Bought A Lemon, Have Warranty, Will It Work?? Need

[SDSUe36]

So i'm hearing a "thump" sounds like it's from the rear window whenever I downshift and release clutch quickly, and whenever I push in the clutch leaving 1st and 2nd gear...assuming this is rear-subframe problems would it fall under any of the following:


My warranty states:

"Drive Axle Assembly: drive shaft, ring and pinion gears, pinion bearings, side carrier bearings, carrier assembly, thrust washers, axle and axle bearings, drive axle housing "

any of those??

or maybe under here:
"transmission: overdrive housing and transmission case" (don't think so but it's worth a shot)

This is so frustrating, I buy a car from a dealer (not BMW, but a used car dealer) "Classic Auto Sales" and 2 weeks later it needs >$1k worth of work

If these fuckers don't help me out or it's not covered under warranty THAT I PAYED EXTRA FOR! what the hell should I do?? At mininum i'll report them to the BBB, they also lied about the car never being in an accident (the car rear-ended someone in 1996)

[schilke]

Could it be the guibo? I have heard of a worn guibo thumping. It may also cause a vibration too.

Search on some of furious's early posts. I mean way early in the e36 fourm. He changed his out and has some pics of his old one.

Just a 2nd opinion.

[Autotechnica]

Guibo would make consistent vibrations, not just when shifting.

Defenitely sounds like a cracked rear sub-frame (differential carrier mounts). A thump would indicate that the differential is hitting against the chassis when you shift. Therefore carrier mounts are cracked.

Unfortunately even though BMW knew that all '91-'93 production date E36's had rear sub-frame failures, they refused to fix them under warranty. I'm afraid you're out of luck. '94 and later models had thick metal plates welded in to reinforce the sub-frame. It's more of a problem on manual cars.

Anyways, even an M Roadster which was said to have the strongest rear sub-frame of all BMW's ever made could have rear sub-frame failures. It all depends on how hard you drive your car.

BTW, cost to fix rear sub-frame is usually around $400-$800, I suggest getting someone to weld some reinforcement plates in while you're at it.

Bry

[SDSUe36]

Originally posted by Autotechnica@Sep 21 2004, 12:42 PM

BTW, cost to fix rear sub-frame is usually around $400-$800, I suggest getting someone to weld some reinforcement plates in while you're at it.

Bry

[snapback]196015[/snapback]

is that with me doing the work myself and paying someone to do the welding or just taking it somewhere and me not having to do anything???

shit people were telling me it's over $2k....$400-$800 sounds much more reasonable...and do you think that would fall under the warranty I described??

[2.link]

If it ends up not being your rear sub-frame like Autotechnica said, it could be your tranny, second gear synchro might be gone. When you bought the car did you take it to a mechanic to get it check out first? Thing of it is, in manual cars people like to throw all their weight into it when shifting into second out of first which ends up ruining that synchro. In turn these used car dealerships don't want you to notice that second gear is going by it making any noise or being hard to get into gear, so they get rice, or sawdust and put it into the tranny fluid, this gets between the gears making up room for any slack they had in them before, after about a month or so this rice gets ground up and you notice that second gear is crap. This might not be your problem at all, but drain the fluid and see how it looks. Also if you want your driveline to last don't down shift to slow down, it puts a reverse stress on everything, clutch's were not designed to be used as brakes, they are there to connect/disconnect the power from engine to the rest of the driveline. Brakes were designed for braking, use them.

[SDSUe36]

Originally posted by 2.link@Sep 22 2004, 12:02 AM
If it ends up not being your rear sub-frame like Autotechnica said, it could be your tranny, second gear synchro might be gone. When you bought the car did you take it to a mechanic to get it check out first? Thing of it is, in manual cars people like to throw all their weight into it when shifting into second out of first which ends up ruining that synchro. In turn these used car dealerships don't want you to notice that second gear is going by it making any noise or being hard to get into gear, so they get rice, or sawdust and put it into the tranny fluid, this gets between the gears making up room for any slack they had in them before, after about a month or so this rice gets ground up and you notice that second gear is crap. This might not be your problem at all, but drain the fluid and see how it looks. Also if you want your driveline to last don't down shift to slow down, it puts a reverse stress on everything, clutch's were not designed to be used as brakes, they are there to connect/disconnect the power from engine to the rest of the driveline. Brakes were designed for braking, use them.

