The definitive subframe strategy thread

[VeMsCoupe]

RF is undergoing surgery last time I emailed him. Still emailed me back down to hours pre-op. RF Kits are reasonably priced. I do not own an M Coupe... yet

[Foglght]

Had to find out ours has a problem in a really shitty way. Going to get it fixed, but will only be to turn into track car.

[Z3MUSN]

Good evening Z3(///M) family - has anyone been in contact with the Great and Powerful Oz - I mean Randy? Hope he is well, I know he had surgery over the summer last year.

Keep safe!

[khammack]

Good evening Z3(///M) family - has anyone been in contact with the Great and Powerful Oz - I mean Randy? Hope he is well, I know he had surgery over the summer last year.

Keep safe!

He has posted on the forums recently.

[Mark Bielick]

I bought my '98 2.8 six years ago with under 10,000 miles on it. Since I paid a couple grand less than I expected, the first thing I did was bring the car down to Randy and have him install the reinforcement. Yes, it cost a good bit of money, but I was still under my budget, and Randy did an excellent job on the installation. I did this because I almost bought an M roadster with half the trunk floor ripped out. Luckily, I read about the issue on this forum, and inspected the trunk floor before purchasing. Glad I did. Did the reinforcement add value to the car? I assume it did, but I could care less. I now know I will never have to worry about it failing, and I can enjoy driving it for the next 20 years...

[magnetchief]

Good evening Z3(///M) family - has anyone been in contact with the Great and Powerful Oz - I mean Randy? Hope he is well, I know he had surgery over the summer last year.

Keep safe!

He messaged me this morning via. Facebook.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sydjai]

Apologies if this is a member of this board, but what are your opinions of this subframe fix?

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds...m/2393206.html

The text states its a Forbes kit but the ears that connect to the differential look like the stock stamped ears? And the inside, the pic is inconclusive, would be better if it showed more of the rails on the sides, the main section doesn't really look like a Forbes style?

Mods if this is inappropriate to discuss a current listing, please delete the post. I just thought it was a good example that we can all learn from.

[rf900rkw]

It looks like Randy's kit.


It doesn't look like Randy's welding.

[ProductUser]

Apologies if this is a member of this board, but what are your opinions of this subframe fix?

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds...m/2393206.html

The text states its a Forbes kit but the ears that connect to the differential look like the stock stamped ears? And the inside, the pic is inconclusive, would be better if it showed more of the rails on the sides, the main section doesn't really look like a Forbes style?

Mods if this is inappropriate to discuss a current listing, please delete the post. I just thought it was a good example that we can all learn from.

I have the RF kit installed. This, however, looks like someone stole and\or installed *parts* of Randy's kit.

[rf900rkw]

What parts are missing? Before you say the double ear mount, remember that it is optional. You get either the double ear or reinforcing parts for the original single ear. There are some armchair-engineers that have looked at the force vectors involved and are not convinced the two ear is stronger. The two ear for sure hammers on the diff cover gasket. And two ear is not legal for autocross / Solo. This car has the reinforced single ear version.

[sydjai]

During the research that I did, I thought the ear (or Randy you called them pendants once) looked like this (I stole the picture from earlier in this thread). I’ve also seen some builds where the factory stamped bracket was used like in the for sale link that I posted. Which one is the more current design?
8BB1BF65-9D62-4A93-BB65-E70C19846C27.jpeg

[rf900rkw]

As I said, there are two options. They are BOTH "current design". Many have the notion that since 2 is bigger than 1 in most parts of the English speaking world, it *must* be better. That's not necessarily true. But leaving the engineering out, a dual ear is not legal SCCA, or any org that plagiarizes the SCCA rules. Hence the need for both designs.

Edit, in case it's not clear, your picture is one side of a dual ear mount.

[ProductUser]

This picture doesn't look right.

Capture3.jpg

[Jamesons Viggen]

My car has Randy's work installed within the past few weeks. Subframe pics start on page 9.

http://spcarsplus.com/piwigo/picture...1/category/430

[rf900rkw]

I see lots of globular welding that has been ground down. And it looks like they didn't do a very good job of truing the trunk floor before installing. Or cleaning the seam sealer out. But I don't see anything that makes it inauthentic.

[Randy Forbes]

It looks like Randy's kit.


It doesn't look like Randy's welding.

The welding (and lack of it, in places) does leave something to be desired. . .

