Subframe and Steering Reinforcement FAQ

George · Post by **George** » May 26, 2009 4:40 AM

This FAQ has been moved to the Wiki: Subframe and Steering Reinforcement - The E28 Wiki

Post by **Nebraska_e28** » Jun 26, 2009 12:29 AM

Excellent write-up!

Msystem · Post by **Msystem** » Jun 26, 2009 2:00 AM

good job.
thanks!

Post by **Shawn D.** » Jun 26, 2009 8:10 AM

Sweet writeup -- I'm doing the same soon!

BTW, the word is "reinforcement." "Re-enforcement" would be something like two cops giving you tickets for the same incident instead of one.

Post by **Nebraska_e28** » Jun 26, 2009 8:16 AM

Shawn D. wrote: "Re-enforcement" would be something like two cops giving you tickets for the same incident instead of one.

Definition: When your 3rd grade teacher smacks you on the hand for shooting pencils at the ceiling with ruler & rubber band setup.

misha · Post by **misha** » Jun 26, 2009 8:03 PM

that is a great write up. Just makes this forum that much better.

ealinn · Post by **ealinn** » Apr 13, 2010 8:34 PM

bump for a sticky!

Eric

euro635gas · Post by **euro635gas** » Apr 13, 2010 9:02 PM

You can also just break the bracket off. Grind the old welds away. Weld a beefy washer over the hole and use the aluminum spacer that is stock on any E32 or E34. Fixed for good. Did this to my 533i over 5 years ago and has never had a problem since.

Nice write up.

The nice thing about BMW is that they fix problems. They fixed it on the E32 and E34s.

locusteater · Post by **locusteater** » Apr 13, 2010 11:46 PM

Any more bulletproof, and some folks' E28's will come under federal scrutiny.

(Now to find a spare subframe to minimize downtime . . . . . .)

johnnye23 · Post by **johnnye23** » Apr 14, 2010 5:59 AM

Great writeup !!

euro635gas · Post by **euro635gas** » Apr 14, 2010 1:02 PM

locusteater wrote:Any more bulletproof, and some folks' E28's will come under federal scrutiny. (Now to find a spare subframe to minimize downtime . . . . . .)

I have one that the bracket broke off. I recently replaced one on a customers E24 and have his old one. $50 plus shipping

Lee in MD · Post by **Lee in MD** » Apr 14, 2010 7:39 PM

All this talk about broken brackets made me paranoid, so I just went out and checked mine and found that the PO already did a bolt and spacer job on the intact bracket. That makes him an alright guy in my book. Too bad some street racing punk in a WRX sent him to the hereafter before his time. Might have been a good guy to know.

George · Post by **George** » Apr 15, 2010 12:00 PM

still no stickeee

Lee in MD · Post by **Lee in MD** » Apr 15, 2010 4:15 PM

Rather than be a sticky in Tech Talk, shouldn't this thread be promoted to the Tech FAQ? Busted steering box mounts seem to be common enough to warrant a FAQ topic.

George · Post by **George** » Apr 15, 2010 4:24 PM

Thats what I meant, should have clarified better.

Philo · Post by **Philo** » Apr 15, 2010 8:23 PM

Lee.., what happened to the PO ??

Also, I posted this as a separate thread but feel it's relative to the steering bracket conversation...

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?p=681612#681612

Lee in MD · Post by **Lee in MD** » Apr 16, 2010 12:16 AM

Philo wrote:Lee.., what happened to the PO ??

Also, I posted this as a separate thread but feel it's relative to the steering bracket conversation...

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?p=681612#681612

Apparently, the guy was a bit of a car enthusiast with several other old rides in addition to the E28. According to his college age son who showed me car, he was out driving around D.C. in his RX-7 one day when he got t-boned by a kid in a WRX. Sure enough, some time after I purchased his E28 I found his registration papers buried in the glove box, Google News'd him, and found a small article in the Washington Post about the accident. Apparently he was on some surface street in the D.C. area that I can't recall and trying to make a left turn onto a side street when this asshole kid in a WRX coming the other way and estimated by police to be going over 100 mph, t-boned him and made him into an instant DOA. IIRC the article said the RX-7 went up in flames and the WRX kid was life-flighted to a local hospital with "life threatening injuries". I never could find any follow up articles to find out if the boy racer dickwad survived or not. Call me a big jerk if you like, but I honestly hope he survived with severe debilitating injuries for what he did to that kid and his mother. The college kid showed me the car but the title was in his mother's name. You should have seen the look on that poor woman's face when she signed the title over to me at my kitchen table. I wanted to give her and her son a big hug but that would have been too weird for all of us. I told the kid that I planned to fix the car up and probably even repaint it and he said his dad would have like that. How's that for pressure

