Driveway Ramps

[hybrid 1043]

Hi guys,

Just bought a house *yay* ... the e30 managed to survive the purchase process however the house I have has this in the driveway entrance.

The 540 is quite long .. and the rear wheel on the drivers side sinks into the drain grate and because of its length the sills touch the concrete path.

Legally I know metal ramps are a bit of a no no with the council .. but wondering what things people have done to get around similar issues ?

Im looking at for a start turning the grate upside down to see if that makes a difference. Prefer not to have to shell out for a new drive entrance .. but will do that as a last resort.

[m325i 709]

You could try build up a ramp with this stuff? I need to get some for a pot hole, looks like a miricle product??!?!

http://www.asphaltinabag.co.nz/

[Phil-540i 166]

That's ugly!! Any chance the council will do something about it?? Even another grate the same, welded to the top of that would probably make a huge difference?? I'd ask council, given they'll be holding their hand out for your rates money now.........any standard car wouldn't like that as an obstacle too much IMO. Like ya say though, if they don't want to do anything about, I'd be turning it upside down too, under the cover of darkness sorta thing.......

Ya need a 4WD to deal with that..........not something that has a delicate precision front end from Germany.........

[Allanw 1071]

(FYI - everybody knows your address from that - dunno if that worries you. May want to stealth edit the street signs)

Council aren't likely to be helpful, though might be worth a try.

If it were me, I'd put a metal plate over it (be a helluva lot faster than wating for the council). If they complain about the plate, tell them to fix the drain - it's not your bit that's the problem. The drain should never have been there, and it certainly shouldn't be that far sunken into the road.

If you go metal plate, dynabolt it down, at least on the concrete end to minimise the clanging and movement.

[e30ftw 410]

I have metal ramps because the lip on the curb is pretty much like driving into a footpath direct on with a rounded edge. Someone left some flat Checkerplate steel bits under the front stairs and I lined them up on the curb. Only problem I ever get is having to re-adjust sometimes and after a lot of rain some leaves etc tend to get caught and create a bit of a blockage lol.

Never thought the council was against it, then again it is a pretty private area.

[cliffdunedin 8]

Yeah I would flip the grate so the curve is upwards and you wouldn't dip into it so much, I had a similar prob at my old house but was the curbing that went down to low... a little bit of quickcrete and a broom fixed it for me the curb was pretty rough like yours and my arguement to the council would have been it looks better now anyway, although TBH if they did hit me up i would have said it was like that when we bought it haha

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

How narrow is the driveway? In thos epics, looks like you should be able to use some of the neighbours driveway section coming in on an angle, and then going down your driveway?

[hybrid 1043]

(FYI - everybody knows your address from that - dunno if that worries you. May want to stealth edit the street signs)

Thanks .. done

[hybrid 1043]

How narrow is the driveway? In thos epics, looks like you should be able to use some of the neighbours driveway section coming in on an angle, and then going down your driveway?

It big enough for the 540 however you cant take a swing at it as the neighbour has a concrete gate post stopping a full go at it (tried that one)

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

strongly recommend talking to your council first, at least get them to put it on file. That way, when you take the matter into your own hands and maybe you get a knock on the door from them, you can tell them you complained 6 months or whatever ago and its still not fixed.

[E46guy 1]

I fell your pain bro had the same problem at my last house so I turn it up side down. Lived there for 5 years and had no problem with the council. That driveway looks familiar by the way;)

[Neal 544]

Have a similar issue with the M3. I brought a couple of those rubber door matts made out of shredded truck tyres. Now have about 3 mill clearance on the front but only if I reverse in.

You could cable tie a couple to it.

Btw, you have tried reversing in ?

[kiwi535 538]

that whole grate needs to come out and be raised up to the level of the ground at the ends of the gutters

Edited November 20, 2013 by kiwi535

[hybrid 1043]

Thanks guys .. Ive also thought about grinding the footpath and driveway hump down too. It might be a case of doing lots of things to get around the problem.

kiwi535 I think I will also try raising the grate a little in the frame. havent worked out with what. But I think flipping it and building up the grate frame about 1/2 and inch might be the ticket.

While I dont have a problem reversing .. the wife will do so would like to go forwards both ways. Im sure the e30 will be fine as it is actually higher than the 540 and shorter wheel base.

[kiwi535 538]

does the sill touch down on the top of the hump as the back wheel goes in the hole.?I wouldnt worry about doing it yourself go to the council with those pictures and go from there.

[hybrid 1043]

yeah the sill touches the hump in the second photo when the back wheel sinks into the grate

[yng_750 247]

my neighbour put a 4m wide steel tube in the gutter as that area had angled curbs but no cut outs for driveways. worked great unless he lined up perfectly on it in which case it occasionally turned into a dyno roller when he planted it to go up the hill, made heaps of noise