2000 BMW 3 Series

THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL IS COMPLETELY TORN AWAY FROM THE SUB-FRAME CAUSED EITHER BY WEAK SHEET METAL USED OR POOR DESIGN. AS A RESULT COUNTLESS OTHER BMW E46 OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME. SHOULD THIS ACTUALLY TEAR COMPLETELY OFF THE VEHICLE, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE A MAJOR ACCIDENT AND A POSSIBLE FATALITY. PLEASE SEE THE PICTURE OF MY VEHICLE AT HTTP://JAYHOWELL.SERVEBEER.COM/IMAGES/BMW/SUBFRAME/SUBFRAMEDAMAGE.JPG. *JB

VEHICLE STARTED MAKING STRANGE NOISES FROM THE REAR SUSPENSION WHILE DRIVING. TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC WHO CONFIRMED THIS WAS THE SUBFRAME OF THE CAR TEARING AWAY FROM THE UNIBODY. HE ALSO STATED THAT THIS IS A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE IN THE E46 AND E36 BMW MODEL VEHICLES AND HAS SEEN IT BEFORE. WENT ONLINE TO SEVERAL RESOURCES AND CONFIRMED THERE ARE MANY OWNERS WHO EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR SUBFRAME TEARING, CRACKING, OR COMPLETE TORN AWAY. *JB

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT THERE ARE OVER FORTY (40) COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE BMW 3-SERIES REAR SUBFRAMES? THEY ARE SCATTERED AMONG THE VARIOUS 3-SERIES MODEL NUMBERS (I.E. 3-SERIES, 323, 323CI, 328, 328CI.325, 325CI, ETC.) THIS IS ALL BASICALLY THE SAME CAR. A TECHNICIAN TOLD ME THAT THE REAR AXLE CARRIER OF THESE MODELS WERE MANUFACTURED WITH AN INHERENT DEFECT. THAT IS, ONE OF THE MOUNTING POINTS IS TOO WEAK TO ABSORB THE NORMAL, EVERYDAY VIBRATION FROM THE TORQUE OF THE MANUAL TRANSMISSION. AS A RESULT, THEY MANUFACTURED A REPLACEMENT PART THAT IS NOW STRONGER AND REINFORCED. THE FACT THAT THIS PROBLEM DOES NOT HAPPEN WITH ANY TYPE OF FREQUENCY ON ANY OTHER BMW CAR, EXCEPT FOR THE 3-SERIES THAT WAS INTRODUCED IN 1999, IS ENOUGH TO FORCE BMW TO ISSUE A RECALL. IN ADDITION, THE FACT THAT THE REPLACEMENT PART IS REINFORCED IS THE EQUIVALENT OF BMW "ADMITTING" THAT THE ORIGINAL REAR AXLE CARRIER HAD A DESIGN DEFECT. BMW HAS REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS GLARING DEFECT IN THE CAR'S STRUCTURE DESPITE THIS DEFECTS NEVER HAVING OCCURRED IN ANY OTHER BMW -- OR ANY OTHER CAR FOR THAT MATTER HOWEVER, IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT BMW ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM IN EUROPE. PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITIES HERE IN THE U.S. HAVE NOT FORCED BMW TO ISSUE A RECALL. HOW CAN BMW JUSTIFY NOT HAVING A RECALL IN THE U.S. WHEN THEY'VE ISSUED A RECALL IN EUROPE FOR THE EXACT SAME THING? PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING OR IF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT IS MY ONLY RESORT. IN ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS LISTED BELOW, THE CONSUMER REPORTED THAT BMW PAID FOR THE ENTIRE REPAIR. YET IN ALL OTHER COMPLAINTS, BMW MANAGED TO AVOID HAVING TO PAY ANYTHING, EVEN FOR CARS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. HOW IS IT THAT AMERICAN CAR MANUFACTURERS HAVE TO ISSUE NUMEROUS RECALLS FOR MUNDANE DEFECTS, BUT BMW MANAGES TO SKATE BY WITHOUT HAVING TO ACKNOWLEDGE A DEFECT THAT THREATENS THE SAFETY OF CONSUMERS? *NM

NOTICED SQUEAKING SOUNDS FROM THE BACK OF THE CAR. TOOK IT TO THE BMW DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE SUBFRAME WAS SEPRATED FROM THE BODY WHERE THE SHOCK ABSORBERS ARE ATTACHED. IF YOU LOOK UNDERNEATH THE CARE YOU SEE A LARGE CRACKED IN THE CHASSIS. THEY QUOTED 4K TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I STARTED LOOKING ON THE WEB FOR THE PROBLEM AND FOUND MANY INCIDENT OF THIS ISSUE. GOT A HOLD OF AN ENGINEER INSIDE BMW AND BASICALLY BMW KNEW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND DECIDED NOT TO FIX IT. THIS IS MORE FREQUENTLY OBSERVED IN MORE POWERFULL ENGINE. THE TORQUE OF THE ENGINE IS CAUSING THE SHEETMETAL OF THE BODY TO BE STRESSED AND EVENTUALLY CRACK. I HAVE BEEN CONTACTING THE BMW FOR TWO WEEKS AND THEY ARE VERY UNCOOPERATIVE. THIS A DESIGN FLAW AND THEY SHOULD RECALL IT AND FIX IT. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM, THE BACK OF THE CAR COULD ESSENTIALLY FALL OFF AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. IS BMW WAITING FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE ACCIDENT AND DIE BEFORE THEY RECALL THIS? *NM

