[BMWinAZ]

This has come up on occasion. Ever since buying a 2013 335i f30 about 1 1/2 years ago, I have wondered about the front jacking point to get car on jack stands, which are positioned in the side locations. My e90 has a very obvious metal square between the front wheels for this purpose. RWD f30s do not have that. The felt like undercladding has two indentations between the front of the car and the oil plug door, both of which do not necessarily feel very solid underneath. There are also some contradictory post and infos on the internet. Even my Indy BMW specialist was unsure. Naturally, they have gorgeous, envy inducing lifts! So I put the car on ramps for oil changes and such. I don't particularly like ramps, I prefer jack stands. So today I got under the car and removed the 2000 fasteners that hold this undercladding in place and confirmed that the indentation closest to the oil trap door indeed is a safe and secure jack point. There is a heavy duty steel beam that is part of the frame. This is at least true for an f30 with the N55 Motor and MSport package (I also have an aluminum sump and oil plug, not the plastic kind).

[_tlink]

Follow your front axels in and right where they meet that's where you jack from. Its hard metal with a hole in the middle. Just make sure you are jacking with a good floor jack and that you have solid contact with jack point (most use hockey puck or rubber pad to keep grip)

[Snoopy8]

Originally Posted by BMWinAZ

This has come up on occasion. Ever since buying a 2013 335i f30 about 1 1/2 years ago, I have wondered about the front jacking point to get car on jack stands, which are positioned in the side locations. My e90 has a very obvious metal square between the front wheels for this purpose. RWD f30s do not have that. The felt like undercladding has two indentations between the front of the car and the oil plug door, both of which do not necessarily feel very solid underneath. There are also some contradictory post and infos on the internet. Even my Indy BMW specialist was unsure. Naturally, they have gorgeous, envy inducing lifts! So I put the car on ramps for oil changes and such. I don't particularly like ramps, I prefer jack stands. So today I got under the car and removed the 2000 fasteners that hold this undercladding in place and confirmed that the indentation closest to the oil trap door indeed is a safe and secure jack point. There is a heavy duty steel beam that is part of the frame. This is at least true for an f30 with the N55 Motor and MSport package (I also have an aluminum sump and oil plug, not the plastic kind).

See attached. Hope this helps

[Gen13 F36]

You need an extra long low profile jack.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by BMWinAZ

This has come up on occasion. Ever since buying a 2013 335i f30 about 1 1/2 years ago, I have wondered about the front jacking point to get car on jack stands, which are positioned in the side locations. My e90 has a very obvious metal square between the front wheels for this purpose. RWD f30s do not have that. The felt like undercladding has two indentations between the front of the car and the oil plug door, both of which do not necessarily feel very solid underneath. There are also some contradictory post and infos on the internet. Even my Indy BMW specialist was unsure. Naturally, they have gorgeous, envy inducing lifts! So I put the car on ramps for oil changes and such. I don't particularly like ramps, I prefer jack stands. So today I got under the car and removed the 2000 fasteners that hold this undercladding in place and confirmed that the indentation closest to the oil trap door indeed is a safe and secure jack point. There is a heavy duty steel beam that is part of the frame. This is at least true for an f30 with the N55 Motor and MSport package (I also have an aluminum sump and oil plug, not the plastic kind).

I got fed up with the whole center jack point, that really wasn't designed to be a center jack point, when my car almost slid off of my jack (with a rubber pad on top). Hot day and the jack wheels dig into the asphalt.

I bought the RennStands by SafeJack. Only available online from manufacturer. Let's me jack up and place jack stand at the same corner BMW jack points.

The concept is simple. I place the cross bar of the RennStand on my jack and jack up the car at the jacking point. When it's high enough, the legs of the RennStand pop right on. Then just lower the weight of the car onto the RennStand. RennStand has many optional adapters including the BMW/Mercedes adapters that fit right into the rectangular boxes at the car jack points.

Note: Since I lowered my car, I just drive the two wheels onto a couple pieces of 2"x10" which gives me an extra 1.5" of height to slide my jack under.

Hope this helps!

[FaRKle!]

On xDrive cars there's a shield/stiffening plate with a protrusion for the front central jack point. That stiffening plate doesn't support the weight of the car though, and falls back to rest on/get pressed against one of the crossmembers of the subframe.

This is important to know because the protrusion is rectangular (and looks like it's fully supported from behind), however the subframe crossmember that actually supports the backside of it is kind of rounded so the front-most portion of the rectangle protrusion isn't actually supported. The jack must be placed far enough rearward to where it's actually supported.

[Fliplegend]

I use the central jack point all the time. For oil changes and short work:

1. Raise driver side with jack w/puck
2. Place jack stand on central point
3. Do said work

If the work is going to be lengthy, I will place a jack stand on the passenger side, and essentially move the jack stand I had on the central point to the driver side and use the jack on the central point since it will be high enough to fit under. I also throw a wheel under the car for added security. As mentioned above, if you have a long low profile jack, you can start directly from the center jack point, lift the car and add jack stands to both sides. Only drawback I can see is when jacking from the center, the car can tip to one side without much effort.

[messygarageBMW]

I use a quickjack. Money well spent.

[muniz_ri]

Another option...the frame is stiff enough that you.can jack from the rear, side jack points and the front will rise enough to place a jack stand under the front, side jack points.