Jack Stand Placement

[mac-z4]

Does anyone have experience with placement of jack stands when jacking up the E89. I use the jack pads under the side panels to raise the car but not sure where to place the jack stands for front and rear. I would like to have the entire car raised with jack stands when performing various maintenance. If you have pictures, that would be great.

[paris1]

Good question. I jacked up the LF corner yesterday to take the wheel off (using the prescribed jack points and jack pad adaptor) and ended up putting a jack stand under the front of the aluminum upper a-arm. Didn't actually drop the car down on the stand; I put it there just in case my trusty old Sears floor jack failed. But there will come a time when I'll want to put one end or the other up on stands, so I'm curious about this too.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

+1
Count me in on getting this info

[jparnes1]

I got you covered. to get the car up on 4 jack stands, you need to raise first the front (with chocks behind the rear wheels) then the rear. Because the front is so low, it's very hard to see the center jack point unless you jack up one side of car first a little bit, so you need another jack for this (I use the OEM jack from my 525) Once you do that, you will see a black rectangular pad in line with the axle - that's the center jack point. Use a low profile jack and raise the car enough to get the jack stands in there. Then in the rear you will place the floor jack at the meeting point of the 2 stabilizer bars (it immediately behind the differential). there are 2 bolts at this point - jack on these bolts and get the jack stands in the rear (#4 in the attached picture). Do not jack on the differential.
Always lower the rear first - its a RWD car and the front wheels will just roll if they're on the ground and the rears are up in the air.
And be safe - use a backup in case a jack stands fails.
I've changed the diff, engine and tranny oils and brake fluid if you need any help with that.

[mac-z4]

Thanks Jparnes1. Appreciate the detailed response and illustration. I will take advantage of your kind offer for guidance when I change the brake fuild in the spring.
Jim