[CraigUK]

Hi everyone, just a quick post to find out if anyone is aware of any common weaknesses with the E90/91 front suspension?

I was out in the car today and whilst braking when coming up to a junction there was a loud bang from the front suspension. Initially I thought nothing of it but after driving 100yds it was obvious that things weren't well. When I pulled over I noticed that the lower control arm which appears to be made of cast alluminium had sheared in half and the front wheel had been pushed right back into the rear of the wheel arch breaking all of the liner in the process.

My initial thoughts are how lucky I am, if this had happened at motorway speeds I would have been off the road in an instant. Anyway, is anyone aware of this being a common issue? I've found at least one other occurance. As there is absolutely no sign of any impact damage I'm going to see what the dealer and BMW say as this could have been a disaster if it had broken at the wrong time.



My suspension>>>

http://www.eb.poweredbyclear.com/IMG...731_202631.jpg


Other occurance that I found online>>>

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/view...9958&p=1012739
https://picasaweb.google.com/1176086...08183891237330

[Shrek]

I had this with my e46 but only it was the casing that held the balljoint in, what milage is on your car, cheap parts was my cause replaced with lemfauder and never happened again..

[m1bjr]

Never heard of it.

Have you owned it since new (know its history?)

[F31-340i]

This is odd. Never heard of it.

It certainly looks like its just broken at the thinnest point.

This is part 9 below? Its shown as a "tension strut" - and would be under tension when braking (i.e. when it broke).



I have noted before that the arm is a possible (very poor and ill advised, but nevertheless feasible) jacking point. This could have occurred in the past and weakened the part.

Can't rule out manufacturing issue though - which is worrying. I'd insist on getting the part back and look at getting it inspected by an engineer to establish the failure cause. If there are no impact marks, you maybe able to establish inclusions in the casting etc. You could post very close up detailed shots of the crack faces.

[CraigUK]

Hi, quick update. Managed to get towed home last night and trying to get the car into the dealer this morning. FYI the car has 56k on the clock, bought as an AUC 2 1/2 years ago and has a FBMWSH.

As far as I know no one has ever used the suspension to jack the car up. Other than the dealer it has only been in for front tyres once and that was nearly two years ago. Thankfully my bodywork isn't as bad as the poor guy in the other link I posted.

[F31-340i]

Any update Craig?

I feel it must either be manf fault or damage to the part from jacking or impact of some other sort.

Either way unless you did the damage, it should not be your fault - one for the AUC warranty.

What has your garage said, or supplying dealer?

[m1bjr]

I have access to large digital X-ray equipment if you are curious
Not a mettalergist however, but our L3 interpreters may shed some light on failure mode.
Would be interesting

[Collingwood]

I have access to large digital X-ray equipment if you are curious
Not a mettalergist however, but our L3 interpreters may shed some light on failure mode.
Would be interesting

Hello m1bjr

I'm sorry to be coming in as an outsider and hijacking this thread. However some BMWs have been popping up in my web research on a spectacular accident caused by (I believe) a component failure on a car I used to deal with.

I built a blog site about it, with a pictures page and my thoughts on cause and effect the latter is obvious.

PLease feel free to ignore this altogether but if you found the other failure interesting...well, we'll see.

http://blind999.wix.com/mysite-1

[MERLIN335i]

This thread is five years old !

[BMW-330i]

Originally Posted by Collingwood

I have access to large digital X-ray equipment if you are curious
Not a mettalergist however, but our L3 interpreters may shed some light on failure mode.
Would be interesting

Hello m1bjr

I'm sorry to be coming in as an outsider and hijacking this thread. However some BMWs have been popping up in my web research on a spectacular accident caused by (I believe) a component failure on a car I used to deal with.

I built a blog site about it, with a pictures page and my thoughts on cause and effect the latter is obvious.

PLease feel free to ignore this altogether but if you found the other failure interesting...well, we'll see.

http://blind999.wix.com/mysite-1

Interesting read, was your car a BMW? You don't say in the blog post.

So is this a common issue, I've only ever heard of it happening to an old Ford Capri my uncle had in the 1980s.

[Aragorn30d]

Dont think his car is a BMW, its front wheel drive for one. I think he just posted becuase of the chap above talking about having access to XRay equipment.

And no its very unlikely to be a common issue, just a random freak occurance.

[Collingwood]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

Dont think his car is a BMW, its front wheel drive for one. I think he just posted becuase of the chap above talking about having access to XRay equipment.

And no its very unlikely to be a common issue, just a random freak occurance.

Thanks, Aragorn30d.

You're quite right, it wasn't a BMW. It was a product of a big US company, which markets it under four distinct brand names worldwide. At least three other models share the same front suspension. The car's remains were last in a dismantler's stock somewhere off the M25. I've tried very hard to buy the snapped component but my insurance company stopped this happening and the dismantler won't supply.

I've spent far too much time and effort on this and don't want to be sued. At least I have a clear take on what happened. I'm just keeping an eye on recall lists and hoping No-one gets maimed or killed if/when a trend of failure emerges.

[lynas]

Originally Posted by Collingwood

Thanks, Aragorn30d.

You're quite right, it wasn't a BMW. It was a product of a big US company, which markets it under four distinct brand names worldwide. At least three other models share the same front suspension. The car's remains were last in a dismantler's stock somewhere off the M25. I've tried very hard to buy the snapped component but my insurance company stopped this happening and the dismantler won't supply.

I've spent far too much time and effort on this and don't want to be sued. At least I have a clear take on what happened. I'm just keeping an eye on recall lists and hoping No-one gets maimed or killed if/when a trend of failure emerges.

Curious as to why you photoshopped out the wheels and door pillars, dates and times on all the images....

[Collingwood]

Originally Posted by lynas

Curious as to why you photoshopped out the wheels and door pillars, dates and times on all the images....

No names no pack drill, as they used to say in the army. The images are the only concrete evidence on the web of the incident so I 'shopped out the car's identity by blurring all distinguishing marks. I said where the incident took place but not when. The dated images were not taken by me and I took out some background features too. Just covering myself against litigious Americans.