[RedlineF30]

Hello everyone,

Went to BMW to have coolant and alignment done on my 2013 335i F30 and when they went to do the alignment the mechanic told me that its seems the driver side strut has collapsed and quoted some $4K repair job to replace strut, bearing, knuckle and some control arm.

I have a slight pull to the right and that is why I was having the alignment done, I bought the car used and it did have one accident on record which supposedly had to do with the side of the vehicle. At first look I could not see what they were saying, the strut looked normal I have the exact same gap between fender and tire but when I had them take a second look the other mechanic was not seeing a difference either until we saw the gap between the strut spring base and the tire. On the driver side I can't even get my fingers in-between but on the passenger side I can. I'm including some pictures. Do you think I just need to replace the strut? Any ideas here? I can do the work myself but looking for some advice as I'm having such a hard time seeing what is really happening here.

Pictures included and Any tips would be appreciated.

First 4 Pictures - Front Driver Side (Problem)
Last 3 Pictures - Front Passenger Side (Normal)

[Pussiwillow]

I would absolutely take your car somewhere else for second opinion, visually I see nothing out of place, sure you can have a blown strut, but it hasn't moved in the knuckle, I'm not seeing what they're talking about, aside from basic wear items, I see nothing visually.

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by Pussiwillow

I would absolutely take your car somewhere else for second opinion, visually I see nothing out of place, sure you can have a blown strut, but it hasn't moved in the knuckle, I'm not seeing what they're talking about, aside from basic wear items, I see nothing visually.

The main thing that I'm noticing is the gap between the strut spring base and the tire. If you see the pictures I included you see on one I can easily stick my hand in-between but on the driver side I can't even get my fingers in that gap. I just don't see what would be causing that. If the strut was damaged it should maybe drop that side of the car but the gap between tire and fender is the same on both sides.

Any thoughts?

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Pussiwillow

I would absolutely take your car somewhere else for second opinion, visually I see nothing out of place, sure you can have a blown strut, but it hasn't moved in the knuckle, I'm not seeing what they're talking about, aside from basic wear items, I see nothing visually.

Originally Posted by RedlineF30

The main thing that I'm noticing is the gap between the strut spring base and the tire. If you see the pictures I included you see on one I can easily stick my hand in-between but on the driver side I can't even get my fingers in that gap. I just don't see what would be causing that. If the strut was damaged it should maybe drop that side of the car but the gap between tire and fender is the same on both sides.

Any thoughts?

I'm inclined to agree with Pussiwillow. I don't see any substantial damage.

However, one off chance possibility is that if this car has been in an accident and they tried to "correct" the camber on the front driver's side, I would verify that the wheel hubs are actually the same matching pairs. BMW sells camber correcting wheel hubs. It may be possible that a different camber changes the wheel/tire's clearance relative to the strut and if they used one of the camber correcting hubs on only one side, it may be apparent this way.

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

I'm inclined to agree with Pussiwillow. I don't see any substantial damage.

However, one off chance possibility is that if this car has been in an accident and they tried to "correct" the camber on the front driver's side, I would verify that the wheel hubs are actually the same matching pairs. BMW sells camber correcting wheel hubs. It may be possible that a different camber changes the wheel/tire's clearance relative to the strut and if they used one of the camber correcting hubs on only one side, it may be apparent this way.

I'm not sure if this helps to confirm but I forgot to include the original alignment report that they provided with the inspection done. I've added it here now but would camber correcting hubs also change the height? it seems the spring base of the strut is lower on the left side then it is on the right. Even if the wheel would be tilted inward I don't think it would cause that much of a gap, could it? I would assume a hub that your referring to would have a slight tilt on it's design, would it be an inward or outward tilt? I'm guessing outward away from strut?

I know the car had an accident but was supposed to be on the side where doors are, maybe I can get another carfax report to find it.

