Jacking Blocks and mud flap comments

[JimD]

I installed mud flaps on the front and back of my 128i vert this weekend. While it may be possible to do it with the wheels on the ground, I decided it would be far easier if I pulled them. I had a good floor jack available but knew of the 1 series jacking locations. I made small blocks of 18mm thick (sold as 3/4 inch thick) plywood scraps. They are about 32.5mm x 57.5 mm or 1 9/32 by 2 1/4 inches. The second block from the left was used to raise all four corners. I made the rest later, in case I figure out how to raise the 1 onto jack stands. I know there are fancier and perhaps better ways to do this by my little plywood block seemed to work fine. No damage to the 1, job done. The first time I used the one block, it received rounded edges and may have tapered a little too.

When doing the mud flaps, I was surprised that the fasteners for the rear wheels are all screws while the ones for the front are a couple plastic push fasteners and a plastic screw. On the front, I found the best way to remove the push in fasteners was to drill them out with the drill I used to make a pilot screw hole for the one fastener you have to add in the back (you also add one in the front). With a hole down the center, they lift out easily. New ones are in the package with the mud flaps. I did not use the new plastic screws, I just reused the old ones. Not a difficult job but takes a hour or so.

Jim

[denial]

I initially did this too but had problems with the blocks cracking when placed on jack stands (stands were curved as opposed to being perfectly flat). What I finally ended up doing was picking up a piece of square 1" steel stock x ~1 foot and cut those out to fit. So far so good, no bending, no cracking, and holds very well on a curved jack stand. Just a suggestion for those of us without flat stands

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by JimD

When doing the mud flaps, I was surprised that the fasteners for the rear wheels are all screws while the ones for the front are a couple plastic push fasteners and a plastic screw. On the front, I found the best way to remove the push in fasteners was to drill them out with the drill I used to make a pilot screw hole for the one fastener you have to add in the back (you also add one in the front). With a hole down the center, they lift out easily. New ones are in the package with the mud flaps. I did not use the new plastic screws, I just reused the old ones. Not a difficult job but takes a hour or so.

Jim

Wow. You did a lot more than you had to.
Did you read the couple DIYs?
Those front clips come out by simply pushing in the center pin with something like a thin nail or thin drill bit. Once pushed in they pop right out.

I did all 4 flaps in about 1/2 hour with the car on the ground.
I didn't drill or add any additional screws/bolts. They over engineered the fasteners for the flaps. And, I too reused much of the existing hardware.

Oh well, you at least did it, and I'm sure it was a good job.

[JimD]

I used baltic birch plywood. I had scraps of several types around but had saved some baltic birch just for this. All of the plys are birch so it is quite a bit sturdier than typical plywood with softwood or poplar plys. We'll see how it holds up. 4 uses on 1 block resulted in no splitting - just indentations from the casting mark in the center of my jack head. The head of my jack is not flat. It has a gentle concave curve to it and lugs on the outside (it is a Harbor Freight 2 1/2 ton). The 18mm plywood is thick enough that the outside of the jack head does not put any significant pressure on the underside of my 128i.

A foot of steel would be pretty inexpensive but tougher to cut (I have a lot more tools for cutting wood than I do steel).

Jim

[denial]

hmm...didn't have any baltic birch plywood laying around the house. oh well, glad it worked out for you.