Any of you guys know of that "tearing" problem that happens in the S54 motor'ed M coupe's? Not sure if it happens with M roadsters, but I've seen pictures of the M coupe. What happens is there's too much power to the rear frame and the two beams rip/twist so that the chassis comes apart from the frame, it's under the carpet in the cargo area.....??? Not sure if this is exactly what's happening...but pretty sure it's not a good thing. Anyone?

I'm shopping for one so I want to know of any problems I might have to face.

yes, that has been a problem to several m Coupe owners. i think the real problem is just plain shoddy welding. i've been lucky so far......

yes, that has been a problem to several m Coupe owners. i think the real problem is just plain shoddy welding. i've been lucky so far......

Sirius has told me to ask you about this... http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?p=507498#post507498

:beer:

Does warranty cover that problem? What can I do to prevent that problem other than driving hard?

if you do get it, let me know. i've got bunch of info at home....quick fixes..common problems and such.

I have seen the rear subframe on the M-coupes tear out a couple times. Each time we fix it, we strenghten the body at the joint so it dosen't happen again.

I have seen the rear subframe on the M-coupes tear out a couple times. Each time we fix it, we strenghten the body at the joint so it dosen't happen again.


Is there anyway to fix that other than driving habits? Also, does it throw off the car's balance, for example, frame alignment, chassis twist....etc.


And does BMW honor this as their fault?

If it does happen, how much does it cost to fix?

Gotta do my homework before getting something ya know... ;)

so far most of the incidents have been covered by the warranty. i've heard people without warranty for 2 years get them repaired for free. as for prevention, some mention aircraft rivets.

I think one of the ones we repaird was covered under warranty. Its not that far fetched though, we fixed a 92 E36 last year because the rear subframe ripped out of the floor and it was covered by BMW.

You mean to tell me that no one on here has installed randy's dual ear differential fix?
The trunk tears out of all the coupes... bad design. Wasnt built for 400 hp.

Get randy's kit and have it installed, and problem solved.

BTW.... ireland bushing make a world of difference.

I've had some recent experiences with this.

First, it happens on ALL US Z cars including the 1.8l original.

What happens is 2 things. 1st, the two pieces of metal that make up the rear deck of the Z cars separate over time. This separation causes the entire rear cross member to have a substantial more weight put on it. It's already got a tun of weight due to the rear differential being mounted too it as well.
2nd, the constant moving of the rear differential causes a small tear in the area where the mount sits. This tear overtime can cause the entire cross member to crack right across.

The combination of these two things literally tears the rear end apart over time. We are not talking about a fixed time for it to happen, each car is different. I've talked to people who have 1996 Z3's who have the problem at 130k + and I've talked to people with S54 driven M Roadsters from 2002 who have the problem at 45k!

The solution is very simple...

Randy Forbes has a great fix:
http://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album37

Randy is a great guy and his fix is the best I've ever seen. I'm doing it right now as I write this... its a tun of work, but its worth the energy and money. I would not replace the entire frame like Randy has in his pix, seems like too much work. But you can see in his pix what he has done and its a great fix.

Just as a side note, as nice as the Rogue Engineering differential cover is... its 2.25" lower then the stock cover. I was scratching my cover on the ground BEFORE the crack in my car even happened! With the Rogue cover, I could not even drive my car! So thats a big problem right there.

So yea, that's what I've had for an experience. I plan on starting a web site based on this problem so people can read more about it!

I plan on starting a web site based on this problem so people can read more about it!
Here's one already: http://www.thelargeglass.com/bmw/subframe/cases.cfm

Only catch is, nobody has a "fix it yourself" web site with video's, discussion board and hundreds of images from all around the world. Hehe... I wanna make sure when I go to BMW for money, there is plenty of proof! lol