subframe mount point crack - how long have I got?

[philrosenberg]

Hi
I bought a 2001 325 Ci Sport in December with 80k miles. Just had it MOT'd and serviced and all was well. That is except that I had a look under the car while it was on the garage ramp and there is the typical starting hairline crack near the rear left (passenger side UK) subframe mount point. It's about 3-4 inches long.

My question is, how long am I likely to be able to live with this? I have read up on the required fixes which are ~£1000-1500. However the car only cost me £900 so it's not worth me spending all that money. But from all the reading I've done online I haven't seen anything about how fast the cracking tends to progress. Is this something that will spread quickly and the back end is likely to be falling out in the next couple of thousand miles. Or will the car likely survive another 20-30k miles, by which time I will have had my £900 worth out of it anyway.

Any thoughts on how I should proceed are welcome.

Phil

[dworthy]

The longer you wait, the more it will crack. As for how long it will last, well that comes down to how you drive and how rough the roads are.

If you just looking to drive it for a couple of months and then toss it into the wreckers, you should be okay, but there is no promises or guarantees on that.

[philrosenberg]

Thanks dworthy
Based on that I will look to see if I can get the current hairline crack welded without stripping the whole back end then see if I can get hold of some of the structural foam. Hopefully total cost for that will be in the hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

Phil