[chong0]

was going to change the oil today but realized that there isn't a great place to place the Jack stands. any suggestions? I ended up buying some rhino ramps instead.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

There are four pads that work well for placing the jack stands.

Lift the front using the front center jack point. It's a big rectangle right under the front subframe. Place two jack stands on the front side jack pads.

Lift the rear using either the rear subframe just behind the differential housing, or just in front of the differential housing (it is not advisable to lift by the differential housing itself). Then place two jack stands on the rear side jack pads.

[The Spoon]

I bought some polyurethane jack pad adapters off eBay that work pretty well. It was around $25 for a set of four. Ideally you want to use them with stands that have a flat top.

[jgoens]

The advice I followed is to put a small piece of wood between the jackstand (and jack for that matter) and the rubber points--that way the load is dispersed.

[Bamaben]

I use these esco stands 1098
http://www.reverselogic.us/phone/jack-stands.html

[dannyjones]

Can all jacks reach those centre points? OPs point might be that if you jack from one of those side points, how do you get the stand under? Can you jack the rear high enough up that you can get a stand under the front?

[VTECaddict]

Ramps will be the quickest and easiest for oil changes if your car can fit on them.

I use a floor jack at the jack pads, then place the jack stands at the front subframe. Theres a longitudinal frame rail with just enough space for me to fit a jack stand there. And I keep the floor jack raised up against one of the front jack pads for extra precaution.

[Boland01]

I ended up making (with my sons help) an aluminum floor jack pad as well as four jack stand adapters.

On the jack stand adapters I just cut 1" rectangular aluminum stock. We then drilled and tapped it and threaded in 5/16" bolts and cutting of the length I wanted. I used 5/16" bolts because it was a snug fit in my jack stand.

The jack pad cost about $15.00 to make and the jack stand adapters about $16 for all four in material.

[lichtgelb]

E90's sit on jack stands just fine. There are two jack points on each side and they are intended for jack stands or lifts. You need a low profile floor jack to get under the front center jack point to lift the front end.

[gavronm]

Originally Posted by dannyjones

Can you jack the rear high enough up that you can get a stand under the front?

If you don't have a long reach floor jack that will get to the jacking point that is under the engine you can use one of the rear jack pads to jack up one side far enough to get a stand under the front pad on that same side. Once that stand is in place you will have enough room under the front of the car to get your jack under the engine jack point.

[1QuikWS6]

As mentioned before - placing car on jackstands to change the oil is a waste of time, all you need are (2) ramps, drive front of car onto them. I've changed my oil every 7500miles since it was new in this manner...

[fravel]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

As mentioned before - placing car on jackstands to change the oil is a waste of time, all you need are (2) ramps, drive front of car onto them. I've changed my oil every 7500miles since it was new in this manner...

In my experience, fighting with ramps is a waste of time. I've yet to find a setup that will actually lift my car up as opposed to just skidding across my garage floor.

My car is too low to get a jack to the center jack point, so I took some 2x10's and cut them up into 24" pieces, then screwed 3 of these pieces together sandwich style so that I can jack the car up using the side points then I put my 2x10's under the front wheels. This allows me to get enough clearance to then reach the center jack point - I lift to desired height then place my jack stands under the jack points on the sides of the car.

[1QuikWS6]

Originally Posted by fravel

In my experience, fighting with ramps is a waste of time. I've yet to find a setup that will actually lift my car up as opposed to just skidding across my garage floor.

My car is too low to get a jack to the center jack point, so I took some 2x10's and cut them up into 24" pieces, then screwed 3 of these pieces together sandwich style so that I can jack the car up using the side points then I put my 2x10's under the front wheels. This allows me to get enough clearance to then reach the center jack point - I lift to desired height then place my jack stands under the jack points on the sides of the car.

I use Rhino ramps for low cars, line them up in front of the tires & drive right on - never slide. They actually have rubber pads built in underneath @ front & rear of ramps that grip any surface they are on - including the tile floor in my garage.

The Rhino ramps clear front bumper with OEM Aero lip installed no problem, but my car is not lowered. They were bought primarily for my Trans Am which is MUCH lower than my BMW