2000 BMW 328IC

REAR SUBFRAME (LEFT REAR MOUNT) IS COMPLETELY TORN OUT OF THE FLOOR. CURRENTLY CAUSES A JOLTING ACTION IN NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS AND A CREAKING NOISE IN LOW SPEED DRIVING. IF LEFT UNATTENDED, COULD CAUSE MISALIGNMENT, POOR PERFORMANCE, AND THE REAR AXLE TO DROP FROM THE BODY. THIS IS NOT ONLY BAD BUT ALSO A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

BACK IN JUNE 2006, I TOOK MY 2000 BMW 332CI TO BMW OF SAN DIEGO IN CALIFORNIA FOR THE SQUEAKING NOISE COMING FROM REAR AREA OF MY CAR WHILE DRIVING. THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE SO NOTHING WAS DONE AT THAT TIME. NOW I TOOK MY CAR TO A REGULAR CHECK UP AT THE SAME BMW OF SAN DIEGO, AND THEY ARE NOW TELLING ME THAT REAR SUBFRAME IS TORN AND IT IS SAFETY HAZARD SO THEY THINK I SHOULD NOT DRIVE MY CAR AT ALL UNTIL I GET A REPAIR DONE AT LOCAL BODY SHOP. THEY THINK I SHOULD TOW THE CAR THERE. I THEN NOTICED THAT THERE ARE ABOUT 40 OTHER COMPLAINTS ON NHTSA SITE ABOUT THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM I AM HAVING. I LEARNED THROUGH ONLINE FORUM THAT THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM HAS BEEN RECALLED BY BMW GERMANY IN GERMAN A FEW YEARS BACK. I ALSO LEARNED THAT BMW OF NORTH AMERICA HAS PAID TO FIX THIS PROBLEM ON FOR SOME CUSTOMERS EVEN IF THEY ARE ALREADY OUT OF WARRANTY JUST LIKE MYSELF. CURRENTLY I AM WAITING FOR BMW OF NORTH AMERICA REPRESENTATIVE TO VISIT THE BMW OF SAN DIEGO TO TAKE A LOOK AT MY VEHICLE. SINCE THE BMW OF SAN DIEGO RECOMMENDED THAT I DO NOT DRIVE MY CAR WITHOUT GETTING THE PROBLEM FIXED, I AM CURRENTLY DRIVING THEIR LOANER CAR. MY CAR IS AT THE DEALER RIGHT NOW. WHEN I CALLED THE BODY SHOP REFERRED BY THE BMW OF SAN DIEGO, I WAS INFORMED BY ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES THERE THAT PROBLEM WITH SUB FRAME GETTING TORN HAS BEEN ONLY SEEN FOR BMW 3 SERIES AND NO OTHER MANUFACTURER OR MODEL. *NM

THE REAR SUBFRAME MOUNT IN MY 2000 328CI HAS A SIGNIFICANT FATIGUE CRACK AT THE SUBFRAME MOUNT WITHIN THE REAR AXLE SUPPORT. THIS PART, BMW #41117000246, FAILS DUE TO FATIGUE CRACKS FORMING IN THE SHEET METAL AT THE PERIPHERY OF THE SPOT WELDS OF THE SUBFRAME MOUNT TO THE BODY OF THE CAR. THE CRACK WAS OBSERVED DURING A REGULAR INSPECTION OF THE VEHICLE. THIS IS A SERIOUS AND MORE COMMON FAILURE THAN THE NUMBERS REPORTED TO NHTSA. ONE ENTHUSIASTS SITE HAS A LIST WITH 120 1999 AND 2000 E46 CARS WITH THIS FAILURE. THE CRACK IN MY CAR WAS OBSERVED BECAUSE I KNEW TO LOOK FOR IT. OTHERS HAVE NO IDEA THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN. THERE WAS NO PRIOR ACCIDENT OR EVENT THAT WOULD MAKE ONE SUSPECT SUCH A FAILURE. I ONLY KNEW BECAUSE A FELLOW BMW CAR CLUB MEMBER WARNED ME TO LOOK. THE CONSEQUENCES IS THAT THE REAR DRIVETRAIN AND SUSPENSION ARE SEPARATING FROM THE BODY OF THE CAR. AFTER THE FIRST SUBFRAME MOUNTING POINT FAILS (VIRTUALLY ALWAYS ON THE DRIVERS SIDE REAR) THEN THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR FAILS. IF SOMEONE FAILS TO FEEL THE WOBBLY FEEL TO THE DRIVETRAIN AND SUSPENSION THE FRONT TWO MOUNTS (4 TOTAL IN THE BACK) WILL PROCEED TO RIP OUT. NEXT THE UPPER SHOCK MOUNTS FAIL. AT THIS POINT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CAR AND SUSPENSION/DRIVETRAIN IS VERY DANGEROUS. THERE ARE FIXES FOR THIS BUT THEY INVOLVE REMOVING THE ENTIRE REAR AXLE SUPPORT WHICH IS A VERY INVOLVED PROCESS AND COSTS > $4000. BMW CHANGED THIS DESIGN IN 2001, BUT HAS DONE NOTHING TO ADDRESS THE E46 CARS PRODUCED BEFORE THEN. THIS IS DANGEROUS AND COULD BE ADDRESSED FOR SIGNIFICANTLY LESS MONEY IF DONE BEFORE CRACKING STARTS. BMWAG REPAIRED OR REINFORCED ALL E46 CARS PRODUCED PRIOR TO FEBRUARY 2000, BUT BMWNA REFUSES TO. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS AS THIS IS NOT RIGHT. *JB

THROUGH NORMAL DRIVING ON MY WAY TO WORK I STARTED TO HEAR CLUNCKING AND SQUEAKING COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. IT APPEARS THAT THE REAR SUB FRAME SEPARATED FROM THE UNI-BODY OF THE VEHICLE CAUSING THE SEVERE NOISES.*AK I TOOK THE CAR INTO BMW TO BE COVERED BY THE CERTIFIED PRE OWNED WARRANTEE BUT THEY TOLD ME IT WAS NOT COVERED SINCE THE BODY AND CHASSIS OF THE VEHICLE IS NOT COVERED BY THE WARRANTEE. MY CAR HAS 49000 AND 1 YEAR LEFT ON THE WARRANTEE.

(1) NOTICED A SLIGHT NOISE FROM REAR DRIVERS SIDE OF CAR WHILE TRAVELING ON THE FREEWAY. (2) REAR SUBFRAME CRACKED ON REAR DRIVERS SIDE OF VEHICLE. NO ACCIDENT CAUSED THIS. BMW SAID IT WAS WEAR AND TEAR OR "I MUST HAVE HIT A BIG POTHOLE." THIS I BELIEVE IS A DEFECT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE. HAVING FRAME DAMAGE IS NOT WEAR AND TEAR. (3) THE ENITRE REAR SUBFRAME OF THE CAR WAS REPLACED. OVER $3500 WORTH OF REPAIRS. *AK