My car has Randy's work installed within the past few weeks. Subframe pics start on page 9.

http://spcarsplus.com/piwigo/picture...1/category/430

It should be pointed out that on this particular car, I only installed the trunk floor portion of my reinforcement kit. A previous owner had a "fix" done by an M CAR shop in the NE; after pointing out several spot welds that subsequently failed after the previous "fix" the owner elected to have me correct the short comings of the previous work. Since the underside and modifications to the diff mount remained solid__and would've been a real painintheass to cut/grind out, not to mention time consuming__the underside was left alone. I did however do a proper cleaning and preparation for epoxy-chromate primer (PPG DP40/402) seam-sealing, undercoating and final topcoat to match original finishes, as the reworked area was showing signs of surface rust, and sealer and paint flaking off exposing unprotected steel.

[ProductUser]

Agreed. Please disregard my previous comment on the validity of the installed RF kit

[rf900rkw]

The welding (and lack of it, in places) does leave something to be desired. . .

It should be pointed out that on this particular car, I only installed the trunk floor portion of my reinforcement kit. A previous owner had a "fix" done by an M CAR shop in the NE; after pointing out several spot welds that subsequently failed after the previous "fix" the owner elected to have me correct the short comings of the previous work. Since the underside and modifications to the diff mount remained solid__and would've been a real painintheass to cut/grind out, not to mention time consuming__the underside was left alone. I did however do a proper cleaning and preparation for epoxy-chromate primer (PPG DP40/402) seam-sealing, undercoating and final topcoat to match original finishes, as the reworked area was showing signs of surface rust, and sealer and paint flaking off exposing unprotected steel.

Um, hi. I'll sit down now.

[IndianaRoadster]

The welding (and lack of it, in places) does leave something to be desired. . .

It should be pointed out that on this particular car, I only installed the trunk floor portion of my reinforcement kit. A previous owner had a "fix" done by an M CAR shop in the NE; after pointing out several spot welds that subsequently failed after the previous "fix" the owner elected to have me correct the short comings of the previous work. Since the underside and modifications to the diff mount remained solid__and would've been a real painintheass to cut/grind out, not to mention time consuming__the underside was left alone. I did however do a proper cleaning and preparation for epoxy-chromate primer (PPG DP40/402) seam-sealing, undercoating and final topcoat to match original finishes, as the reworked area was showing signs of surface rust, and sealer and paint flaking off exposing unprotected steel.

I know how you feel Randy. In the construction business I always hated going in and fixing someone else's shoddy work because once you touch it, it seems to become your baby!

[Jamesons Viggen]

Um, hi. I'll sit down now.

He(RF) was talking about my car, not the hacked up one from earlier on this page.

[TheBlackBrian]

Hello from Sweden!

Just bought a 99 S50 M Roadster and found this little guy in the trunk . Car has just over 100k kilometers on it, and very well maintained otherwise.

IMG_5180.jpg IMG_5181.jpg IMG_5306.jpg

Judging by comments around here, I caught it early. Anyone have experience getting this fixed up in the nordics?

IMG_5072.jpg

A photo of the car.

[Randy Forbes]

Hello from Sweden!

Just bought a 99 S50 M Roadster and found this little guy in the trunk . Car has just over 100k kilometers on it, and very well maintained otherwise.

IMG_5180.jpg IMG_5181.jpg IMG_5306.jpg

Judging by comments around here, I caught it early. Anyone have experience getting this fixed up in the nordics?

IMG_5072.jpg

A photo of the car.

I brought your post to the attention of someone I know in Sweden. I did his car when I lived in Ohio and he was working in Michigan. He has since done a Coupe for himself, so he's very familiar with the repair and reinforcement.

Maybe if you offer to buy him a lunch and you can discuss the possibilities...?

[TheBlackBrian]

I brought your post to the attention of someone I know in Sweden. I did his car when I lived in Ohio and he was working in Michigan. He has since done a Coupe for himself, so he's very familiar with the repair and reinforcement.

Maybe if you offer to buy him a lunch and you can discuss the possibilities...?

Thanks for that Randy. Hope he is located in the south .

[Donlundm3]

Hej Göteborg,
I'm on the other coast, near Karlskrona. Are you a member of the BMW Z-Gruppen Sweden on FB? If not, you should be. Lots of help there. My email is donlundm3@hotmail.com. I have one kit left.

[TheBlackBrian]

Hej Göteborg,
I'm on the other coast, near Karlskrona. Are you a member of the BMW Z-Gruppen Sweden on FB? If not, you should be. Lots of help there. My email is donlundm3@hotmail.com. I have one kit left.

Cheers. Sent you an email.