Originally Posted by schoonerm3
Until peoples M3s will start to fail with plates on a regular basis this method wont become a norm.
Until peoples M3s will start to fail with plates on a regular basis this method wont become a norm.
They are failing!. People just haven't a clue about where to look.
I invite anyone with a repaired m3 for a totally free racp health check. I will put it on the lift and show exactly what's happening.
U have seen the one with reddish plates on and after cracked out side again ?
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Motor Confidence-14b Knockmitten lane,Western ind est ,Naas road D12
The upper layer of the front mounts valdas. This is what I have been talking about for the last year. The beginning of the chassis failure is the upper portion of the front mounts. When you see and "fix" the outer skin you are only addressing the cracking that is a result of a failure on the inside that no one has bothered to fix
Last edited by schoonerm3; 22-09-16 at 13:17.
I thing it's quite good strengthening with plates from out side . If it's very bad I open from interior side and do weld .have opened the one with only rear LH mounting damaged ,as these crack first ,and front RH was perfect .so i think it don't need so extra cutting and welding as it will not make so lot changes ,as any weld is no good for steel anyway ! Non stuff and paint will help to stop later rust or other damage . The only thing to weld the plates ,is to strengthening the shity floor . It probably wouldn't be my cup of tee ,to keep E46 and know it had it's fully rewelded rear floor . It's not the case to make car be perfect forever .it will start rust in other places ,as they do start ,seen quite few .so does it worth to do all this just for your peace of mind for few years? And I'm sure ,and I have examples ,they do good mileages even without plates ! If u so scare about this type of car ,probably better just to go away ! Better I'll change the chain on N47 and will know that it will drive perfect again ,and body still be perfect,which is so difficult to sort ,rust ,paint quality and so on.and we know u got all this shite on your own skin . So how many people would go your route ??? Don't need to try and say how good I have done for my own car and how all others around Ireland and all UK now are peace of shite!! Becouse it does sounds like this ! U might say this after few years when would be what to compare ,and still there is no fully same cars to do this .thats all I wanted to say .
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Motor Confidence-14b Knockmitten lane,Western ind est ,Naas road D12
I do understand what you are saying valdas. Your perfectly correct in saying that it is not economically sensible unless the car is a keeper. .
Difference is my car is a keeper and it truly get a no expense spared attitude.
Back to the actual repair conversation.. The day I see pictures of an e46 m3 upper front mount undamaged (cracked) I will eat my words
Never say never !
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Motor Confidence-14b Knockmitten lane,Western ind est ,Naas road D12
If you have pics please show. Would be very useful and interesting for the community.
This thread is going a little off the topic, but hey - it's super to see a bit of passion and a lot of thought going into the subject. This is often hard to find in Ireland sadly.
The nub of the matter is that we all know the floors are a weak point, for some people buying a "fixed" car would be acceptable as they may or may not keep it long, and they may or may not give a toss whether it was fixed or not and will drive it until it falls apart.
Then there are those that are bonded to their E46 like their first born - for them how it is fixed and sealed / primed / undersealed is very important, also if you can fix yourself it's worth going above and beyond the norm to 1, give you the peace of mind you did everything you could to maintain your machine, and 2, - contribute that knowledge back to the people who actually have a genuine interest (forum users typically)
So I don't think its fair to say that the standard repair (plates only) is a crap job, not that anyone did - it probably is good enough in the majority of cases and is economically viable. If it was my E46 M3 and was a keeper - i'd be doing a bit more though.
Anyway, I've been in E39's for 15 years - I want an E39 M5 - the S62 has been calling to me for years now, waking me at night like a teenager finding the bed wet. I probably won't have this issue - but if I did, and I have the skills, and the car was a "keeper" - I'd go all out like schooner.
No right or wrong way here, it all just depends.
Plates are redundant now as total fix. As time moved on things developed and were improved. Other areas were discovered that are now considered higher stress points. How one can say plates are enough when they don't have any role in what caused the cracks in the first place is beyond me. As I keep saying. The cracks that we try to fix with plates only occur because something much bigger is happening in the background. And that's what should be addressed first. Then add your plates to reinforce the previously weakened metal. Please read the link below.
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=555302
In saying all the above, if people are happy with just having plates then great but I think everyone should be informed of the bigger picture and that plates will not reverse or stop the damage of the other high stress points that keep getting ignored. And if they are still happy then at least they were informed when something goes wrong in the future and they come on here looking for advice. And that's what my posts intend to do.
It's like the Shannon river when its at full capacity. People can keep putting their sandbags down to try stop the water entering their homes. This slows the damage and moves the water to the next weakest link.
(Sandbags = steel plates)
Unless something is done upstream to relieve the river of its load them we will keep having problems in surrounding areas albeit we can slow them down with sandbags.
This something can be anything from strategic seam welds in well located areas to mimic what a brace would do.
It can be a brace alone such as the Vince brace or the mason brace, it can be a combo of both brace and weld. It can be a roll cage with a subframe pickup.!
Anything that will relieve the entire panel will work.
Last edited by schoonerm3; 04-10-16 at 07:39.
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