Thank you Bill !!!! I do have a couple more updates filmed that I just haven't had the time to edit. Be patient with the process, have fun, and you will find it very rewarding when done. It is a big job, you just have to tackle it piece by piece. There is some procedure downloads (PDF) in the description section below each video that you might find of some value (maybe not). Best of luck with yours!!!!!

Thank you! It was a big job and unfortunately most E36 and E46 chassis will experience this at some time. Those three little spot welds were just an incredible weak point. Cheers!

Thank you!

Thank you for the complement! It was a lot of work but very rewarding!!!!!

Thanks!!!! Hope it helps if you have that issue. Cheers!

How did he fix

Can you still do it for free if you buy a used one?

Thanks for watching. Hope if you are in the same situation, you can figure out the best approach to solving yours. With it being such a time consuming repair, I can see why BMW offered a short window for coverage. They didn't want to do it.

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback, best of luck and have fun with yours!

@@UCanDoIt2Mike I will do the best effort. Encourage to do a before and after shoot. Will educate myself in that projext. Thank you. God bless.

It is very common and a flaw in the engineering of the chassis. Best of luck with yours.

I appreciate the feedback. It was an interesting project and fun to share!

Thank you for the feedback! Cheers!

Thank you and have fun with yours.... be patient!!!!

It all starts when the 3 spot welds break on that Subframe mount. So even if you do not see the break through that we experienced, you could still have this overall issue. Good luck with yours!!!!

Hope you found it useful! Cheers... Mike

Hope you get it figured out. Cheers!

@@UCanDoIt2Mike Hey thanks. I checked the mounts and they looked fine. Starting to look like the gearbox is the culprit.

They are fun to drive and relatively easy to work on. If you are looking at the E46 body, I hope it has had this fix applied. It appears to be common. As with BMWs of this age, there are a lot of plastic parts that have run their life span. The plastic gets brittle. The radiator expansion Tanks exploded on us... easy fix. Have to be careful all around the engine with the hard plastic hoses. They break easily... easy to fix. Have fun with yours. Cheers!

@@UCanDoIt2Mike thanks man I end up getting it, checked absolutely everything, and it had records from a bmw dealer and certified bmw shops with almost everything that typically goes wrong already replaced and basically it’s been kept up on maintenance. It’s a very fun car to drive and I absolutely love it. Got big plans for it

سعيد لأنك وجدتها مفيدة. شكرا لك على التواصل. نأمل أن تجعل ترجمة Google هذا الصوت صحيحًا. هتافات!

Javier Messías I agree. Those three spot welds had no chance of creating a strong solution.

Glad you found it useful! Best of luck with yours!!!

Glad that you found it useful. Best of luck with yours!!!!

Thank you for the feedback!

It was most noticeable in the lower gears 1 and 2 where there is more torque.

I just recently posted a front control arm bushing replacement video. That is an easy fix. And a common problem. That fix really improved the drive of the car. As far as the noise from the rear... The thumping that I was experiencing was a result of the 3 spot weld failures (noted in the second half of Part 3 of this series). This failure is a result of stress from the torque placed on the Subframe. Due to direction, it will fail on the left rear side first. Releasing the brake is a different stress. Since it sounds like it is a repeatable issue, can you mount a camera or walk along side the car to help identify the location of the sound. Could be Brakes or Differential, hard to tell from the brief description. My next project for this car is a Thermostat and Water Pump. Good luck with yours!

I just finished that, it is an easy job. Thanks.

Glad it helped! Makes it worth it when it helps someone. Cheers!

LOL! I would rather it be my diff because it's a real pain to reinforce the sub frame. I am getting ready to do mine.

After being through the whole ordeal, I think it all start when the three spot welds (Part3 @ 14:39) fail. Mine happen to escalate beyond that until the chassis also failed. Good luck with your project!!!

Thanks. I think I'll put it up on the stands and see how much it shifts/shimmies when I shift and hold the e brake......Heck I might as well just pull it all out and give it the once over. 192k miles and I just bought it couple months ago.....Thanks again

Sounds good! These cars are very easy to work on. Parts are not that expensive and you can save a lot doing it yourself. Cheers!

The car in this video is a Rear Wheel Drive car. In your case, you would need to put the front of the car on jack stands to get the front wheels off the ground.

