Do I really need that rubber foot for the jack?
 

Hello,

My car didn't have the jack or jack handle when I bought it. Cruising eBay I see vendors selling a rubber foot to use when jacking. FEBI BILSTEIN Aufnahme, Wagenheber | eBay

Couldn't I just cut a block of wood, keep it in the trunk and save $20?

Personally I wouldn't use the widowmaker on a 3 ton truck

I concur with RB, I only use a 3-ton floor jack with jack stands. Mine is missing the jack pads as well. Some BMWs (I'm told) tend to have wind noise without these attached as there are exposed hole(s) underneath each rocker panel.

I personally don't notice any wind/road noise but I thought about buying them just for that fact. The jack stands I have wouldn't seem to mate well with the pad for my comfort level. This picture is a good example.

W-w-waitaminute. These rubber pads are supposed to stay on the car all the time?!? Sounds like a way to encourage rust.

^ Correct

My '01 has 4 of those rubber pads on, permanently. No rust anywhere, but this is CA.

For the OP - note that the item on ebay you linked to is the one being discussed - something that you get 4 of and attach at all 4 jack points on a permanent basis. Not like you need just one to go with the car's jack.

I almost always jack both fronts or both rear wheels at the same time from central locations. I built my own adapters to make a secure interface between my floor jack and the truck at those specific locations. Then I put jack stands under these pads.

Yep. I have four on my 3.0d - one in behind each front wheel and one in front of each rear wheel.

This.

The proper use of the one-legged-widowmaker jack is to remove it from the trunk and throw it as far as you can. Then pick it up and throw it again.

Hah! I grew up in SoCal...never saw rust until I moved to France. Now I see it, and moss, and mildew, before it happens like some kind of demented Iron Man with X-ray future vision eyeball power. I have seen actual cars driving here in France with moss growing on the window rubber! I have seen thru the floor on my old Range Rover.

So be grateful. Be VERY grateful.

So when your out in the middle of nowhere, you pull your 75lbs. Floor jack out of the back that you've been carring around for the past three years to change your flat???