[snapback]196568[/snapback]

sounds like a possibility (the delearship did seem a little bit shady) but it thumps downshifting into third, first, forth, you name it...any time I dump the clutch...sounds like it's coming from the differntial. AND I had the tranny fluid changed at a BMW delearship along with almost every other fluid, so they would've noticed.

I'm still hoping it's just a mount or U-bolt or something....it doens't HAVE to be the rear sub-frame ripping apart from the chassis does it?


And can someone please tell me (even if it's just a guess) as to rather it would fall under the warranty I described?? I think something as serious as this should be covered under the warranty I paid for.

[nameless08]

If you start to hear "clanking" when you accelerate, its definitely your subframe.....

The SAME thing happened to me just a couple weeks ago. In Fact I just got the car back from the shop on sunday. It was something about a hole where the cross member connects to the chassis. I'm not too sure, anything under the car is all Chinese to me.... to put it this way, the only thing holding the differential to the chassis were the shock absobers...... pretty messed up huh?

well anyways, the repair cost me about $600, I got reamed, but I'm planning on selling the car anyways..... hoping to get a 96 328is or 95 m3....

[Autotechnica]

Originally posted by 2.link@Sep 22 2004, 12:02 AM
If it ends up not being your rear sub-frame like Autotechnica said, it could be your tranny, second gear synchro might be gone. When you bought the car did you take it to a mechanic to get it check out first? Thing of it is, in manual cars people like to throw all their weight into it when shifting into second out of first which ends up ruining that synchro. In turn these used car dealerships don't want you to notice that second gear is going by it making any noise or being hard to get into gear, so they get rice, or sawdust and put it into the tranny fluid, this gets between the gears making up room for any slack they had in them before, after about a month or so this rice gets ground up and you notice that second gear is crap. This might not be your problem at all, but drain the fluid and see how it looks. Also if you want your driveline to last don't down shift to slow down, it puts a reverse stress on everything, clutch's were not designed to be used as brakes, they are there to connect/disconnect the power from engine to the rest of the driveline. Brakes were designed for braking, use them.

[snapback]196568[/snapback]

LOL, you're car has "rice" in it. Rice boy!

[Autotechnica]

Originally posted by SDSUe36+Sep 21 2004, 11:53 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SDSUe36 @ Sep 21 2004, 11:53 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Autotechnica@Sep 21 2004, 12:42 PM

BTW, cost to fix rear sub-frame is usually around $400-$800, I suggest getting someone to weld some reinforcement plates in while you're at it.

Bry

[snapback]196015[/snapback]

is that with me doing the work myself and paying someone to do the welding or just taking it somewhere and me not having to do anything???

shit people were telling me it's over $2k....$400-$800 sounds much more reasonable...and do you think that would fall under the warranty I described??

[snapback]196565[/snapback]

[/b][/quote]

$400-$800 for everything, parts and labour. It will take the shop almost a full day to remove everything and do the welding. A very good mechanic can complete all of this in 4-5 hours. If you did it yourself and you have some mechanical experience, expect 2-3 FULL days.

Definitely won't be covered by warranty. Many of us have tried already.

[schilke]

Unfortunately even though BMW knew that all '91-'93 production date E36's had rear sub-frame failures, they refused to fix them under warranty. I'm afraid you're out of luck. '94 and later models had thick metal plates welded in to reinforce the sub-frame. It's more of a problem on manual cars.

Ahhhh!!! You're right, You're right...

I completely forgot about that plate reinforcement...

Damn... I am PWNED as they say?