how to check for worn suspension and clutch plates/flywheels

tomgwuyn · 02-22-2018, 01:11 PM

My e90 330i 6 speed has 106K miles. In the last one year it went through some bad potholes (thanks to the worst roads in upstate NY) . When it hits the pothole, it sounds very badly like a blast and feels like a very bad damage to the car. The radio sound also stops for a second and then turns on.

How can i check the suspension for wear/tear and other problems? and how to know how much life is still left. If I need to replace , what all suspension components do I need to replace and how much would it cost? I am currently on my winter tires and the car is swaying from side to side at higher speeds (above 60 mph). I am guessing bad rims. But this was not the case when I had my all season tires. Mine is a staggered setup and am planning to switch to all season tires this March end after repairing the rims.

Have the same question for clutch plate and flywheel too.I've missed pressing the clutch a few times (around 6 to 10 times) when changing gear causing clutter sound and wrongly shifted (from 5th to 3rd/5th to 2nd ) a few times. But I did not accelerate too much to go to the redline rpm. Since I am driving stick for the last one year only, I am seriously thinking if I would have made any damage to the clutch . Do I need to look for any symptoms/wear in clutch?

Anything else should I examine based on the above issues?

dsjr2006 · 02-22-2018, 01:27 PM

Your suspension is definitely due for a refresh if it's still OE. For suspension you can check bushings for wear and cracking, you can google for pics of failed/worn bushings. For struts and shocks you can check for failure (Google how to visually inspect), but even struts/shocks that pass visual inspect can perform absolutely terrible, the OE struts/shocks starting showing significant performance degradation around 60-80k miles. At 84k mine were completely gone up front and the ride was harsh.

Prices for shocks/struts are good on TireRack right now, they had Bilstein's on sale when I checked last week. Check the Suspension forum though, there are lots of threads to read. Plenty of people will recommend coil-overs, but low price coil overs are always worse, in my experience, than quality shocks/struts for ride quality.

nsjames · 02-22-2018, 02:44 PM

get under it with a prybar.
start prying on everything. Bushings and joints that move in relation to the bolts holding them on when pryed on need replaced.

clutch is fine until it isn't. If there's no chattering or slipping don't worry about it.
There's no way to easily check it.

02-22-2018, 01:11 PM	#1
tomgwuyn Second Lieutenant 26 Rep 254 Posts Drives: e90 330i 6spd Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Albany NY iTrader: (0)	how to check for worn suspension and clutch plates/flywheels My e90 330i 6 speed has 106K miles. In the last one year it went through some bad potholes (thanks to the worst roads in upstate NY) . When it hits the pothole, it sounds very badly like a blast and feels like a very bad damage to the car. The radio sound also stops for a second and then turns on. How can i check the suspension for wear/tear and other problems? and how to know how much life is still left. If I need to replace , what all suspension components do I need to replace and how much would it cost? I am currently on my winter tires and the car is swaying from side to side at higher speeds (above 60 mph). I am guessing bad rims. But this was not the case when I had my all season tires. Mine is a staggered setup and am planning to switch to all season tires this March end after repairing the rims. Have the same question for clutch plate and flywheel too.I've missed pressing the clutch a few times (around 6 to 10 times) when changing gear causing clutter sound and wrongly shifted (from 5th to 3rd/5th to 2nd ) a few times. But I did not accelerate too much to go to the redline rpm. Since I am driving stick for the last one year only, I am seriously thinking if I would have made any damage to the clutch . Do I need to look for any symptoms/wear in clutch? Anything else should I examine based on the above issues?
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02-22-2018, 01:27 PM	#2
dsjr2006 Captain 157 Rep 848 Posts Drives: '01 E39 540iA, '09 E90 M3 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Metro Detroit iTrader: (1) Garage List 2010 BMW 335i [0.00] 2001 BMW 540i [0.00]	Your suspension is definitely due for a refresh if it's still OE. For suspension you can check bushings for wear and cracking, you can google for pics of failed/worn bushings. For struts and shocks you can check for failure (Google how to visually inspect), but even struts/shocks that pass visual inspect can perform absolutely terrible, the OE struts/shocks starting showing significant performance degradation around 60-80k miles. At 84k mine were completely gone up front and the ride was harsh. Prices for shocks/struts are good on TireRack right now, they had Bilstein's on sale when I checked last week. Check the Suspension forum though, there are lots of threads to read. Plenty of people will recommend coil-overs, but low price coil overs are always worse, in my experience, than quality shocks/struts for ride quality. __________________ E90 M3 DCT LCI \| E90 LCI N54 M-Sport(retired) \| E90 Technical Docs download: http://j.mp/bmwe90docs *good read, very detailed.
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02-22-2018, 02:44 PM	#3
nsjames Brigadier General 2440 Rep 4,330 Posts Drives: 08 328xi Touring Join Date: May 2017 Location: ohio iTrader: (0)	get under it with a prybar. start prying on everything. Bushings and joints that move in relation to the bolts holding them on when pryed on need replaced. clutch is fine until it isn't. If there's no chattering or slipping don't worry about it. There's no way to easily check it.
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