BMW Z3 Subframe Repair & Reinforcement modifications.
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- Опубликовано: 31 мар 2013
- How I repaired my friends cracked sub-frame and differential mount failure on his 1997 Z. It shows the common problem with these z3's and my repair approach. Subframe re-welding and repair modifications. Reinforcement pieces were custom fabricated from scratch and added for strength. Sorry for the music being loud..First time making a movie for RUclips. Hope this helps others!!!......Enjoy and thanks for your comments and likes.
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Best Z3 repair video I've seen yet. Only one video on his channel, yet it's exactly what many of us needed.
That's a pretty familiar looking repair, having done a hundred or so of them myself...
There should be a safety class action suit for BMW to fix this.
Amazing, amazing job well done considering the extensive damage that the car had to the sub-frame.Great detailed video on before and after steps to fix,and funny.All that, took three days to repair.Anybody watching this clip and having problems with there vehicles, you seriously need to contact Craig.Thanks buddy for a---mission impassible--- completed.
This was 10 years ago!? Holy crap. How have i not seen this sooner 😂
Actually they're pretty fantastic cars the problem is they were designed for the 1.9 four and BMW never reworked them for the bigger sixes and the extra power.
Good show,Craig. You will never cease to amaze us with your many various talents and persistence. The movie business, too! LOL. Keep it up!
That is so awesome man. Really terrific job. Actually really inspiring. I bet the car is ten folds better! I am having some trouble with my Z3, I believe mine is just the diff bushing though. I am going to inspect more thoroughly tomorrow. Just wanted to congratulate you! Again awesome job!!!
Hey ..thanks for the comment. Glad to hear that you made it through the whole thing!!...haha. My buddy says his car has never been better since that repair.
If you suspect something isn't right ....Better check it out sooner than later. Not sure how much time went by before my buds got as bad as it did. BTW..the diff bushing is a slam dunk to replace. Cheers!
Amazing work!!
Instructional video but next time, Leave the Music off!! Can hardly hear you sometimes on a VERY serious issue with Z3's.
Nice work :-)
This is really well done for a diy. Im gonna attempt the same. Did you use a mig welder? What did you set the settings to?
How much does this type of repair cost? I am really in purchasing a Z3 but worry about the cost of getting this done?
I had this same problem except mine was a whole lot worse, the plate on the trunk above the differential mount had completely torn. it was very close to just falling out. I ended up just using 1X2 box tube to box my rear end like the drag cars do. I cut out the whole tube that holds the diff mount, spare tire mount and the sway bar mounts out. when we finished making all the welds between the new 1X2 and the frame we layed down a piece of steel 3/16 thick and welded it all around our hole and where it made contact with the 1X2 underneath the car. it took about 3 days but I haven't had a problem since.
Thats a good story.....unfortunalty BUT it had a great ending!
You & I sound very similar with the "get'er done" approach to problem solving.
Always loving a good challenge. Glad to hear it worked out.
cbr632003 I hope you don't think it didn't happen 😂. I have pictures if you are interested, before, mid and after the project
not at all!....I'm pretty sure it DID happen. I meant...It's just unfortunate BMW made a poor choice in their design or execution and most folks are left having to remedy these issues however they can on their own.
Okay okay, sorry I can't sense sarcasm when reading. Its pretty ridiculous in my book, and BMW of north america has failed to recognize the problem its a very serious design flaw, especially in a "sports car" I'm surprised my whole ass end didn't fall out when I really got on the gas. I had replaced the center support bearing about 3 times before I really took a look a good look at it and I'm glad I did. I thought I was just bruning through CSB's because I was pushing the car pretty hard
Burning*
Hey Abe. My 2.8 Z3 has this issue now. The subframe has come away from the boot. It's pretty bad. How is the car since this repair? I'm going to get my mechanic to try and follow this guide.
Hey Gareth, my friend Craig Robinson is the mastermind behind the operation and four years later the car is running beautiful. The subframe is solid, don't hear any noise and i check it every once in while, travel all over the state. If your mechanic follows the video, it'll work n save you a lot of money,good luck and thank you.
One of the other posters is correct: BMW should be taking care of this. What's worse is that this is a '97, and I've seen a similar massive fail on a '99 3.2.
+Cary mcdonald
Absolutely, when i was doing research for this repair, I was amazed how many [years] of these Z3 models suffered from this design/engineering problem. I don't own a bmw, but enjoyed the challenge and helping my bud.
It probably got this bad because the bushings were bad for years. Without that cushion, the constant smacking of metal to metal would tear it apart fairly quickly. The upper strut mounts on another car were destroyed by a similar case of mechanical working.
What type of welder did you use? TIG or MIG. By the way, your work is very clean. Good job.
+matt mcc -
Thanks for the compliment on the work, although i'm no pro at welding.....Anywho, I used my mig welder- no gas.
anyone know more or less the cost one should pay for such repair?
would love to know myself!
I've never seen one that bad! Were they driving over railroad tracks everyday?
Nice work there Abe! Did you use gas mig or just the electric for that work. [I see the answer]
Thanks for the comment Rob! Abe is my buddy whose z3 I repaired using a regular ol' flux core mig set-up.
I have 97 with the 2.8 and 145k miles on it and all that area is in perfect condition. How in the world did that one get so bad? Those were spot welds not rivets.
Not a clue how it happened. I think it got that bad because it was not caught sooner and just got worse over time. And yeah, they are spot welds and not rivets. Not sure why I said that. Thanks for pointing it out.
Wtf did he do to it? Do a 20 foot jump onto pavement or something?
Harry, thanks for the vid! That's a great repair. Nathan's Garage also did a similar repair on his street rod, see "The Mutt Ep13. Beetle BMW Z3 body swap.", his camera work is a little better (no offense) and it's easy to see everything because he's cut the rear off the car. Just thought your viewers might be interested...
ruclips.net/video/NNScgqslYak/видео.html
Spot welds not rivets.
German Quality and Engineering. Don't believe the hype.
I really don't understand why you didn't use angle iron instead of making angle iron out of flat bar. I would have cut the entire cracked piece out and replaced it with channel of a close size. I then would have BOLTED the the channel underneath with 10 or 12 bolts across the width of the car, 5 or 6 per side, with a single wide 3/16 backing plate on the inside and sealed it with mastic. That would have made a stronger structure, took less time and distributed the load over a large area. It also would eliminate the problem of hydrogen embrittlement and the new welds cracking.
There is one of the 2.3 L models available here in SC for $1800 with only the problem of broken differential mount. I'll try it with my design and maybe post it on you tube.
Funny how Corvettes mount their differential in a similar manner and transmit 4 to 5 times as much power but never fail.
....Please let me know when your repair video is up so we can see how it should have been done!
I liked the look of these but this is a piece of crap I'll buy a Miata instead.
Hey Robert. After the fix was done it's been solid as a rock. He's still driving it to this day and has had no problems since. I'm with you on it being a piece of crap...but a Miata! seriously! haha. thanks for the post.
turn off the music its a distraction, real annoying
What a POS car; is that the only thing that goes wrong with it?
edit: anyway,i did not come here for musak; good bye.