[s-cars] cracked rear subframe - B5 A4

tedebearp at yahoo.com tedebearp at yahoo.com
Tue Jul 27 18:48:15 PDT 2010


Except that it happens on stock BMWs.  We have two E46s, both stock, and they're going in to the dealer for inspection soon.

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 27, 2010, at 6:04 PM, "JC" <jc at j2c3.com> wrote:

This is a common situation on MANY cars including small Beemers (E30/36/46).
Some hardcore suspendo guys say it's owner failure from using too much bar
and not enough spring to flatten out body roll, but I think mostly it's just
the obvious - from putting more bar on a spot engineered for less.  I can't
recall the exact mounting situation for a B5 sway but typically the solution
is weld and reinforce with a fat plate while you're in there.

I wouldn't even think about new subframe unless it was so bad that the
welding was going to have to be ugly or infeasible. Nothing wrong with a
little frame reinforcement welding, just get it well primed and painted
before bolting up again unless you live in Arizona or keep your car in a
hermetically sealed compartment.

---- current ----
1995.5 S6 Avant
2003 E46 M3 Cic
2008 A3 2.0tDSG
---- past lives ----
2006 A4 2.0TQA
1998 A6Q 2.8 PES G2
1989 200TQA SJM
1990 CQ
1997 A4 1.8TQ Wett
1987 4kCSQ

John J. Cunningham
jc at j2c3.com
US Mobile +1 (617) 750-5025
China Mobile: +86 (0) 136 6080 9560



-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Lee Levitt
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 3:01 AM
To: s-car-list at www.audifans.com; quattro at audifans.org
Subject: [s-cars] cracked rear subframe - B5 A4



Picked up a clunking sound from the rear of my '01 B5 A4 avant.
Turns out my rear subframe is cracked where the Hotchkis sway
bar mounts to the subframe...on both sides.

This seems to be somewhat common on cars with upgraded bars
bigger than 19mm.

Has anyone else run into this? Is there a *good* fix for the
problem, other than considering the $1K subframe a *consumable*!

Hap? Don?

Thanks!

Lee


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__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 5318 (20100727) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

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