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So I know about the 4 rubber pads on the sides of the car. They make really stable points for my jack stands. Problem is getting my jack stands under the pads if I'm using them to prop up the car. The other issue is that my 2 ton jack only has enough clearance to prop the jack stands under it. I have used a friends 4 ton jack before and was able to do 2 at a time on the front but I was still at a loss for where to place the jack toward the back of the car. Diagrams and pictures a plus.

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4 Answers 4

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The e46 has a central jack point in the middle/front of the car, between the front wheels (red circle). Just make sure you use a block of wood between the jack and jack pad to help distribute the force a little.

enter image description here

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    Thanks, Do you know where to jack the car up in the back? Mar 22, 2011 at 2:41
  • man i didnt use a block or an attachment. i hope i didnt fuck up the jack point... why doesnt it say anything about this in the owners manual?
    – oldboy
    Aug 30, 2022 at 22:23
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Use ramps for the rear. Put 2 blocks of wood behind the front wheels, so when you back up on the rear ramps, the front wheels will be on top of the wood blocks. The front will be high enough to jack the center, and then put jack stands under the 2 front jack points.

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You have an answer for the front... My car is a 2000 E46. Just forward of the differential, there is a steel "band" around the drive shaft. Pretty sizable, and has a flat area on the bottom. I dont know about your car, but I use that to get the rear off the ground. I get the front up first ( the center jack point on mine is a little different that shown above, but similar, it shows beneath the bottom cover ) and on stands, then the back. If you raise just the rear of the car, be sure to chock the front wheels.

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  • So around the time I asked this question, I tried the differential noticed it deform a little and then chickened out on testing the "band" out as well. Later on with that car and now the next, when I have gone to the shop / dealer I like to price out whole car lift and see how much less those are than the cost of the repair. Anyone who is serious about working on these cars should consider buying a proper 4 point lift as it's relative cost is negligible. Feb 24, 2019 at 19:38
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All BMWs have basically the same lift point locations. On an E46, there are the pads or you can use the seam that has two slot around it right by where the pad would sit. This picture depicts where you should lift the car. You can use other points, but at a dealer they only use these four.

enter image description here

Image Source

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    Thanks, I tried some of the other points suggested in this post and elsewhere. It seems that the assumption is that if your going to be working on a BMW that you will have a proper lift. Guess it's the cost of entry. Aug 9, 2013 at 14:07
  • @QueueHammer You can always just put it on jack stands. Aug 10, 2013 at 1:39
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    In practice it's not possible to get all 4 jack stands under the car while using the jack. If you can, using only the jack points provided, you should post that as a answer. Aug 12, 2013 at 14:34

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