A new E46 body crack

[helix402]

When stripping my car today for a new rear arch I found this:

. There are actually 3 small cracks. First time I've seen this happen on an E46.

It has done 237k miles, standard dampers, Sport springs, M3 top mounts and Z3 reinforcement plates. Also has a 21mm Eibach arb. More info to follow in my Readers cars thread.

[SebringMan]

This had made me glad that I am reinforcing mine! I was having second thoughts about doing it!

So its cracked on the wheelarch itself? What metal are these cars made from?

[helix402]

The crack is on the arch, not in the area covered by the Z3 plate or by any subframe mount reinforcement kit.

[bmwmike]

Where on the car is that, hard to tell from the photo.

Btw my old E46 had a crack/split in the weld between the bulk head and inner arch on the passenger side. Iirc you could see it by following the line of the top of the inner wing to bulkhead.

Edited by bmwmike on Saturday 25th March 12:50

[helix402]

N/s/r damper top mount.

[iSore]

Still no clearer. That's an odd looking top mount.

[helix402]

The picture shows the body shell. The circled area is where the top mount is secured to the body with two 13mm nuts. The damper has been removed, along with most of the rear interior. The body is cracked.

Edited by helix402 on Sunday 26th March 19:48

[bmwmike]

What's that brown thing sticking out of the hole

[helix402]

Led light handle.

[E-bmw]

That clears up the bit that was confusing me, it looks like it was meant to be there.

[bmwmike]

Yes same here.. looks rusty