I Imagine our kit and videos should be getting much more notice now that in the last 2 years or so this car has become extremely valuable.. legit a year ago $17k all day long medium high mileage .. now $20k $30k $40K for rougher versions higher milieage... and your kit hits on every search for me whilst im looking into one to do a daily/ week track learner.. havent found my coupe yet that smacks me on my cheeks but Im guessing this is the first or second depending on the year i buy for fixes.. rod bearings are going to be my first for lower years..

Wow, that is the exact noise that’s been driving me crazy for months. I just noticed some rusty looking popped welds in my trunk recently. Sounds just like someone stepping on a creaky floor. Hopefully my cross member doesn’t have a crack in it.

Fantastic explanation and visuals! Thanks, Randy!

For a newcomer (like me on the prowl for coupe) this is legit outside the motor first thing on the lot id be looking at. great to the point and where to look man..

BMWNA HAS repaired many of these cars for their owners, oftentimes, well beyond the warranty period.  The problem is, by law, BMWNA can only repair the chassis back to its original "certified" (by extensive crash testing) standards.  Therefore, it will only fail again, typically in a shorter interval than the original trunkfloor failed.

The way I see it, BMWNA's hands are tied by our own bureaucracy, and the only sensible repair comes from the aftermarket to render a permanent repair.  That's where I come in...

Ten (>10) years after doing the first repair, I've now fixed/reinforced about 100 cars, and have shipped several hundred of the reinforcement kits all over the world; they're on six (6) of the seven (7) continents!   sportscarsplus@aol.com

Yep, still at it (working on a 3.0 Z3 Coupe right now).  I'm located near Sarasota, Florida, about forty (40) minutes south of the Tampa airport.

It was definitely fixable__they ALL are.  This car really even wasn't that bad (compared to some I've seen) but it was the only time that I ever actually "heard" the noise it was making, hence the impulse to record it.

Hmm. I have a creak slightly like that, but my subframe looked fine when I replaced my bushings a few months ago.

Yes I would like to find a way to contact you and purchase this kit also

were there any external signs of damage on the diff box? Perhaps it has been eating a few speed bumps?

Hey Randy, where are you located? I've been toying with getting a Z3 M Coupe but would want it reinforced.  Do you still selling and installing your kits?

I have a 2000 M roadster and would like to know how to order a subframe kit for my car. I live in Portland OR. My car is not showing any problems yet but I would like to do the mod anyway.

Hi randy,
How do I go about buying this kit?

So, was this fixable or is it too late for this poor car?

Where can I buy this kit?

Hey randy any way to get in contact with you to get a price and purchase the repair kit?

randy--ytrying to get ahold of you for diff reinforcement and cannot find a contact.  Can you message me here?

Yes, this is a FAIL for BMW... they should perhaps take some ownership, or at least be very earnest in their inspection and documentation.
Two things:
I've seen failures similar to this (frequently) when off-road dune buggys were being created in Southern Cal with VW origin. The failure WAS NOT torque caused by the engine transfered to the street through the wheels; It was stored torque that would build-up in the form of high rpm-wheel spin, when the buggy LEFT the ground, and would be transferred BACK to the differential and suspension. That is, after being air-born, with either the brakes on full, OR the engine being full throttle,  when the wheels (and massive wheel torque) again met the the ground,  the tires 'bit'  ... then it was too much. It could be as much as 5x the output of just engine torque alone.

The massive damage I'm seeing in some of the videos here reflect this; the cars are being abused by full throttle in bumpy or loose gravel situations- and the bulit-up torque in the wheels spinning free (for a bit) is harnessed back to the asphalt.
Second: Many of the failures involve tack-welds that fail on the thin floor pan of the  of the vehicle. Then, I see back-yard mechanics WELD additional angle-iron over the body and axle area (both are factory sheet metal structures). THIS IS WRONG! Welding to the thin factory sheet metal is NOT the way to go! Any welding, as the factory failures indicate, HARDEN the sheet metal such that it cracks, or bcomes brittle adjacent to the weld. The welds proper do not fail, the surrounding sheetmetal interface being too thin forms brittle interfaces to the weldments, and WILL crack there yet again. IMHO, brazing the strengthening new superstructure is the method of choice; NOT welding.
   [ I can see why BMW is staying away from the problem, as I'm sure their computations show that the origin is from abuse; Saturday night donuts: the cars are being beat... (but  sometimes it's a frank BAD factory weldment, the factory is in the USA after all!). And if my second observation is true, proper repair is not in the cards: the car has become a 'total'....  There is no factory repair for such damage. That only thing that confounds me is that this was been being seen from '97 to the middle 2001,which is a LONG TIME for a company to ignore an underbuilt suspension. If infact the design or welding techniques have changed since the middle of 2001 releases, then THAT'S the same as BMW raising their hand and admitting some culpability.. WHAT did they change?! ]

You'd think this was made at some 3rd world country;
On 2nd thought, i don't think they would do that.