WEB60

Have just done my first maintenance job on new LCI, removed wheels and cleaned hub centres.
Applied thin film of Waxoyl to keep aluminium faces of wheel and hub in tip top condition.
I don't know why they can't improve these areas or coat them to prevent corrosion - which generally ends up with your alloy being welded to the hub when you have your first puncture.

Fronts were OK but already rusting, rears were bright orange with rusty puddle ......... after only 3 weeks.

The BMW jack is very good but have taken to using my trolley jack with a small wooden puck to locate in the rectangular jack point on the sills. (Thanks to suggestions elsewhere on this site.)

The question is where can I safely shore up the car if doing further work beneath the car......there doesn't appear too much on show where i feel confident to put blocks or axle stands.....?.Can anyone recommend some safe points to support the car.......?

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orlee008

i think the BMW jack is the biggest piece of crap that BMW has put into our cars. its flimsy and very weak.

i actually dropped my first 5er on the ground when i was painting the brake calipers. i used the BMW jack and a trolly jack at the same time to lift the rear and the BMW jack just tilted a little and slipped from under my car and my car dropped on the rear brake disk. luckly NOTHING happened to my car at the time.

lift your car with it then push on your car and you'll see how much the car rocks and wobbles around. i'll never use it again...

ObD

I use this to prevent the wheel from sticking to the hub. Works great and I reapply between summer and winter wheel swaps.

I've only lift via the jack points. I bought an aluminum pad from Pelican Parts that fits the jack point pads and bolted it to my Sears jack.

wasupdu

The way I see it is that the BMW jack in your trunk is for an absolute worse case scenario if you're stranded somewhere on the side of the road.

If you're in your own garage you should DEFINITELY use a better jack. Do yourse;f a favor and pick up a decent jack for $50-80 at Northern Tool/Sears, etc....


As for jacking points - There are two relatively obvious jacking points on both sides of the car that I frequently use to change out wheels, do oil changes, etc..... I don't have a picture handy, but when looking under your car you'll clearly see a jacking point about 10-12" (rough guess) from the front wheel and about the same distance from the rear wheel (2 on each side of the car). There is likely a jacking point in the front and rear too but I have yet to need to jack the car up at those angles.

Another thing - Do yourself a favor (and your family members/significant other) and get some jackstands. I've yet to "need them" thankfully, but you should always use them every time to jack up the car.

beaker

You already know about the 4 side jack points, so I'll skip those.

There is a front jack point as well, but your wooden block won't work with it. It is the same size as the side points, but there is no "cup" - it is just a pad. You can see it easily without having to jack up the car (i.e. just lay down and look under the front end with a flashlight). Do a search here - I'm sure there is a pic somewhere.

You can jack from the rear of the car as well using the differential. Take a look at it - if there are "fins" on the back of it that look like a heat sink, then make sure you aren't jacking on those fins otherwise they will snap off and you'll have a big repair bill.

wasupdu

You don't even "need" the jacking pad that you posted above. A regular jack will work....preference I guess.

DrLev99

My jack stands (minus the added steel inserts for more height) actually fit right inside of those plastic jack points on each side. You have to position the stands a bit in front of those jack points as you lower the jack (using the rear differential) onto them because the car will move forward as it lowers. Or have someone position them as you lower the car onto them. It would work in front too, but I couldn't find that front jack area referred to above...but I didn't look that hard either.

beaker

It depends on your comfort level. If you use a regular jack without the insert, your jacking the car on the plastic piece of the jack point. If you use an insert, your contact point is the frame itself.

The plastic is pretty strong and I'm sure it would be fine, but I still prefer an insert. I bought one from Josh on e90Post for $45. Works like a charm.

Heloha

I think the question is: Where do you place the stands after the car is in the air so you can release the jack and proceed to jack up another part?

I'm guessing instead of side to side you need to go front to back: Jack the front of the car first (somewhere in front) so both front wheels go up at the same time, then place the stands in the front side inserts or on the plastic pads. Release the front jack on to the stands and go to the back and place under the differential (avoiding the fins) and jack both rears up at same time, then place 2 more stands on the rear side inserts or pads. Is this correct?

WEB60: nice jack! Mine is old school steel and very heavy

beaker

If were doing a four wheel jack, that's exactly how I'd do it. I haven't needed to do anything like that, though. If I did, I'd make sure I had a kick-ass set of jack stands that had something that went inside the jack pad so the car wouldn't move when I jacked the rear end. I'm pretty paranoid, so I tend to over-secure things.

If I'm changing tires, I just work on each wheel individually using the four jack points. Since I'm never under the car, I don't bother with jack stands.

If I'm doing an oil change, I just jack up whatever end of the car I need. If I were changing the ATF (which I've never done - yet), I'd do a four-point jack. Hopefully by the time I need to do that, I'll have my lift installed.