1998 BMW M Roadster Body and structure Problems

“2 months ago my exhaust system dropped on my car, and was rubbing on the rear differential. I took it into a shop, and the exhaust bracket was modified to clear the differential. I went in to have my belts replaced yesterday, and found that the entire rear subframe of my car had torn away from the body. This is a manufacturing defect.”

“Rattling noise from back of vehicle. Local shop replaced worn exhaust bracket; did not fix problem. Shop looked more closely at car and saw cracks in differential bracket and cracks in rear subframe. Took car to local frame shop and they also saw popped tack welds. Quoted $1800 to fix. Advised car is not safe to drive in this condition. I saw the cracks and I am inclined to believe them. Car creaks, groans, and rattles a lot when being driven.”

“My 1998 Bmw M Roadster, with under 71,000 miles, is showing signs of rear subframe failure. I am aware that this has happened on many of them that were driven hard on tracks, but this car has been used almost exclusively for driving on the highway to/from work and between chattanooga and atlanta. After recently hearing some more rattling from the rear, I've lifted the trunk mat and found the tell-tale sign: popping spot-welds. …”

“(1)I noticed there were creaks coming from the trunk. I saw five spot welds pulled through the sheet metal from the middle to the left side, and the sheet metal was separating on the left side of the trunk. (2) after bringing in the '98 m-roadster in to a Bmw dealership for an estimate I was told the car was not safe if I were to be involved in a rear end accident. (3) the trunk was re-welded, but not reinforced.”

“I have a 1998 Bmw M Roadster with 101,000 miles on it. The rear of the car has many cracks in the rear subframe and trunk area, including the differential mount. The car was never raced or autocrossed, but is my daily transport to work. This is very dangerous, as the transaxles could easily fall out of the car at speed. Fortunately, I spotted it while replacing the exhaust and no one was hurt. I am a phd materials scientist and spot this as metal fatigue.”