[MercForHire]

damn man. With that much mods on your car I would have thought you'd taken care of the subframe reinforcement first.
Sh1t. Must do whatever you can to fix it, even then, it'll never be the same again ;...(

 

[MercForHire]

Im surprised BMW wont warranty this any more when Its there biggest Issue ..

lol homeless is a big issue too. I am surprised ppl don't just donate all their spare $ instead of buying ipads and drive BMWs.

 

[MercForHire]

Just drive gentlely. No burnouts and daily 0-60 runs.
this guy has 410000km on his 323ci and I asked him about the subframe he said it never needed repair. He told me he is a mechanic and seen other abused cars with this problem. Could be a 328i thing.
Http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-2000-BMW-323Ci-W0QQAdIdZ386890425

 

[MercForHire]

Hi 2000_328CI
What is the build date of your car? Is it after February 2000?

 

[MercForHire]

Why did you ask this?

Holy CRAP! That's expensive. Did you get a deal or is that a run of the mill price for repair

I was hope the OP would have a pre February 2000 built car to see whether BMW was right about e46 built after that month having only a 0.1% chance of subframe failure instead of 2% chance for 1998-1999 cars.

 

[MercForHire]

Source of info?
How does one find build date? I have parts on my car (intake manifold) with different dates from other parts (seats)

Check your car VIN here
My is built 5/2000

http://www.rubmw.ru/vincode/eng/

 

[MercForHire]

From http://www.e46subframeclassactionsettlement.com/pdf/bmwn1faq.pdf
"11. What are the chances that my car has a Sub-Frame Condition?

BMW NA estimates that cars produced prior to February 2000 may experience the Sub-Frame
Condition at a rate believed by BMW NA to be below 2 percent. For Class Vehicles produced
beginning in February of 2000 and after, BMW NA believes the rate of Sub-Frame Conditions is
extremely low and BMW believes that it will be below 0.1 percent. Plaintiff and Class Counsel
have not adopted BMW NA's estimates or position in this regard."

 

[MercForHire]

You might be lucky since you are still driving, if you had a older one your car would probably be toast by now.

 

[MercForHire]

I've got an 01/2000 build date :/
I'm at 100k miles with no obvious signs of damage.

I would get the reinforcement plates installed ASAP. Better $500 now than $2000 later.

 

[MercForHire]

Is it $500 for labor and parts or just parts?
Is there any evidence of the tms reinforcement kit actually helping?

The kit is $150. I bought it already.
I have a friend whose dad owns a bodyshop. I think if I remove as much as I can myself and then bring to the shop for the heavy work and welding. The total cost can be within $500.
I am sure one of your friends has some connection to a mechanic. Time to kiss some ass.

I believe the kit cures the problem. I never seen a report of sub frame cracking again after the reinforcement.
It's just a matter of metal thickness and weight distribution, doesn't take a physics degree to prove it actually works.

 

[MercForHire]

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=700468

Big fuking job.

prepare to have the RTAB tool and new bushings.
Looks like its gonna be $1000 in total including parts