Rear diff jacking point.
 

Hi,

I'm new to doing...well anything with cars.... give me a computer and i can gut it like a fish but stick me under a car and i'm not so sure so be gentle... it's my first oil service ;) The oil side of things i've done but now for the fuel filter.

I had a look in TIS for the jacking points and the piccy isn't that great to work out where I'm supposed to jack up the rear from so I can get it on axel stands to do the fuel filter... Can someone take a look at the piccies below and make sure this is the right point to jack up on the diff. This is a 2006 530d M Sport.

http://ingybing.com/Images/bmw/jackhere1.jpg

http://ingybing.com/Images/bmw/jackhere2.jpg

The area you have marked in yellow is a perfect spot if you can get to it. By that I mean the rear differential has the low hanging finned cover designed for convection cooling which prevents seeing and interferes with easily getting to the differential body as you look underneath the rear toward the front of the car.

If you have a secure saddle of some type that can positively capture the area you marked without touching the finned cover, and without the danger of slipping off the differential body, then that would be great. I have threatened to construct something out of wood but have never gotten around to doing it. But I never wanted to risk trying to work "blind" and pick up the rear by the differential body, as if the jack slipped the differential cover would likely impact the jack as the car dropped.

Instead I jack the rear up on the finned cover itself. Structurally the finned cover is securely held to the main body of the rear differential by large bolts. Any jacking force travels directly through the meeting point between the cover and differential housing, placing a shear force on the sturdy bolts which are more than sufficient to handle the load of the rear end of the car.

However, most floor jack cups are not flat, and there is the danger of cracking one of the cooling fins off if too much weight is concentrated on one fin. To avoid this I use either a 2X4 or a 4X4 (depending upon how high I want to jack up the car) set on the floor jack cup. The 2X4 is just slightly longer than the finned cover and allows the weight to be supported primarily by the solid section of the cover but also evenly across all fins.

I have probably jacked up the rear end of the car in this manner (to place jack stands) 30 or 40 times for various projects and have never had a problem.

Thanks for the quick reply :)

I should hopefully be able to get at it from the side if i use a scissor jack to lift the car enough to get the trolley under and then just go slow and steady until i can get the axel stands in place. BMW certainly don't make it easy to get the car in the air do they. :)

Up to you, but many of us on the forum use the cover as a visible flat surface that has proven to be a safe place to use as a jacking point.

the spot you marked is the ideal spot, though i jacked it up by the finned cover. i removed the jack cup and placed a piece of thick rubber in between diff and jack was kinda scared to do this. lol

Thanks :) I saw the warning in TIS not to use the cover so I'm trying to avoid it even if it is safe with some wood to spread the load. If there was a 1 in 1000 chance of breaking a fin from jacking there... I'd be the 1 ;)

Can't blame you. The cover is not cheap, and if you were to knock the cover off that rear gear oil stinks to high-heaven.

But I do have to admit, I'm one that believes that rules are made to be broken. :)