[M Division]

Hi guys,

Mechanical advice please guys, took my car for a wheel alignment and overheard a more senior guy telling the junior off who was working on my car. Apparently he used a rattle gun to loosen the camber adjustment bolt on the drivers side. I assume it was to tight for him or something. There was a bit of commotion but nothing said to me.

Got home and decided to take a look around and when I looked at the rear arm where the commotion was I noticed the thin aluminium guide had just about snapped off, was just hanging by a thread. I literally touched it and came off in my hand.. I've circled the part that snapped off of the arm and attached a photo of the part.

Am I looking at a new lower arm? I assume this is part of the shim control for the rear camber and now the car is going be near impossible to align properly moving forward?

I assume the car is on to drive until I get the arm sorted..

They're closed today but I'm going to take it up with them this week, wanted some advice here first.

Thanks guys.

[Berzerker]

Sounds like you know what you need to do. Go back to them and tell them to fix it.

[M Division]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

Sounds like you know what you need to do. Go back to them and tell them to fix it.

Tbh I don't actually want to go back to the place that stuffed it up into he first place.

That's why I wanted to get some opinions from the knowledge on this forum. There's enough experienced minds here to give some perspective, that's all I'm interested in so I can decide how to tackle it.

[M4ord]

Since it does not appear based on the pictures the bolt threads are compromised I would say its a judement call on your part. Its obviously not a 100% but if its 95% and your not tracking the car......

I would go back to the shop, tell them what you know, show them the pictures, even let them look under the car. Tell them you want it fixed and the floor superviosor is the one who does the repair. Alternatively have them compensate you for the cost of that part and have it done somewhere else. If the shop is not cooperative (the longer you wait, the less likely they will accept responsibility) then you have the fun of trying to pursue it legally.

If you had not overheard the incident you would not know (which would be the same as ignoring it). If 1000 miles from now it breaks you will end up back under warranty repair and BMW may find the overtightened bolt and might say its not their fault.

[BIGW0RM]

Wow. Thats not good. Looks like you will need a new lower arm. That chunk that fell off is what positions the bolt where it needs to be. What a nightmare.

[M Division]

Thanks for the reply guys,

New part in hand - fitting today and will be happily back on the road

[M Division]

So they reimbursed me for the arm and bolts and I installed myself.

Threw in a set of Eibach lowering springs while I was at it. 4.5 hours all in.

And I'll take it to another shop for the next wheel alignment

Alls well that's well.

[M4ord]

Glad the shop saw the error in thier ways and corrected it, minus the extra 4.5 hours of labor on your part. Safe travels and love the spec!

[M Division]

Originally Posted by M4ord

Glad the shop saw the error in thier ways and corrected it, minus the extra 4.5 hours of labor on your part. Safe travels!

Thanks once again for the help mate. You too, enjoy your M!!

[TopJimmy]

Good ending to a crappy situation.

[forcefed]

Originally Posted by M4ord

Glad the shop saw the error in thier ways and corrected it, minus the extra 4.5 hours of labor on your part. Safe travels and love the spec!

Would have been better if they corrected it on the spot rather then hoping the owner wouldn't find out.

[JDUNITNOW]

Originally Posted by M Division

So they reimbursed me for the arm and bolts and I installed myself.

Threw in a set of Eibach lowering springs while I was at it. 4.5 hours all in.

And I'll take it to another shop for the next wheel alignment

Alls well that's well.

How are you liking the Eibachs?

[M Division]

Originally Posted by JDUNITNOW

How are you liking the Eibachs?

Love them so far but Ive only done a handfull of km's due to work. Will get it out properly this weekend.

So far, same ride quality, less body roll, yaw and pitch assuming to the slightly lower centre of gravity. Car seems to put the power down a little better esp out of corners but that could be placebo. Need more seat time, but love them. And they're not stupid low either, I'll measure in a week once they settle but I think -20mm roughly at all 4 corners - perfect for me.

[JDUNITNOW]

Originally Posted by M Division

Love them so far but Ive only done a handfull of km's due to work. Will get it out properly this weekend.

So far, same ride quality, less body roll, yaw and pitch assuming to the slightly lower centre of gravity. Car seems to put the power down a little better esp out of corners but that could be placebo. Need more seat time, but love them. And they're not stupid low either, I'll measure in a week once they settle but I think -20mm roughly at all 4 corners - perfect for me.

Yeah, I love mine also and it handles like stock to me. I had a HAS system on my car and after a year almost with binding and ride kept deteriorating, the change was great. I almost went back to stock.

[nearwater4me]

Glad everything worked out.
It was a PITA to get the bolts back in when I was working on mine.

[M Division]

Originally Posted by JDUNITNOW

Yeah, I love mine also and it handles like stock to me. I had a HAS system on my car and after a year almost with binding and ride kept deteriorating, the change was great. I almost went back to stock.

Agree, I ran MSS in the G42 and after 2months they turned to marshmallows.

These are fantastic!

[M Division]

Originally Posted by nearwater4me

Glad everything worked out.
It was a PITA to get the bolts back in when I was working on mine.

Thanks very much.

Agree, I ended up using 2 jacks to help get the arms square and true which allowed the bolts to go in much easier then just a single jack. Tbh once I took a lot of time and effort aligning the bolts actually went in quite easy.

[nearwater4me]

Originally Posted by M Division

Thanks very much.

Agree, I ended up using 2 jacks to help get the arms square and true which allowed the bolts to go in much easier then just a single jack. Tbh once I took a lot of time and effort aligning the bolts actually went in quite easy.

Yeah, getting the holes to perfectly align was such a pain.
I use Quickjack to lift my car and with only one floor jack to use to fiddle with the lower arm at such height wasn't easy.

[M Division]

Originally Posted by nearwater4me

Yeah, getting the holes to perfectly align was such a pain.
I use Quickjack to lift my car and with only one floor jack to use to fiddle with the lower arm at such height wasn't easy.

Yes I can appreciate how tricky that is.

This is how I did it

[nearwater4me]

Originally Posted by M Division

Yes I can appreciate how tricky that is.

This is how I did it

Thanks for the pic.
That looks much more stable than my setup.
I put a scissor jack on a pile of woods where your SCA floor jack is at.
I've had some sketchy moments where the scissor jack slipped off when I was wrestling with the lower arm.

[M Division]

Originally Posted by nearwater4me

Thanks for the pic.
That looks much more stable than my setup.
I put a scissor jack on a pile of woods where your SCA floor jack is at.
I've had some sketchy moments where the scissor jack slipped off when I was wrestling with the lower arm.

Yea the trick for me was positioning then leveling out the jacks to ensure everything was square and aligned. Also used a smaller size hole punch to align everything before threading the screws in. But yes I suspect without that setup it is a real struggle, but you managed so congrats!