[MtBMW73]

I am about to do my first oil change on my 2020 F32. (Not the car's first oil change obviously; I bought it last December.)

Where exactly is the front center lift point? I've read a few horror stories about people mistakenly lifting their cars from what they thought was the correct lift point, only to damage their steering racks leading to an expensive repair.

I've watched a handful of youtube videos on jacking up an F3x, and none make any mention of this risk (although the comments do).

I'd like to avoid this mistake, so can anyone describe exactly where the jack needs to contact the car to safely lift it? (A picture would be great if available.) My previous car was a 2013 E92 and the center lift point was obvious and not hidden by a plastic underbody panel.

[crrraaig]

Having just crawled out from under my '15 435 F32 6sp (I don't know if the N55 or the 6sp effect the undertray design, so being as clear as possible), the F32 has one of the better placed front jack points compared to the E90 330, E83 X3 (not in the center!) or E70 X5.

The rectangular steel box is directly on the middle, along the axis of the front wheels, with a opening in the undertray. Our front racks are relatively tiny as they are not hydraulic, tucked up within the subframe, and covered by the under tray, so fear not - they are also very up front - never lift from so far up front, center lift points should always be along the axles (? I could be wrong, but can't think of an example).

I use a small block of plywood about the same dimensions as the lift pad with my floor jack, and of course jack stands. The oil drain plug (brassy yellow) is not quite a foot further back, the drain plug close to the lift point (silvery - visible in first pic) is for the front diff on x-drives. The location of the oil drain plug is ideal for draining oil with the front end up in the air - no need to lower the car to get all the oil out like many Japanese engines (looking at you Nissan!).

Here is a close up of mine - please disregard the scrapes (how the hell did the former owner do that! ):


And here is a pic from pelicanparts that shows the location (not a F32) very well:

[MtBMW73]

Thanks for confirming. Mine is pretty much the same. I don't understand how someone can miss that, but I've read more than one story of guys ruining their steering racks by jacking up the car at the wrong spot. So I thought there must be more to it.

Here' what mine looks like:


Here's one of the unfortunate souls:

A Warning Against Using The Front Jack Point
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2065439

And I found this comment in a YouTube video about "how to safely jack up a BMW:"

Please be careful and make sure it’s not the spot that looks like it could be the center and instead pick the spot that is a little further. There’s two circle dimples on the f32 but one dimple is right under the eps and its shield, the further dimple is the center jack point. I just did this today and cracked my EPS. my steering is now Jacked up, no pun intended.

(I don't know what he is talking about with "two circle dimples." Mine only has the one on the jack point.)

And this comment on the same video:

Always remove the undercover and visually confirm that there is actually a jacking point. There are loads of people who saw this video and tried to jack up their BMW under their power steering and broke the damn thing.

[johnung]

[MtBMW73]

Originally Posted by johnung

I've watched that video and he makes it clear where the jack point is, but does not mention anything about how that spot could be missed and the power steering rack ruined. Mine looks exactly like the car in this video, so it's good that he has pointed out the correct spot. I'm still wondering how anyone could screw that up and think some other spot is the correct one. It's pretty obvious.

[jean019]

Originally Posted by MtBMW73

Thanks for confirming. Mine is pretty much the same. I don't understand how someone can miss that

And I found this comment in a YouTube video about "how to safely jack up a BMW:"

Please be careful and make sure it’s not the spot that looks like it could be the center and instead pick the spot that is a little further. There’s two circle dimples on the f32 but one dimple is right under the eps and its shield, the further dimple is the center jack point. I just did this today and cracked my EPS. my steering is now Jacked up, no pun intended.

(I don't know what he is talking about with "two circle dimples." Mine only has the one on the jack point.)

I think the guy refers to my sort of underneath, F32 435i RWD 6MT EU spec :
https://ibb.co/zHWTLYg


The central point is fully covered (there's different possibilities on the F3x series)

Can you confirm me the lifting point is the Yellow circle and NOT the Red one ? (the oil plug cover seems to be just behind).
https://ibb.co/h9vtfyv


I don't want to break anything, it seems a bit risky...
Thanks

[MtBMW73]

Originally Posted by jean019

I think the guy refers to my sort of underneath, F32 435i RWD 6MT EU spec :

The central point is fully covered (there's different possibilities on the F3x series)

Ok, that makes a little more sense now that I see it. That's not what mine looks like; mine has the metal lift point totally exposed (you can see it in the picture I posted), so it's very obvious where to place the jack.

Originally Posted by jean019

Can you confirm me the lifting point is the Yellow circle and NOT the Red one ? (the oil plug cover seems to be just behind).

I don't want to break anything, it seems a bit risky...
Thanks

I cannot confirm the lift point for your car. But if that was mine, I'd tap around in that area with something like a small hammer to figure out exactly what is solid metal above that plastic shield and what's not.

[jean019]

Yeah yours looks like my old e90, easy to see, no possible issue.
On the F32 that's a photography from my mechanic, my car is too low to reach that point (we saw the same videos ;-) )

If somebody can confirm if it's the Yellow or Red circle I would be gratefull ?(reading the F30 posts I imagine it's the yellow but I want to be sure, it's a $5000 risk...).
I'm not in a hurry for the answer.