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Car Forum / BMW Cars / January 2007Broken front strut on an E39
Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of the spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre in the process. Is this a common fault? Seems to me it should be one of those things that never ever breaks. Never seen it on any other strut suspension car - and I've owned several old and high mileage ones. This car is under 80,000 miles and led a relatively gentle life.  SignatureSmall asylum seeker wanted as mud flap, must be flexible and willing to travel Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of the > spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre in the > process. Is this a common fault? Seems to me it should be one of those > things that never ever breaks. Never seen it on any other strut suspension > car - and I've owned several old and high mileage ones. This car is under > 80,000 miles and led a relatively gentle life. It must have been faulty from new. Like yourself, I have never seen a lower spring seat part company from a strut in more decades than I care to remember. Mike. > Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of the > spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre in the > process. Is this a common fault? Seems to me it should be one of those > things that never ever breaks. Never seen it on any other strut suspension > car - and I've owned several old and high mileage ones. This car is under > 80,000 miles and led a relatively gentle life. Do you have any photos of the failed unit yet? Was it the weld failing or the actual spring seat itself which parted company with the strut body? JB > > Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of > > the spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > > Do you have any photos of the failed unit yet? No > Was it the weld failing or the actual spring seat itself which parted > company with the strut body? Difficult to tell which at a cursory glance. But I *think* the weld failed. Signature*Preserve wildlife - Go pickle a squirrel* Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >>>Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of >>>the spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Difficult to tell which at a cursory glance. But I *think* the weld failed. BMW had a recall on this exact problem on the early E39's in the US. Check bmwtips.com or your dealer to see if your car is affected. > BMW had a recall on this exact problem on the early E39's in the US. > Check bmwtips.com or your dealer to see if your car is affected. I've done a Google on this and there was a US recall in 2004 for exactly this. The fix consists of adding a support bracket. However, it doesn't seem to have been issued in the UK. No surprise there, given our smooth as silk roads. ;-) Signature*Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> BMW had a recall on this exact problem on the early E39's in the US. >> Check bmwtips.com or your dealer to see if your car is affected. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > seem to have been issued in the UK. No surprise there, given our smooth as > silk roads. ;-) Was that a general recall, or did it only apply to a specific batch of E39's? Seems an odd fix if it applied to all. More like a bodge than a sound engineering solution. I would have thaught the only real cure would have been to replace the struts with ones having an improved spring seat fixing. Mike. > > I've done a Google on this and there was a US recall in 2004 for > > exactly this. The fix consists of adding a support bracket. However, > > it doesn't seem to have been issued in the UK. No surprise there, > > given our smooth as silk roads. ;-) > Was that a general recall, or did it only apply to a specific batch of > E39's? Just says 1997 5 Series front suspension. > Seems an odd fix if it applied to all. More like a bodge than a sound > engineering solution. Indeed. > I would have thaught the only real cure would have been to replace the > struts with ones having an improved spring seat fixing. I assume they did do this on later units. Signature*7up is good for you, signed snow white* Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> > I've done a Google on this and there was a US recall in 2004 for >> > exactly this. The fix consists of adding a support bracket. However, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Just says 1997 5 Series front suspension. Oh dear. Sounds like it applies to the first of the E39's. Mine is a late '96, with 170k so hopefully if they haven't broken by now they're OK. Mike > Oh dear. > Sounds like it applies to the first of the E39's. Mine is a late '96, with > 170k so hopefully if they haven't broken by now they're OK. > Mike I remember when doing my '96 E38 that I thought that the spring seats didn't seem too strong but they too haven't failed yet. > > Oh dear. Sounds like it applies to the first of the E39's. Mine is a > > late '96, with 170k so hopefully if they haven't broken by now they're > > OK. Mike > I remember when doing my '96 E38 that I thought that the spring seats > didn't seem too strong but they too haven't failed yet. On the E39 the strut and seat are aluminium alloy. And yes, the seat doesn't look strong enough. Signature*I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe* Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > Today the plate that is welded to the strut and takes the bottom of the > spring decided to part company with the strut - wrecking the tyre in the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW > To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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