[akemb]

The guy at Advance Autoparts said for me to jack the car up like 6 inch deeper towards the middle of the car past the jack point. Then put the jack stand in once it is high enough. The guys was showing me how he did it on his Honda prelude, but our cars are no Honda so I'm incline to question this with my feller bimmer owners. I'm just wondering all you guys that have done Angel eye and/or fog change by removing the front wheel and jacking up the car. Did you guys just held the car up with the jack and no stand? How safe is that?

[JO3]

What? Why are you listening to an autoparts store guy with a prelude, when the official answer has already been posted in this thread?

Lift the car with a floor jack under point 1 (if you're lifting the front) or point 4 (for the rear). Then put jack stands under points 2.





Never get under a car that is only supported by a jack. Use stands. Also, it's a good idea to use wheel chocks, so your car doesn't roll off the stands.

[sambonator]

So where's a good jack stand point for the front? Next to the mounting point for the lower control arm?

[skim7x]

Originally Posted by sambonator

So where's a good jack stand point for the front? Next to the mounting point for the lower control arm?

Sorry for the shitty picture, but here is where I put my jackstand on either side (this is on an e92)

[sambonator]

Well, I learned where NOT to place them... there were all kinds of crunching noises and pieces of plastic fell off, when I placed it just behind the wheel well...
It looked and felt solid... but guess not.

Maybe the best bet is to jack up the car from the back jack point, until the front jack point is high enough to place a jack stand under....

[skim7x]

why didn't you use the place I just pointed out? just jack up the car with the jack point, and slip the jackstand under the frame directly lateral to the rotor.

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

This is what's under the plastic in the front.

pardon my ignorance in automobile, to be exact, is this a safe place where you can lift the car up with a jack in the front of an e90 sedan?

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

The TIS picture shows you can lift the rear by the differential housing, but not by the diff cover. I still wouldn't do that. The TIS picture also shows lifting the rear by the rear subframe cross member, which is behind the diff. The cross memeber is strong enough to hold the weight.

Here's a pic of the rear cross memeber (E90 chassis)

Is this piece the cross member you are talking about that we can use to lift the car up on the rear of an e90 sedan? Great photos btw

[skim7x]

For the rear of the e90 sedan jack car up at jack point:


and then place jack stand here:


Citation: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15397

You can also jack the car up directly on the diff:


although you may want to be careful putting a jack stand under that because it may not be all that stable. The bar just posterior to the diff should be okay for a jack stand--can someone else confirm?

[oct1285]

so when using a lift, you can place the lift arms in between the jack point and the wheel wheel on the front and rear?

[skim7x]

For people that have used a lift on my car, they usually just lift it at the jack points... is that not what you did?

[oct1285]

Originally Posted by skim7x

For people that have used a lift on my car, they usually just lift it at the jack points... is that not what you did?

for some reason the lift arms were too long so they overshot the lift point on the side skirt so i just used a drive on lift.

[skim7x]

hmmm the arms should swing... so you just swing them out more and the feet on the lifts will eventually swing to the same position as the jack points... you may need to shorten the length of the lift's arms... could you not do that?

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by txusa03

pardon my ignorance in automobile, to be exact, is this a safe place where you can lift the car up with a jack in the front of an e90 sedan?

That is exactly the spot. With the belly pan on the car you will find an approximately 6 inch diameter indentation in the plastic. My picture was to show what is under the plastic at the indentation. That area is the front crossmember and is noted in the BMW TIF as the front center lifting point.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by txusa03

Is this piece the cross member you are talking about that we can use to lift the car up on the rear of an e90 sedan? Great photos btw

Yes, this is the rear lifting point for a floor jack; it is the rear suspension crossmember. DO NOT USE THE DIFFERENTIAL as pointed out in a later post, you will damage the diff mounts.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by oct1285

for some reason the lift arms were too long so they overshot the lift point on the side skirt so i just used a drive on lift.

Older lifts will not fit the E9x chassis. I have a 2004 Rotary lift that did not fit. Rotary changed the lift arms in their later models to fit more vehicles.

[txusa03]

awesome...everyone just remember to be super cautious when lifting our cars...

[LEDZEP]

wow, activity on a really *old* thread

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

wow, activity on a really *old* thread

Back from Valhalla I take it?

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

Back from Valhalla I take it?

and unfortunately, I am in the land of the ice and snow, from whence I came.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

and unfortunately, I am in the land of the ice and snow, from whence I came.

Sounds like you need some time at Bron-yr-aur. Nice to see you're back. Been hard for me to control the kids...

[scrufy]