10-19-2015, 05:24 PM
I spoke with the two main local shops (Delta V and PAS) and neither really seemed experienced with the job or too eager to take it on. Probably worth calling them again as that was over a year ago. PAS did give me the name of a welder who seemed popular in the area - can't seem to recall it at the moment. In the end, I epoxied plates on myself, and it's not a job I'd be too excited about doing again.
Personally, I'd need to be super comfortable with the welder. That's thin sheet metal, it's exposed to the elements (who's to say the inside of the cavity is properly rust proofed?), and it's not easy to inspect. There are even reports of properly reinforced cars not failing at the subframe mounting points, but where the rear axle carrier is welded to the chassis (think on the sides over by the shocks). There's a lot of info out there if you want to really get into it...from the OG Turner plates to Redish Motorsports' version (too bad they're in the UK, they rock) to BMW foam to some really cool home-engineered solutions.
Anyway, enough rambling. My point is I'd want it to go to a shop that has done it more than a few times before. It'd be interesting to see what Bimmerworld/RRT had to say.
Personally, I'd need to be super comfortable with the welder. That's thin sheet metal, it's exposed to the elements (who's to say the inside of the cavity is properly rust proofed?), and it's not easy to inspect. There are even reports of properly reinforced cars not failing at the subframe mounting points, but where the rear axle carrier is welded to the chassis (think on the sides over by the shocks). There's a lot of info out there if you want to really get into it...from the OG Turner plates to Redish Motorsports' version (too bad they're in the UK, they rock) to BMW foam to some really cool home-engineered solutions.
Anyway, enough rambling. My point is I'd want it to go to a shop that has done it more than a few times before. It'd be interesting to see what Bimmerworld/RRT had to say.
2001 M5
2016 M3
2014 Grand Cherokee
Been had: 1984 318i | 2003 S2000 | 1990 330is | 2005 STi | 2005 M3
2016 M3
2014 Grand Cherokee
Been had: 1984 318i | 2003 S2000 | 1990 330is | 2005 STi | 2005 M3