E46 Subframe cracked, passed RTA? What?!

[MarcusDXB]

Hi Guys,

So you'll remember my introduction post and I said I had an E46 328I in manual, great car but it had some issues like a gnarly banging from the rear upon gear shift. So I've taken the car to Shak and he explained that the rear subframe is completely cracked. I should have known that this is a common problem so shame on me however, I bought the car less than 2 weeks ago (and hardly drove it since) and it was tested at the RTA. One of the points of the RTA is testing the structural integrity of the car, it should have FAILED.

No way a car with this type of problem should be allowed to pass at the RTA testing, I mean, I've been failed for having stickers on the car.... yet they don't fail for this level of structural damage? I honestly don't know what to do, I feel like it's RTA's responsibility to ensure that all cars should be safe and yes I should have got it independently tested before hand (before anyone says anything) so shame on me again.

I guess my question is, what recourse do I have? Has any got any advice/experience with this?

EDIT: In a perfect world, RTA would reverse the transaction and force the seller to take back the car based upon the fact that the car shouldn't have passed right?

[Wazif]

wow! thats surprising....RTA should have caught up on it.

yes in a perfect world, what you said would be true....however, in this case your best bet is to get a report from Shak and show it to the seller.

[MarcusDXB]

I spoke to the seller... "tough luck, i've spent the money"

[Wazif]

daaaang....did you tell him that you werent informed about this? he should have had the decency to at least be honest!

[Bruno]

I spoke to the seller... "tough luck, i've spent the money"

Bull Sh***. the law can protect you.

i've seen it happen to one of our members, he sold a car that had subframe cracks just like the one you picked up. The car past registration and after a few weeks the new owner found out that there were cracks. he complained to RTA and he filed a lawsuit against the member and won it. the resolution was that the seller had to buy the car back and pay for all of the expenses and pay for all the law fees. the dubai courts will assign a car expert to examine the car who will report back to the court with his findings, they will also ask you to get a report from some workshops. not sure what comes first but be prepared to waste at-least 2 months in the process.


Marcus ask RTA where to start.

[MarcusDXB]

Bull Sh***. the law can protect you.

i've seen it happen to one of our members, he sold a car that had subframe cracks just like the one you picked up. The car past registration and after a few weeks the new owner found out that there were cracks. he complained to RTA and he filed a lawsuit against the member and won it. the resolution was that the seller had to buy the car back and pay for all of the expenses and pay for all the law fees. the dubai courts will assign a car expert to examine the car who will report back to the court with his findings, they will also ask you to get a report from some workshops. not sure what comes first but be prepared to waste at-least 2 months in the process.


Marcus ask RTA where to start.

Hi Bruno -

Thanks for your reply. This is what I hope will happen.

I went down to the RTA testing center today and spoke with the Operations in Charge. They are certain the car should not have passed and are looking into how it could have passed.... It could potentially be something sinister or simply was not caught by the person who inspected it, I guess once the video footage is reviewed, we will have a definitive answer.

The next step after this would be a police case I assume.

I had offered the original owner a compromise in which we each pay half for the cars repair but he basically said no and that he did nothing wrong and it is my problem. Fair enough :lol:

[Bruno]

my e46 passed without a muffler. yes you read it right. without having a muffler.

if they investigate or not the end result will still be that you bought a car with a cracked subfame. so go to the courts or police. they might tell you that don't waste your time etc etc.... just to make you back off. but trust me don't.


good luck

[MarcusDXB]

Well I don't feel like bearing the costs so I will fight it as much as I can.

Do you have any ideas how much a subframe repair should cost in the UAE?

[mus7ii]

Sorry to hear what happened to you man,

I would definitely go through with it, and once it gets serious I am sure that seller will come back to you and accept your offer of paying half half, which at the time I hope you reject!

While you at it, maybe you should rent a car and hopefully when taking to court try expense the rental on him too lol!

Good luck with it, and keep us informed of the process.

[MarcusDXB]

Update:

I went to the RTA yesterday morning to get a new vehicle testing paper as I lost the original, the lady behind the counter asked me why and after telling her what happened, she brought over the RTA supervisor. He thought it would be best to speak to the Operations Manager and so I sat and discussed with her. She said she would look into it and call me back.

Around 3PM she called and said the guy who tested the car along with the testing supervisor would go over to look at the car, so I ditched work and went to Shak's garage with the RTA guys. After about 15 minutes of them blaming it on the suspension, they finally agreed it was "human error" and the car should have failed. I then spoke to the seller again who basically said, "well it passed in """perfect condition""" so it sounds like you had an accident in it, anyways not our problem." That really annoyed me because the car has literally been sitting for 10 days and I don't need to make up this crap to get them to fix it, if it was my fault, I would have taken responsibility. That said, the RTA is now having an internal discussion on how to move forward as they basically said it should not have passed and I'm twiddling my thumbs and waiting for them to decide what they will do.

I told the Operations Manager the easiest solution is the RTA admits responsibility and pays for the fix (through Shak ofcourse - has to be done right) and then the entire thing can be forgotten. So it's up to the RTA at this point if they want to just make it go away or if they want to turn it into a "big deal." It's important to note, the testing facility used was actually not an RTA site but subcontracted to them and from what I've been told, it's possible they could have their license revoked to test vehicles if I decided to pursue it, which I don't want to... if I can avoid it..

Will keep you guys updated.

[Vanne]

Hmm. Sorry to hear this mate, did you test drive the car before buying? Or you missed the clanking and banging?

Is it possible it happened after you purchased the car? (Not saying, just asking)

Generally speaking if upon test driving a car and it's making "gnarly banging" upon gear shift is probably a good indicator to either have a much, much better look, or walk away from it. Sorry that this happened to you, but for little money, it's a very important lesson to learn. I too learned the hard way, so don't feel too bad mate. RTA inspection? Not really worth anything.

Hope you get it resolved, and I bet it will be a great car once you have the rear subframe replaced.

[RAFiK]

Having owned an E46, I know these cars crack the rear sub-frame. It is a very common issue with E46s and that's why there are kits online that are very cheap for your E46 to weld. Shak has done my previous car and he knows how bad it was.

E46 Rear Chassis/Subframe Reinforcement Kit - Turner Motorsport

This ^^^ was able to get my car back in shape. The reinforcement kit is very strong, durable and long lasting. I suggest you take a look at it.


Any updates with RTA btw?