Z3 crossbrace?

Hi

Tried to get an answer on the Swedish and one of the British forums but no luck so far (those forums are good but much smaller). Maybe one of you guys can help me?

I would like to loosen my front cross brace i.e. the brace underneath the engine made of tubes of steel. The reason is that it is dented and have a bit of rust so I thougt I'd repaint it before the winter rest for the car.

My question is: Is there any problem connected with loosening it? Do I have to be very careful about how the car is jacked. Are there tensions otherwise that will make it difficult to put back?

Glad for an answer before i try!

Per

The front crossbrace is also the engine support so you will have to support the engine somehow while it is off the car.

I made an adjustable one out of square steel tubing with sliding support legs and a sliding center support with a hook that goes in the engine lifting eye, but there are a number of commercial alternatives out there.

I suspect it would be possible to support the engine with a jack as long as you don't need to do major work under the car, but that may not be optimal...

Originally Posted by dkindig

The front crossbrace is also the engine support so you will have to support the engine somehow while it is off the car.

Is this different on a non M car? I have my cross brace off right now for the tranny swap, repainted it while it is off and don't have anything bracing the engine. The motor and tranny mounts hold everything and my brace doesn't touch the motor in any way.

Whoops!!!!! My bad. Thanks for pointing that out Chris.

When I saw crossbrace I immediately thought of the front crossmember rather than the x-brace. To the original poster, my apologies. The cross-brace is easily removed and replaced without any special precautions...

I think the OP is referring to part 16 here. If so you can remove it with little issue

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...28&hg=41&fg=10

Hi

Yes thanks, it was part 16, and I thought it might be done without problems but since I'm still a newbie on these cars I thought I ask before I went ahead. It's wonderful to live in this internet age with megatons of knowledge available at your fingertips!

Thanks all!

Per