush like wood but won't crack like brittle plastic either.

Ultimately I'd like some out of aluminum but I don't have a milling machine or the stock laying around.

[335iheLLraiseR]

Originally Posted by JTZimmerman

Trex is a composite lumber, you can buy it at any big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot. It is mostly plastic but it isn't the brittle type of plastic like the BMW jack pads are made of, it is really almost perfect for the application since it won't crush like wood but won't crack like brittle plastic either.

Ultimately I'd like some out of aluminum but I don't have a milling machine or the stock laying around.

there have been some for sale on here for some time now. $29.99 i believe. Once in a blue moon they show up the classifieds.

those were round though for use with most floor jacks, yours appear to be made to fit that jack stand.

[Soni]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

The lift points under the rocker panels are for lifting the car (on a commercial lift) so they are safe to put stands under. The palstic is very tough and will not break.

All my 4 plastics are either borken or bent. Now I am using one if this

[nestillo335i]

Originally Posted by Soni

All my 4 plastics are either borken or bent. Now I am using one if this
Attachment 331329

That look greats. Where did you get it??? Is it metal?
Thanks

[ENINTY]

I have a 2-post lift in my garage. I've lifted my car in the past 3 years at least 25 times and never damaged any of the lifting pads. I've seen how the BMW shops lift cars and they do not use any adapters; just the lifting arm foot right under the lifting pad.

If you follow BMW's recommended floor jack lifting procedure by using the front and rear center lift points and then set the car down on 4 jack stands with a design which spreads the pressure around the perimeter of the lift pad, the pad will not break. The adapters are not a bad idea. Some seem elaborate, as a block of wood would suffice.

[jemanner]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

I have a 2-post lift in my garage. I've lifted my car in the past 3 years at least 25 times and never damaged any of the lifting pads. I've seen how the BMW shops lift cars and they do not use any adapters; just the lifting arm foot right under the lifting pad.

If you follow BMW's recommended floor jack lifting procedure by using the front and rear center lift points and then set the car down on 4 jack stands with a design which spreads the pressure around the perimeter of the lift pad, the pad will not break. The adapters are not a bad idea. Some seem elaborate, as a block of wood would suffice.

Great advice! Yes, the key is probably even pressure on the lift pad, and possibly a cut piece of wood or other material in the center recess if one wishes absolutely evenly distributed pressure. Was running scared with the experience of one forum member that the pad cracked and his jack damaged the vehicle. Also great advice to lift on the center lift points and following up with jack stands. Too darned cold in the garage to try anything now, but come spring... Caught between a rock and a hard place, as I don't wish the dealer to do anything on my new 335d, but the included Ultimate Care makes it very hard to turn down. The "technician" doing oil changes is not going to be their top-notch and motivated person. I can do my own oil changes for a tad under $100 each, so is it worth taking the risk for this savings?

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by jemanner

Great advice! Yes, the key is probably even pressure on the lift pad, and possibly a cut piece of wood or other material in the center recess if one wishes absolutely evenly distributed pressure. Was running scared with the experience of one forum member that the pad cracked and his jack damaged the vehicle. Also great advice to lift on the center lift points and following up with jack stands. Too darned cold in the garage to try anything now, but come spring... Caught between a rock and a hard place, as I don't wish the dealer to do anything on my new 335d, but the included Ultimate Care makes it very hard to turn down. The "technician" doing oil changes is not going to be their top-notch and motivated person. I can do my own oil changes for a tad under $100 each, so is it worth taking the risk for this savings?

You paid for the oil changes in the price of the car, so you'd be throwing your money away and paying to do so. I doubt the Tech regardless of his motovation would damage your car doing an oil service. He's BMW factory trained and ASE certified.

[KurtV]

ECS Tuning makes jack stands that work with those funny rectangular jacking points on many BMWs. Less than $20.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search_BMW/...ands/ES251251/