[Cafe.Racer]

Guys - we're all speculating. In my view, the arm deformed downwards because of it's profile, the top would've collapsed (outwards, but still a collapse), then it's got nowhere to go but down.

Whatever happens, mikey, you didn't bend it, you didn't curb it or crash it, and the car was purchased through BMW/Used car and should've been A1. It's either a fault on the previous garage for not spotting a defective/crash damaged part, or a design fault.

Whichever way, IMHO, Soper's should put it right (either through BMW warranty), especially as you have been a such good customer.

Certainly do not mention dynos and tie downs!.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer

Guys - we're all speculating. In my view, the arm deformed downwards because of it's profile, the top would've collapsed (outwards, but still a collapse), then it's got nowhere to go but down.

Whatever happens, mikey, you didn't bend it, you didn't curb it or crash it, and the car was purchased through BMW/Used car and should've been A1. It's either a fault on the previous garage for not spotting a defective/crash damaged part, or a design fault.

Whichever way, IMHO, Soper's should put it right (either through BMW warranty), especially as you have been a such good customer.

Certainly do not mention dynos and tie downs!.

This.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by MIKEYBMW1

Thanks for that I will request they check the other arm as a matter of course.

But not because you suspect that the damage to the other side was caused by strapping down for a Dyno run!!!

I've not had a car dynoed by Evolve, but I'd find it incredulous if they used the trailing arms to strap it down.
I'm sure if strapping was the culprit, there would be tell tale markings on the other arm, the car is put under very high stress on a dyno.

It looks like it's had a collision with a kerb or something as others have mentioned, and quite a whack too.
The dealer may well be unaware of any damage to an alloy prior to them buying it in, the previous owner may well have just replaced the wheel her/himself, and the dealer would be none the wiser.

I'd be tempted to plead ignorance to the damage, but show distinct annoyance that a car that has done such low mileage has had such a catastrophic failure which put you and your family at real risk.

Good luck Mikey, but I'm sure it will all be resolved and for no cost to you


Edit: Just read Cafe.Racers post - that!

[dxb335d]

I'm sure BMW records would show that a rim was purchased for that car. They love taking reg's for ordering parts.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I'm sure BMW records would show that a rim was purchased for that car. They love taking reg's for ordering parts.

You should know!
How are your trailing arms Carl, you checked?

If it does show up it would strengthen Mikey's case.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer

Guys - we're all speculating. In my view, the arm deformed downwards because of it's profile, the top would've collapsed (outwards, but still a collapse), then it's got nowhere to go but down.

Whatever happens, mikey, you didn't bend it, you didn't curb it or crash it, and the car was purchased through BMW/Used car and should've been A1. It's either a fault on the previous garage for not spotting a defective/crash damaged part, or a design fault.

Whichever way, IMHO, Soper's should put it right (either through BMW warranty), especially as you have been a such good customer.

Certainly do not mention dynos and tie downs!.

or because of inappropriate tie downs during the dyno.

Seek redress with BMW by all means, but at the end of the day there is a possibility that it might not be their fault at all.

No one is saying it but I think we all know the chances of the dyno outfit admitting a mistake are slim.

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I'm sure BMW records would show that a rim was purchased for that car. They love taking reg's for ordering parts.

Part number lookups by reg/VIN aren't recorded so no way of tracing what parts have been looked up for a particular car.

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

or because of inappropriate tie downs during the dyno.

Seek redress with BMW by all means, but at the end of the day there is a possibility that it might not be their fault at all.

No one is saying it but I think we all know the chances of the dyno outfit admitting a mistake are slim.

My thoughts too. I can't see an arm failing like this for no reason - if it were a problem we'd have heard about it by now. Plus VOSA would be involved etc. Serious stuff.

I'm just glad nothing and no-one came to grief. Bet you needed some fresh underwear after that experience!

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by MIKEYBMW1

surely fast cornering can't of done this though and I have only driven the car a handfull of times and I can promise you that I have never had any kind of impact in the car and why is the arm facing straight down to the ground , the Bmw Guy didn't even look suprised that it had happened , have they had this happen before ??????????????/ all questions I know but I need to know why this has bent/ snapped like this.

YEAH!...OF COURSE! FCUK THAT!.....M cars are made for fast cornering!!!!....no matter how bad the road surface is, pot holes or not....

if that car hasn't had any major rear impact ( accidents etc) since your ownership, then you need to find out about the previous history....this car must have had some accident of some sort....or the previous owner (being a lady ) must have done something very silly (like take it for an off road drive or something...) and not even realised that shes damaged the car!!!

if no previous form of "accident" can be found then, you need to get the part examined, because if its a "factory" parts failure, then God have mercy on all M3 owners!!!

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I'm sure BMW records would show that a rim was purchased for that car. They love taking reg's for ordering parts.

Yeah, but no guarantee and the only real way to tell would be to look at the date stamp on the alloy. This means you would need to pop the rear tyres off to see the date as AFAIK it's on the inside.

