# Where are the floor jacking points?



## 2001E46 (Nov 12, 2002)

I have a 2001 325i that I'm trying to lift and put on jackstands. However, there is no mention of floor jacking points in the owner's manual, nor is it in the Bentley manual (you would think Bentley would give PRECISE instructions for doing this).

Under the front of the car I see a lot of plastic. I have no idea where to jack. There is a rectangular bump in the plastic right by the flap that opens for access to the oil drain plug, but I don't dare try it without knowing for sure that that is the jacking point.

I have no idea where to jack in the rear. Do I jack the differential?

How do you lift an E46 onto jack stands? Please Help!


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

On later model E46es equipped with the square-ish mound, there really isn't a good jacking point up front. You can use the U shaped rear subframe reinforcement just ahead of the driveshaft/differential to jack up the rear.

If you need to lift up the front, try using a ramp, or buy a nice rubber pad for your hydraulic floor jack for the front square-ish mount. On older E46es that used to be a reinforced steel plate and will support the weight of the car, but after June of 2000 that's been changed to aluminum and without proper support the square-ish mount will be crushed by a hydraulic jack's cup.

AC hydraulic also sells a cross member adapter that allows you to lift up the front or rear of the car from the jackstand points on the side of the car. You can use that cross member adapter to lift the car, and place the jackstands underneath the cross member adapter.


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## fkafka (Mar 12, 2002)

If I only need to lift one wheel at a time, is there anything wrong with just using a floor jack (not the spare tire jack) and skipping the jackstands?


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

fkafka said:


> *If I only need to lift one wheel at a time, is there anything wrong with just using a floor jack (not the spare tire jack) and skipping the jackstands? *


Depends on how long your car is going to be up on the air...It's never too smart to leave car up on floorjacks for TOO long. If you're just swapping wheels...No big deal. If you're changing calipers or working on suspension parts that require more than an hours worth of work, I'd suggest you put it up on jackstands.


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## fkafka (Mar 12, 2002)

The HACK said:


> *
> 
> Depends on how long your car is going to be up on the air... *


That'll save me a lot of time. Thanks HACK.


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## SteveM (Aug 6, 2002)

Or, for added safety, you could put the jackstand in position, but don't lower the car onto it (short term of course). This way, if something catastrophic happens to your jack, you won't be crushed.


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## Chris325i (Dec 31, 2001)

I always leave the jack at the jackpoint (unless I'm using it for something else) in addition to the jackstands. Just in case.


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## kster (Sep 5, 2002)

On my '02 M3, I've been using this round, 3" diameter, black rubber/plastic point in the center of the front end as the frontal jack point. Do the regular E46 3 series have this center point?


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

kster said:


> *On my '02 M3, I've been using this round, 3" diameter, black rubber/plastic point in the center of the front end as the frontal jack point. Do the regular E46 3 series have this center point? *


Regular E46 3 series has a raised circular steel mount on pre 06/2000 production, a raised square ALUMINUM mount on post 06/2000 production cars.


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