E46 Subframe bush/mount repair in Port Elizabeth

[craigb]

Infra looks like he has found a guy, but will update once he has finished welding all the reinforcements into his race car.

good stuff..

 

[M3_devil]

take a drive to JHB or Cpt or Dbn.

I'm from PE and know exactly what you talking about.

 

[craigb]

take a drive to JHB or Cpt or Dbn.

I'm from PE and know exactly what you talking about.

yep

 

[DieselFan]

Seems like we've been doing the same things to our e46.

I had engine mounts, then shocks, springs, shock mounts, lower control arm bush.

Moranor has my gearbox mounts, and I've already got all the bushes for the rear and swaybar (went with powerflex ). You really do notice a difference after each thing you do. My car is on 414k kms so it definitely was/is time.

let me know when you ready to go on the subframe plates

Yeah will be soon, the scrap yard here is getting a 6speed 330d e46 so I'm going to get all my goodies from there, and then I'll order the plates .

 

[craigb]

So I thought I'd post the outcome of my initial post...

THis past weekend I managed to change the subframe mounts. I managed to have a tool made for the mounts which worked brilliantly.

The job took most of the weekend.

The job is actually not "that" difficult. just a lot off stuff to take off and put back.. But then again the tool worked perfectly for me... so for me the actuall pulling and pressing in of new bushes was the easiest part.. The two main time wasters for me on this job was not having a "hex" socket for the exhaust connection to manifold (the nuts were rusted and seized quite good). A normal socket just "slipped" and would have eventually "rounded" the nuts... so i waited for my brother in law to bring the hex socket and that worked like a charm... hex sockets are invaluable..

Then my next waist of time was not being able to figure out the stupid handbrake cable and how the slack would come through when dropping the diff carrier (after loosening the cables from handbrake lever).. in the end it was so simple.. to me it looked like the cables were fixed real good where it goes into the body under the car... but in actual fact they not... and just pull out.. :flyfun: such a big stupid waste of time that was...

The rest was ok'sh... just laborious taking off and putting back...

The result...

"pothole" effect has gone.. so going over bumps now is solid and quiet at the back (massive improvement)

braking at highway speed feels more stable and sharp at the rear (had a horrible shudder with physical knocking at the back when braking hard at freeway speeds - even after replacing disks at rear) - but this needs more testing.

excessive road noise is gone..

car is stable going around bends..

i wanted gear changes to be smother and there to be less "engine lurch" if that makes sense, when changing gears... and that did feel better this morning... but when i test drove car yesterday i wasnt so sure... so i will need to wait and see with this one... I was hoping the new mounts would "straighten things out" in the drivetrain and have some king of improvement...

the mounts didnt look all that bad when i took them out... just fine little cracks in the rubber.. but what a big difference the new mounts have made..

 

[calypso]

Well thats good news. And no cracks in the subframe floor?

 

[craigb]

no cracks thank goodness..

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i must say thanks to moranor for all his help and tips..

 

[moranor@axis]

well done on completing this Rather large DIY :rollsmile:

 

[craigb]

yeah was dreading this for a long time... and when i said earlier that it wasnt "that" difficult... i tell you what... i am a battered and bruised man today... it was a very physically demanding job...

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well done on completing this Rather large DIY :rollsmile:

and thanks..

 

[moranor@axis]

hey it beats going to the gym :rollsmile:

 

[craigb]

hey it beats going to the gym :rollsmile:

haha.. im just glad i dont have to do this every day...