Truthfully, it could be a number of things. You definitely need to have it checked out. Something is loose and will only cause more damage over time.

Ultimately, BMW had a flaw in the design of where the Rear Subframe (a bowed frame that held the rear diff) was mounted to the chassis. There are three little spot welds that support this area (very weak). Ours failed from ordinary driving, like so many other owners cars. The problem was exaggerated when my son was teaching a friend to drive a manual car. The friend popped the clutch a little fast and it tore out the mount. If you are able to reproduce the sound at will, you might consider mounting a camera back there to look for movement or other signs. Cheers!

It could be about anything. Check out the Rear mount on your front lower control arm. It is my understanding that they often go bad. I have also replaced them on this car.

A lot of time it depends on What you are doing when the sounds appears. Shifting, accelerating, letting off the gas, etc. I can think of anything related to "installing mew control arms" that would generate clunking sounds.

ill try today and see when it does make the sound, thank you

If it’s at the center it may be time to look at your driveshaft flex disc and carrier bearing

Hope you can get it figured out. They are great little cars and fun to work on.

@UCanDoIt2 yeah it gets me through winter at least

If you cant find the source, you may need to have it looked at by a mechanic.

I wish I had put together a final video of thoughts. The "problem" that I exposed in this video series... I believe stems from the three spot welds that fail within the structure. There are three spot welds that hold the Bracket (the one you see pulling out of underneath portion of the car) to the inner structure. The initial failure is those welds. You cannot see them. They are internal. But I would imagine when they fail, the sound would start. In my case, not only did the spot weld fail, but the extra stress also allow the bracket to pull through the bottom plate. I would hope no one would allow this to get as far as we did. It caused extra damage. Cheers!

UCanDoIt2 wel thing is my car even makes the noise when i put it in gear when it is standing still and engine at idle....

Yea... the recall was for a very short period of time and it has expired. Cheers!

This maybe too difficult for me to solve without seeing it. But like any diagnosis, your approach needs to start with 1) Divide and Conquer. Use a camera and or someone sitting in the back seat to help identify the location of the noise. Is it the Transmission, or something around the Rear-end? Maybe like I did, you could lift the vehicle and video what's going on under the car. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU TRY THIS!!!! My initial Thumping was directly due to the failure of 3 spot welds that are completely hidden from view (See: my video Clunk Part 3 @ 14:38). This failure ultimately resulted in more damage and additional chassis failure. The noise (Thump) that I was hearing was the "Tin Can" effect of the chassis metal flexing (and ultimately failing). I have another viewer that has a clunk sound and his turned out to be internal Differential gear issues. It sounds like you have an automatic transmission. If the sound can easily be repeated by changing from Park to Drive, have someone do that while you maneuver around the car sourcing the sound (BE CAREFUL!!!!)

My issue culminated in the bracket pulling through the bottom sheet metal. It all starts with the 3 spot weld failures that is seen in Part 3 (seen in the little windows that I cut in the trunk). Those three spot weld sill fail first and cannot be seen or detected, then it could continue by ripping out the bottom like mine. Very common problem with the E46. Hope yours is something else!!!!!

Not off the top of my head. I will check to see if I hear it the next time I drive it. Sorry.

Very cool!!!! Those original bushings are Extremely hard to get out. Be patient!!!! I have a large vertical press and could not figure out how to fit the subframe into it, so I had to remove them on the floor. Not a fan of the poly bushings, but that is just a personal preference. Glad you figured your issue out! Cheers!!!!

I hope my subframe mountain point isn’t cracked, I couldn’t see any cracks while being under the car. I’m not able to weld, so that would really suck

After completing this project and then looking back at the whole issue... I realized that in my situation, the INITIAL failure on mine was the "3 SPOT WELDS" of the SF mounting bracket. Those failed first then the rest just escalated. Unfortunately, you cannot see the spot welds unless you cut the little window in the trunk. Wish there was a good way to diagnose those weld for those that think they have failed. Cheers!!!

Then I’ll drive to my grandparents who own a good mit welder and ask my grandpa if he could help me to strengthen those 3 spotwelds before I remove the subframe. I’ll have an ugly trunk than more problems. Nobody will ever see those two holes there

Are there instructions on where I have to cut and strengthen those?

