Driver's Side Rear Tire Being Cut By Fenderwell... - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Ben Carufel · 29th May 2006, 04:16

Noticed an interesting problem today...

The edge of my driver's side rear tire has received a few shallow cuts from the fender well, even when it's just myself in the car.

Upon closer inspection, on level ground the driver's side of the car seems to be sitting approximately 3/4" lower in the rear than the passenger side, as judged by the space between the top of the tire and the fender lip.

Anything specific that could be causing this? Do E39 M5's suffer from the usual BMW rear shock mount failure? Haven't noticed a knocking that would have made me check those.

Perhaps the rear shock is simply blown, though I don't find any oil seepage anywhere...

Anyone have any guesses?

Ben

Schex · 29th May 2006, 07:01

Hmm I have my car lowered and it was doing the same, rubbing that is, the shocks were fine. Turns out that my alignment was way off because it was only doing it on the left side of the car. So that may be the problem but if your ride heights on each side is different that is definitely not a good sign, I would get it looked at asap.

CMBeamerM5 · 30th May 2006, 21:36

I have the same problem

The dealer said this is normal because the car squarts under hard acceleration and to correct the problem I need to have the fender rolled. This makes no since. I even created a similar post a year ago. Maybe someone could help us both out.

EdP · 30th May 2006, 21:53

Would a blown damper have that kind of effect on ride height? I dunno, but this seems unlikely to me. I would be looking at the spring perch or shock mount. Something definitely is wrong.

Ben Carufel · 31st May 2006, 01:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMBeamerM5

I have the same problem

The dealer said this is normal because the car squarts under hard acceleration and to correct the problem I need to have the fender rolled. This makes no since. I even created a similar post a year ago. Maybe someone could help us both out.

That sounds like pure BS. What's more, the fenders seem to be rolled from the factory. What the hell would they roll?!?

Ben Carufel · 31st May 2006, 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdP

Would a blown damper have that kind of effect on ride height? I dunno, but this seems unlikely to me. I would be looking at the spring perch or shock mount. Something definitely is wrong.

I wonder the same -- a blown shock wouldn't tend to make the car sag that much. Seems more like a spring problem, for sure.

I wasn't sure if the E39 M5's used "regular" BMW rear shock mounts or some ultra high-tech thingy...seeing as how they seem to use the regular RSM's, I'll check those ASAP.

sjdennis · 31st May 2006, 02:18

I believe it has to be an alignment or spring problem. My car has 285's on 1/2" wider rims on the back and doesn't rub with 4 occupants.

The shocks don't support the weight of the car so even if you have a bad shock it would not effect ride hight.

Good Luck