I RECENTLY FOUND OUT THAT MY SUBFRAME ON MY 2000 BMW 328CI WAS CRACKING . THIS WAS A PROBLEM THAT BMW HAS NOT FIXED PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF THIS VEHICLE. THE PREVIOUS E36 MODEL HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF THIS MALFUNCTION. I WAS BROWSING WEBSITES REGARDING MY DILEMMA AND I FOUND THAT 40+ VEHICLES HAVE HAD THIS SUBFRAME ISSUE. THIS IS ONE WEBSITE (MANY MORE) AND HERE IS THE LINK... HTTP://FORUM.E46FANATICS.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=195602&PAGE=21&PP=20&HIGHLIGHT=SUBFRAME THERE ARE NUMEROUS AMOUNTS OF OTHER WEBSITES WHERE THIS PROBLEM WILL BE MENTIONED. ALSO, THERE IS A REPAIR KIT THAT WWW.TURNERMOTORSPORTS.COM MAKES FOR THIS CAR BECAUSE IT IS AN OCCURRING PROBLEM. HERE IS THE LINK.... HTTP://WWW.TURNERMOTORSPORT.COM/HTML/DETAIL.ASP?PRODUCT_ID=TDR4675412 BIMMER MAGAZINE ALSO HAS A SECTION INFORMING CONSUMERS ABOUT THE E46 AND THE SUBFRAME PROBLEM. IT IS IN THIS MONTHS ISSUE. BMW SHOULD RECALL THIS ISSUE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT. MY CAR HAS 60K MILES AND MY WARRANTY JUST EXPIRED. I PAID A LOCAL BODY SHOP TO TEMPORARILY FIX THIS PROBLEM UNTIL BMW COULD REPAIR THIS PROBLEM. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A DANGEROUS ISSUE THAT BMW SHOULD RESOLVE. IF THIS SUBFRAME CRACKS WHILE DRIVING, AN ACCIDENT WILL OCCUR. MOST PEOPLE DRIVE WITH CHILDREN IN THAT BACK SEAT AND THEY COULD POSSIBLY BE INJURED. PLEASE SPEAK WITH BMW AND HAVE THEM ISSUE A RECALL FOR THIS. REGARDS, THANH DINH. *JB

A HORRIBLE CREAKING NOISE STARTING DEVELOPING IN THE REAR OF MY 2000 BMW 323CI (WITH 82000 MILES) WHILE DRIVING. THE NOISE HAS GOTTEN WORSE WITH TIME, AND AFTER A THOROUGH SEARCH ONLINE ON THE WWW.E46FANATICS.COM FORUM WEBSITE, I FOUND MANY OTHER OWNERS OF VEHICLES WITH THE SAME CHASSIS EXPERENCING THE SAME PROBLEM. FURTHER SEARCHING LEAD TO A COMMON PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE FAILURE OF THE DRIVER SIDE REAR SUBFRAME. THIS SECTION OF THE CHASSIS FAILS UNDER PROLONGED STRESS AND A CRACK IN THE CHASSIS OF THE VEHICLE DEVELOPS, EXPOSING A BARE COMPONENT OF THE REAR SUSPENSION AND ULTIMATELY DAMAGING THE SUSPENSION SYSTEM, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO BE UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE PROBLEM IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, HOWEVER THE PROBLEM IS RECENTLY BEGINNING TO SURFACE AMONG MANY LATE MODEL BMW CARS OWNERS AS THIS PART SEEMS TO FAIL AFTER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. NONETHELESS, THIS IS A DANGEROUS PROBLEM THAT IS NOT ISOLATED TO A SELECT FEW VEHICLES, BUT ENOUGH TO RAISE ALARM AND SUSPICION. I WAS VERY SURPRISED AND DISSAPPOINTED TO FIND THAT MY VEHICLE HAS EXPERIENCED THIS EXACT FAILURE JUST OUT OF WARRANTY. *AK

THE REAR SUBFRAME TORE OUT OF THE CAR'S UNIBODY (2000 BMW 328CI). IT HAD NOT REACHED A POINT WHERE THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY IT, BUT IT WAS GETTING BAD. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP BEGAN THE PROCESS OF GETTING IT FIXED. BMW NORTH AMERICA CALLED ME BACK AND TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM AND THAT IT WAS MY FAULT.*AK