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Thread: Supporting points for jack stands?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
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    Long Island, NY
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    1997 M3

    Supporting points for jack stands?

    Changing the oil on my '97 m3. Just bought some jack stands and floor jack. I see the raising points directly under where the factory jack would be used but where are some good safe spots for the jack stands? Novice question.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
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    Dallas
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    98 M3
    I usally for the front, put the jack under the front cross member then put the jackstands on the stock jack pads.
    Sean

  3. #3
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    Sean, you have the same forged M-wheels I do, very nice. What about the rear raising point for the floor jack, any suggestions?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
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    San Diego, California
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    My Cars
    F10 550i 6 Speed
    ON the rear if you look theres a crossmember thats probably about 4 feet from the rear bumper towards the front of the car. See www.understeer.com for jacking suggestions. (that sounds funny).
    Roman
    F10 2011 550i Sport 6 speed
    E46 2005 ZHP Sedan 6 speed (for sale)
    E36 1996 328i Sport

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Thanks Roman, very helpful. Now let's see if the cheesy jack I bought from sears will reach.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    '88 E28 M5; '95 E36 M3;
    Something that I believe Brett Anderson noted at one point: standard jack stand tops don't fit securely on the hockey pucks. He suggested using the frame rail in the front and the mounting point of the the rear trailing arm (in front of the rear tires) for the rear.

    I'm curious to know if anyone else uses these points?
    pas
    '88 BMW M5
    '89 BMW 325i
    '95 BMW M3
    '94 MB E500 (sold, see first car above)
    '89 VW GTi-16v (sold, 22 years of fun)
    '84 VW GTi (sold, wish I still had it)

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    99M3, 04 M3 , 17 F250
    I got the E46 jack pads. they are square and hold the stands just right. about $5 each
    Doug (BMWCCA HPDE Instructor, Respect My Authoritay!)

    1999 Titanium Silver M3 track Rat
    2017 F250 Powerstroke
    2004 M3 Widebody, LS

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    1970 Cadillac DeVille
    Originally posted by CABimmer
    I got the E46 jack pads. they are square and hold the stands just right. about $5 each
    Same here. I cut the down to lower their profile (thickness) as well. 10 mins. with a hacksaw.
    In the slow lane

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    My Cars
    '88 E28 M5; '95 E36 M3;
    Good idea on the E46 pads. Are they easy to remove for T-hooks if you need to haul the car?
    pas
    '88 BMW M5
    '89 BMW 325i
    '95 BMW M3
    '94 MB E500 (sold, see first car above)
    '89 VW GTi-16v (sold, 22 years of fun)
    '84 VW GTi (sold, wish I still had it)

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    They have a pin in the middle to keep them from falling off. all you have to do is pry on the pin (screw driver) and remove like the round ones.
    Doug (BMWCCA HPDE Instructor, Respect My Authoritay!)

    1999 Titanium Silver M3 track Rat
    2017 F250 Powerstroke
    2004 M3 Widebody, LS

  11. #11
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    You got the e46 jack pads from BMW as a part(s)?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
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    2,724
    Originally posted by pas
    Something that I believe Brett Anderson noted at one point: standard jack stand tops don't fit securely on the hockey pucks. He suggested using the frame rail in the front and the mounting point of the the rear trailing arm (in front of the rear tires) for the rear.

    I'm curious to know if anyone else uses these points?
    I usually use the frame rails in the front. Mainly because it's close to impossible for me to reach the front subframe, unless I put the car up on stacked up 2x10s first. Also, since I have two floor jacks, I just put one on each side, under the jack pad and raise the car that way.

    In the rear, I put the jack stands under the points where the jack pads should be - I've removed the jack pads because the car is too low to get a jack under the jack pads and also last year we needed to get to the T-hook slots to tie my car down to the trailer. Without the jack pads, the car sits securely on the jack stands.

    If you have the round jack pads, I strongly suggest not putting them on top of the jack stands. It's just too easy for the car to slide off the stands that way. I'm a little wary of the E46 pads - they're still plastic, and mostly meant to be used on the lifting pads of a lift. However, since I haven't tried it, I can't really comment on how unstable/stable it is...But, I do trust Brett Anderson's views on this - do a search, and you should be able to find pieces of an email from Brett that I posted on the last "how do I jack up my E36" thread...

    Jim

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    1997 M3
    Thanks all. Very helpfull.

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