Whoever did the damage would probably keep very quiet about it and try to hide the fact. Whether this was in the previous owners possession or while it was in the dealer network. If someone who took it for a test drive smacked a kerb and the car seemed okay, I don't think you'll find many who would own up to it. They would just think that they were lucky and got "away" with it. Sad, but unfortunately quite possible. However if the alloy has been changed because it was damaged then this is a completely different story and other parts should have been properly inspected. Anything else would be gross negligence.

I suspect that getting to the bottom of this will be very difficult and there is no way to prove that the damage was visible to the dealer. So unless the dealer have covered up any suspension damage, then at best you'll be able to know that perhaps an alloy was changed and the damage is most likely a result of the car being kerbed.

I suggest that you go a bit easy on the dealer tomorrow, but still ask them some tough questions. Unless they knew of the "damage" and did the repair then they may have been in the dark as well.

When you picked up the car damage/bending may have been minor and would probably only have been picked up by a full KDS or 4-wheel allignment. AFAIK this is not part of the AUC check. So it's only over a time with stress and loading that it finally exceed the tolerances and bent.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by zltm089

because if its a "factory" parts failure, then God have mercy on all M3 owners!!!

Truth!

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

But not because you suspect that the damage to the other side was caused by strapping down for a Dyno run!!!

I've not had a car dynoed by Evolve, but I'd find it incredulous if they used the trailing arms to strap it down.
I'm sure if strapping was the culprit, there would be tell tale markings on the other arm, the car is put under very high stress on a dyno.

It looks like it's had a collision with a kerb or something as others have mentioned, and quite a whack too.
The dealer may well be unaware of any damage to an alloy prior to them buying it in, the previous owner may well have just replaced the wheel her/himself, and the dealer would be none the wiser.

I'd be tempted to plead ignorance to the damage, but show distinct annoyance that a car that has done such low mileage has had such a catastrophic failure which put you and your family at real risk.

Good luck Mikey, but I'm sure it will all be resolved and for no cost to you


Edit: Just read Cafe.Racers post - that!

PLUS 1....

Must have been a collision or some sort...

[nmack8]

Here's a picture of my offside front wishbone of my 5 month old 335i after I had to mount a kerb avoiding a Tractor turning right (Lower of the 2), by the time I’d jumped on the brakes I reckon I was probably only doing about 10-15mph. The wheel has a small nick in it but runs perfectly true, once repaired there would be no indication that there had been an impact!

Something has to give and luckily in this instance it was the wishbone as I'd hate to think how much a front subrame would run to.

It just goes to show how fragile some components are and that they are designed that way.

I was fortunate to have a couple of replacements sitting at home waiting to be fitted (OEM M3 items).

Neil

[SoYank]

My £.0125 (ROE=$1.6) - regarding dynos, etc., another possibility could be the vehicle was flatbedded for some reason and the tie-downs used then could have done the same as folks have speculated of the dyno straps.

[beemerbird]

Originally Posted by zltm089

or the previous owner (being a lady ) must have done something very silly (like take it for an off road drive or something...) and not even realised that shes damaged the car!!!

Kevin - judging by some of the damaged alloys on the cars in the works carpark that belong to women I would in part agree with you. Some of the blokes cars are a disgrace as well, but then they know absolutely nothing about cars in general. A woman who buys a M3 imo is more than likely 'into cars' and can probably drive accordingly. In my experience those women who are totally blase about such things generally own and drive more expensive cars as either they are wealthy or hubby is and basically the car is well, just a display of wealth.

Mike - My concern if a woman has owned it would be that the engine may not have been 'worked' hard enough lol but then that isn't fair as I see loads of slow driving men every day. Tomorrow is another day and hope you feel a bit better.

[feederz]

This looks rather similar...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144804

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by feederz

This looks rather similar...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144804

Ouch could be dyno straps

[edowen]

BMW read this forum, I would strongly suggest the OP removes this thread until a repair is complete....

[Neil McRae]

if it was the dyno I'd expect a top notch company like Evolve to sort it out for you.

but its not the first time I've heard of low mileage M3 suspension failure.

A guy over on mtorque had the shocks replaced:

[doughboy]

Glad you're OK Mikey

Hmmm...

This part has failed under compression not tension.

As the name says, this part is a 'trailing arm', which by definition is only under compression during acceleration. Accleration force is low in comparison to braking and object impact at speed (pot hole etc). So it can be lightweight in design as its major loading is always tension.

All other forces, decelerating, braking and collisions whilst going forwards are tension forces.

So unless someone curbed it at high speed going backwards its not going to be that at fault.

Dyno tie down seems to be top odds right now...just deformed the channel edges a little so that back on the road it kinked easily under acceleration out of a corner.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Part number lookups by reg/VIN aren't recorded so no way of tracing what parts have been looked up for a particular car.

Even though you get a receipt for it with your reg on ? In
sure they do have records.

[Neil McRae]

Carlos, I think thats true but its not reliable. i've bought plenty of parts through BMW Parts and never been asked for a Vin, including 2 M3 alloys.