I just received notice of a possible settlement for a class action suit regarding E46s and defective rear axle supports. I did a search of this forum and turned up no threads. Does anyone know anything about this? http://www.e46subframeclassactionsettlement.com/
ohhhh yes.... go to e46fanatics.com http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=453529 Quote: Originally Posted by White_Knuckles View Post I called two local BMW dealers and was surprised to find they had no knowledge of this issue or ever had a car with this horror in their shops. I thought that was strange so I called BMW NA to get some facts. The guy was very knowledgeable and quoted information I've never spotted on the forums. He said: The statistics are isolated to to a very small percentage of cars and certain years were more prone. The unpublished numbers are; 1% of 1999-2000 cars and 0.1% of February 2000 - 2006 E46 production cars have this failure documented. That means 1 tenth of one percent of cars in my year have a chance of this concern. Similar numbers, also provided by BMWNA, have made their way into the proposed class action settlement end Quote just got mine in the mail yesterday
Sub Frame III My wife received her paperwork Monday....I thought I read somewhere that this sub-frame issue affected E36's, more specifically tracked and M cars??? I too haven't heard of any E46 issues...
My papers state: "Class Vehicles are BMW E46 Vehicles distributed by BMW NA in the United States. BMW E46 Vehicles consists of all 1999-2006 Model Year 3 Series vehicles and does not include the Z3 model vehicle (E36) or Z4 model vehicle (E85)."
I got my letter Friday- here is another link on the settlement - Wasserman, Comden & Casselman, L.L.P. http://www.wcclaw.com/CM/ClassActions/BMW-Subframe.asp
I got mine yesterday. I haven't had any problems that I know of and my guys at the garage looks at it whenever they lift my car up. Interestingly, the claim form asks for the types of modifications on your car. I wonder if they'll refuse to pay if you have certain mods, e.g. Bilstein HD / tighter springs, etc. I guess I'll find out about it if I ever need to claim it. It would stink if my car ripped out 9/3/10, though.
We got the notice today. I'm not sure why the suit is E46 specific as the issue is known to exist on E36s, including the Z3 derivative, as well. After reading all the legal warnings, my wife is concerned about driveability. Cheers
If you are referring to the rear floor being ripped out by the rear suspension, then this does NOT affect Z3 vehicles. The Z3 has a completely different rear suspension compared to the E36 3 series. The Z3 (318ti as well) has a rear trailing arm set-up which was carried over from the E30. Pretty bomb proof, but does not handle as well as a multi-link system as in the E36 and E46.
symptom? anyone aware of any symptoms that warn you of the problem? vibration, hop etc? I haven't asked the dealer to check for this but I would assume they would if it has been a problem.
Do Not count on a dealer to be looking for this! You can see stress cracks in the sheet metal around the rear subframe mounting points. You have to get under the car to see this, easiest when the car is on a lift. Check out these photos on TMS's website. http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/photo_gallery_e46sf.shtml
Yeah...I got the letter too. No problems but I returned the form anyway. Only out the cost of a stamp.
I should have my mechanic check out the xi first before I bring it in to BMW before 09/09/10. Remember, you only get one shot at this with BMW. If you bring your car to the dealer now and have no subframe damage, yet around mid to late 2010 just before the deadline and you have subframe damage, you are out of luck. I have read that it takes up to 2-3 weeks for the repairs. Good thing I know two dealers around that offer free loaners. Also, if you have aftermarket suspension parts/kits, wheels, etc... you will be excluded. My E46 was manufactured on 2/03 which will make it 7.5 years old by the time the deadline hits. Also, employees of BMW are excluded from this! So if you are a tech/parts/service, etc... employee that has a E46 and have this dreaded problem, you are screwed .
Photos of cracks Here is what you are looking for! These cracks were on the drivers side, rear mount to the left and behind diff. The first three photos are of the cracks the last two are after the repair. Obviously all of the mounting points got reinforced but I am only showing the one corner that actually had damage. And also obvoiously the rear subframe assembly has been removed from the car but the cracks were visible when it was installed.
2000 323i sedan with auto tranny. It was billed out as 20 hours + 4 hours for bushings + alignment. It will all be submitted by the owner to BMW under the Class Action Lawsuit rules.
The look of your car (nice!) tells me that you will be excluded. Aftermarket suspension/wheels will prevent you from taking advantage of this. The only way for you to not be excluded is if you put back the stock suspension/wheels before you bring it into BMW only if you have the subframe failure. It would be a PITA to do this . Having clear corners and/or aftermarket exhaust won't get you excluded.
I am not qualified to answer that question since I don't have anything to do with the lawsuit, law firm handling this and am not an employee of BMW NA or AG or the firm or in house councel that may be representing them. I can assume that Mods will effect if and what you may get or if you would even be included in the lawsuit, if you have damage. I believe there is something in the verbage of bulletin that BMW has sent out but I don't remember. I only posted photos as an FYI and I don't claim to have answers as to who, what, where, when or how on the lawsuit that is currently in play.
Oh well..... so far, (after a thorough inspection on a rack) my car looks to be in great shape underneath! Hopefully I wont ever have to file a claim! Thanks for your thoughts, Brad