Every year and every body of the E46 from 2000 on up has the same rear floor and subframe. Do not let anyone tell you the late cars don't have the problem---it is only that they are newer and thus the probability they are cracked is lower simply because the chances are they haven't seen as much use.

For both the Bushings and Reinforcement Kit, I believe it was between $350 and $400.

$350 because he did it himself 😆

That wont cost you much! Cool that you figured it out!

UCanDoIt2 Had all sorts of scenarios going through my head. Your clip is valuable bc most shops will go through a visual inspection using the All Parts sheet as a checklist. Running the motor under load and shooting video should be SOP for the DIYer or people that have burned through diagnosis hours without resolution.

You will need a diagnostics plugged into your car to get the code read

Probably your engine

@@masonchrystie bruh

I believe it can. The first thing that is going to break is the 3 spot welds that I show inside the trunk. Those welds are not visible without removing metal. Once those welds break, they then flex ( and in my case, break) the bottom sheet metal. If yours does it simply by shifting from reverse to drive. Have someone stand next to the car and see if they can identify where the sound is coming from.

@@UCanDoIt2Mike i just posted a video of what its doing when i shift from reverse to drive could u take a look

@@UCanDoIt2Mike can you check out the video i uploaded or do you have a email address i can send you the video

@@corkscrewlifestyle no issues hard shifts

@@corkscrewlifestyle so the automatic transmission don't get the subframe issue

Those are BMW Style 5 off my 2001 740iL. I upgraded my 7 Series so my son took my old wheel and put them on this 3 Series.

yes sell it you don't want to put up with that specially if is rusted don't ask me how I know that

It had about 120K on it when this happened. We just sold this car about 2 months ago. My sin upgraded to a 550i (F10) 6 speed manual. Very hard to find. We flew to Chicago to snag this one.

@@UCanDoIt2Mike thanks for the fast reply! Awesome car too! I wish you all the best of fun with it ;)

@@FreakingDoomShroom I'm sure we will. We really loved the E46. We owned it for 7 years. A lot of fun to work on and drive.

You should definitely have it looked at locally.

@@UCanDoIt2Mike i can also feel something when i shift from reverse to drive could it be the subframe tearing out

what do you think it could be is my car prone to have the subrame tear out problem

Possibly.... You should have it looked at locally to determine the exact issues and resolution.

They are BMW Style 5 Wheels that came off my 2001 740iL. They are pretty common.

Great information. Having mine looked at this week.

That is most likely not the same as this issue. Cheers!

Maximilian Jankowski It is a shame that these cars experience this issue. They are fun to work On, but this was a large oversight of the engineers. Hope you get yours fixed.

Interesting! I can see where a partially stuck cable could make a similar sound.

lol lol Not really. So it sounds like you have an automatic. I could possibly see you hearing a clunk when you shift from Park to drive as it would slightly torque the subframe. The rest of my problem and a systematic problem of the E46 is the spot sleds on the little bracket the fell out of mine. Not sure what yours might be since it happens in Park at idle. I believe something different.

@@UCanDoIt2Mike Exhaust manifold seal ? Is what people are saying. I Have no idea where to look for that . Lol . Dont know much about exhaust. Im not a profecional mechanic .lol I dont think is camshaft . The noise seems to come from rear of engine near firewall. Its anoying . And engine shakes a bit. Rattle noise . YES 330ci CONVERTIBLE AUTOMATIC 2003 PRE FACELIFT. E46

First thing first... I think it is fantastic that you are at least trying to diagnose your own issue (not being a mechanic) !!!! The Exhaust Manifold is the beginning portion of your Exhaust System. It bolts directly to the Head portion of the engine. There is a Gasket (seal) between the two. Since the issue happens at idle, you might be able to use a camera in small places to try to capture the culprit! Otherwise, you have possible narrowed down the issue enough to get/receive accurate help from a mechanic. Cheers!

By the way... I am not a mechanic either... but like you, I like to try to figure things out and when it becomes apparent that I can fix it myself, I do!!!!

@@UCanDoIt2Mike Thanks so much . I appreciate it . Yeah learning as i go . These BMW's can turn you into a scientist . Lol .