Disaster Avoidance

Avi8tir, Sorry to hear about the extent of damage due to the bolt failure. I am not sure, but I recall another board member having a similar problem with the bolt either loosening or shearing. I am not sure about the torque spec on the bolt or it's grade. Perhaps there is someone on the board who could speak to that. In my mind a stock spring or even a mild spring upgrade is not the primary cause. I could be wrong though.

 

Hey if you're going to play, you gotta pay. That's the drawback of modding expensive components when you're under warranty. Best of luck to your situation.

 

This might not be directly related to any of the failures, but Dinan includes "Heavy Duty Billet Aluminum Spring Perches" with their M5 springs. This might be the perch on the shock, which might indicate Dinan considers this a weak area of the OEM suspension (a different spring perch is also a way to lower the car).

The Dinan M6 springs include a complete new upper shock mount, but nothing is done the spring perch on the shock.

 

I say BS, Dinan or the dealer who installed the suspension should cover.

 

Bullshit, take it to an independent tech, the dealership will give you the run around. Like I said, claim it!

 

Ok.....this thread has caught my attention. I have over 79k miles on my '06 so which bolt are we talking about specifically?

 

None of those :3:
#2 in this diagram:

RealOEM.com * BMW E60 M5 REAR SPRING STRUT EDC/CTRL UNIT/SENSOR

 

Here's the TIS where it shows the torque value mentioned in a post above along with the note to "Replace screw":

BMW TIS - 33 52 Shock Absorbers

Note that the E60 variants are unique in the call out in the TIS to not reuse this screw; hence it would easy for a tech to miss that requirement and/or assume it's not a big deal (since no other BMW models call specifically for replacement).

 

Thanks guys.... going to order new bolts. Better to be safe than Sorry!
Avi8tir and Viktorious, do you concur? Was this the bolt that failed in your case?

 

I'm going to the dealership tomorrow to see exactly what happened. But, from the description that the SA gave, I'd bet this is the bolt. #2 from the drawing above.

Will advise tomorrow.

 

Disaster Avoidance

Guys, this is great info. and a great thread. Hopefully, this issue can be nailed down and we'll all know what to look for when changing springs/ having repair work completed. The bolt issue is something some of us could have easily missed! I now will be more comfortable in moving to an appropriate aftermarket spring kit with this info. Thanks for all who have been contributing!!:goldcup:

 

I vote for a STICKY! Lowering springs is too common a mod, it is one of the first things we do.

 

sorry to see this happen

who installed your springs?

 

I think this only happens on Alpine White M5's. :haha: Just kiddin...

Hope you guys all have a good end result. Mine is lowered as well so I assume I should be paying attention.

 

I'm going to go to battle over this. This is complete BS in my opinion. I have other cars to drive so I don't care if my care sits there for 6 months. Plus I have a brand new 335D as a loaner.... which is kinda fun! Torquey!!

 

In the old 6.9 liter Mercedes they put a hard rubber stopper on (different from bumb stops) to make the car driveable in case something like this happened. I'm dissapointed BMW hasn't done the same.

 

Update:
They are refusing warranty. I had the work done by my local shop (not an authorized Dinan dealer) so they are blaming the shop that did the install. Lesson learned (I guess).

I am going by the dealership this afternoon to see it first hand and will post pics.

Do I have any recourse here???

Eff this!

 

Avi8tar that sucks. If it in deed the bolt #2 as pointed out earlier then see if the shop system that installed has a bulletin to replace the bolt? Also ask if BMW at that shop has that knowledge of it as well. If non then the failure potential is their liability. I know someone has posted that it is in the TIS system but I would ask. Make them think about it from your perspective.

Otherwise if you can't get Anywhere go for a KWV3 setup for that price.

I wish you luck.

 

Ouch! BMW of Houston North installed my Dinan stage II Suspension March. I am going to find out if they replaced bolt #2 or not! My car is sitting there at the moment. Who is your SA?

 

Please do and let me know!! Rader is my SA. Nice guy.

 

UPDATE

So my insurance agent came by today to do an assessment, and with the help of my mechanic we tried to get as much money as we could... Under further examination we found that it was the knuckle on top of the shock that holds the spring collapsed and slid down the shock expanding. If you try to bring the knuckle back up to the top of the spring, it falls back down. Basically the spring is free moving (you can glide it up and down the shock with a finger). In close, he pointed out other problem areas (nothing major but issues caused by the impact)

Rear EDC Shock Replacement
Spring Replacement (Got scuffed up from the impact)
3 New Wheels (All bent from impact)
1 New Tire (Bubble in rear from impact)
Subframe Support Replacement (Preventative replacement)
Control Arm Replacement (Preventative replacement)
Muffler Replacement (Dented and scratched from impact)
Tow Reimbursement
Rental Car Reimbursement

I get the full estimate tomorrow via fax and hopefully a check by week's end. Although my deductible is $1000, we're looking at upwards of $5000+ worth of damages from one NYC pothole.

 

Can you say OUCH! That must have been one heck of a pot hole.


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avi8tir, what did Dinan say?

This is scary as I don't think my shop replaced that bolt when they installed my RDSport springs a while back and when I switched to KWs. Might have to check that out.

 

So just the RR labor is going to be as much labor as they charged my for my entire Stage II? That's like 8-10 hours worth of labor! The entire Stage II takes about 10 hours! I would question labor cost if I were you.

 

All the prices look overinflated


$250 for an alignment? WTH?

 

I had asked the folks at Dinan before if they would still honor their warranty if the installation work was done by a non-Dinan dealer and they said "yes, if the installation was done correctly". Of course that was just a conversation without written documentation but might be worth checking it out.

I might have missed it but did you confirm that the #2 bolt was the culprit?

 

I would love to see pic of what actually happened here. I dont understand, did the spring base on the shock break? did the bottom bolt that secures the shock break?

 

The bolt at the bottom snapped which caused all of the damage. It's bolt #2 in the diagram above.

Everyone note that I have had the car for a year and its never been tracked and I take excellent care of it. I didnt hit a pothole or anything. I was smooth and straight on the highway when this happened.

 

I installed my Eibach springs myself, IMO this bolt broke because of a overtorque (or a defective bolt). This bolt just holds the shock in place, the bushing on the bottom of the shock has a bushing that fits into the suspesion (this is what has more stress here). The bolt just prevents this from coming out of place.

 

Good point. The bolt could have been reused or overtorqued, either (or both) would reduce the strength of the bolt.
The bolt could also have been undertorqued and come loose, so heavy forces would be carried by the bolt itself -- resulting in failure ouich

 

Insurance denied my claim because it wasn't the result of the accident. Looks like I'll be going after the shop that did the work. Over-torqued bolt.

 

I feel you! Now if I recall correctly, this job wasn't done in Houston, right?