turbodan · Post by **turbodan** » Apr 16, 2010 10:46 AM

Never had a problem with my steering box mount.

M30 cars FTL

lmc337 · Post by **lmc337** » Oct 28, 2010 9:43 PM

Read this previously when the subject came up -
This morning, my bracket snapped...
had to search to find it again - would have though it would be a sticky in Tech FAQ by now -

Please, oh! Please Beamters, give George the fine credit for the fine write up and enshrine this article to the Tech FAQ section!!

Any edits or editing I can assist with (don't seem to see any myself, pretty straight forward in clear plain English with nice photos to boot!). Only one I can suggest is the link to http://www.mwrench.com/

edlocke · Post by **edlocke** » Nov 23, 2010 11:10 AM

turbodan wrote:Never had a problem with my steering box mount.

M30 cars FTL

You won't if you drive it like a girlie girl.........

ASLAN · Post by **ASLAN** » Nov 25, 2010 4:09 AM

so i know my bracket is toast but i wont have time to fix it for awhile. is it dangerous to continue driving the car without fixing it?

edlocke · Post by **edlocke** » Nov 25, 2010 4:51 AM

ASLAN wrote:so i know my bracket is toast but i wont have time to fix it for awhile. is it dangerous to continue driving the car without fixing it?

Find 20 minutes and install the "mwrench" fix-it dowel and bolt.....it's that easy.

ASLAN · Post by **ASLAN** » Nov 25, 2010 5:45 AM

reading this write up made me feel that i should pull out the sub frame. i guess ill use bolt/dowel method until i have the time to do it right.

lmc337 · Post by **lmc337** » Nov 25, 2010 8:33 AM

ASLAN wrote:reading this write up made me feel that i should pull out the sub frame. i guess ill use bolt/dowel method until i have the time to do it right.

No need. Use the bolt, sleeve and big washer method temporarily. No subframe removal necessary unless you like extra work for either repair.

Do not drive with the broken mount!! Steering is essential...

C.R. Krieger · Post by **C.R. Krieger** » Nov 25, 2010 11:42 AM

ASLAN wrote:so i know my bracket is toast but i wont have time to fix it for awhile. is it dangerous to continue driving the car without fixing it?

YES!

Bump for inclusion in the Tech FAQ.

Frybrid 524td · Post by **Frybrid 524td** » Jul 03, 2011 1:57 PM

C.R. Krieger wrote:Bump for inclusion in the Tech FAQ.

LA · Post by LA » Jul 05, 2011 9:08 PM

euro635gas wrote:You can also just break the bracket off. Grind the old welds away. Weld a beefy washer over the hole and use the aluminum spacer that is stock on any E32 or E34. Fixed for good. Did this to my 533i over 5 years ago and has never had a problem since.

Nice write up.

The nice thing about BMW is that they fix problems. They fixed it on the E32 and E34s.

I can't seem to find the al spacer you refer to when I look at E32 and E34 info on realoem.com - could you help with a link maybe?

Thanks,
LA

draztik · Post by **draztik** » Sep 30, 2011 12:29 PM

Where would I purchase the Mwrench steel dowel?

mechacode · Post by **mechacode** » Oct 01, 2011 2:54 AM

Email Ed over at MWrench.

draztik · Post by **draztik** » Oct 10, 2011 9:49 PM

Hey I e-mailed Ed from mwrench and he responded quickly. He also had the kit in stock and ready to ship out for $55 shipped. Got the kit in a day or two and I'm happy with the quality.

MyE28.com

MyE28.com

Subframe and Steering Reinforcement FAQ

Subframe and Steering Reinforcement FAQ

Steering box

Mwrench