[weehe126]

If anything you have a bent control arm. That is seen by the high camber. Can't see anything wrong with the strut/spring

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by weehe126

If anything you have a bent control arm. That is seen by the high camber. Can't see anything wrong with the strut/spring

I'll do some more poking around today and see if I can spot any difference in the control arm. Your thinking that the control arm may be bent causing the wheel to tilt in and causing what we are seeing with the tire near the strut coil base?

[FaRKle!]

If you measure how much the strut is protruding through the bottom of the knuckle on both sides, does the difference in that amount match the delta in clearance to the spring perch?

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

If you measure how much the strut is protruding through the bottom of the knuckle on both sides, does the difference in that amount match the delta in clearance to the spring perch?

Visually it looks the same, that is the first thing that I looked at thinking that it collapsed into the knuckle and it looks identical on both sides. I have pictures in the thread that show this as well but after taking another good look today I could definitely tell that wheel has so aggressive negative camber visually as well as what the inspection sheet stated.

I actually put a level on the rim and on the passenger side its pretty much level vertically where as on the driver side it's not where close to vertically leveled. Check out the pictures included. I've checked and double checked everything else and it I visually can't see any difference or any bent control arm of any kind so either it really just needs the camber adjusted or it could possibly be something like the previous posters commented about camber adjusted hub or bent control arm (I just don't see any difference on control arms). I checked the part number on the struts and they are identical and looks like the original factory date on both so it looks like they are the original struts.

On the driver side where the strut shaft passes by the tire I can't even get my finger in-between the strut shaft and the tire on the passenger side no problem at all.

How can I adjust camber on the vehicle? is -2.4 degrees something even achievable through adjustments?

[weehe126]

You can't adjustment the camber, that is the issue. Something is bent that is causing the camber to be off that much.

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by weehe126

You can't adjustment the camber, that is the issue. Something is bent that is causing the camber to be off that much.

I'm not too sure of what components could affect the camber, where would you start? Visually I can't tell any difference from one side to the other side except the obvious camber difference at the top of the strut and wheel.

Thank you for the responses.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by RedlineF30

Visually it looks the same, that is the first thing that I looked at thinking that it collapsed into the knuckle and it looks identical on both sides. I have pictures in the thread that show this as well but after taking another good look today I could definitely tell that wheel has so aggressive negative camber visually as well as what the inspection sheet stated.

I actually put a level on the rim and on the passenger side its pretty much level vertically where as on the driver side it's not where close to vertically leveled. Check out the pictures included. I've checked and double checked everything else and it I visually can't see any difference or any bent control arm of any kind so either it really just needs the camber adjusted or it could possibly be something like the previous posters commented about camber adjusted hub or bent control arm (I just don't see any difference on control arms). I checked the part number on the struts and they are identical and looks like the original factory date on both so it looks like they are the original struts.

On the driver side where the strut shaft passes by the tire I can't even get my finger in-between the strut shaft and the tire on the passenger side no problem at all.

How can I adjust camber on the vehicle? is -2.4 degrees something even achievable through adjustments?

Originally Posted by weehe126

You can't adjustment the camber, that is the issue. Something is bent that is causing the camber to be off that much.

Originally Posted by RedlineF30

I'm not too sure of what components could affect the camber, where would you start? Visually I can't tell any difference from one side to the other side except the obvious camber difference at the top of the strut and wheel.

Thank you for the responses.

Bent control arms could result in that much of a difference in camber. Happened on my car.

Also, -2.4 degrees of camber is very hard to achieve without a camber plate.

I have the following for my RWD 335i and I'm not able to reach -2.4:
1. M Performance Suspension (additional -.5)
2. Camber correcting wheel hubs (additional -.5)
3. F8X Control Arms (additional -1.0)

I'm sitting at around -2.1 degrees of camber without using camber plates.

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Bent control arms could result in that much of a difference in camber. Happened on my car.

Also, -2.4 degrees of camber is very hard to achieve without a camber plate.

I have the following for my RWD 335i and I'm not able to reach -2.4:
1. M Performance Suspension (additional -.5)
2. Camber correcting wheel hubs (additional -.5)
3. F8X Control Arms (additional -1.0)

I'm sitting at around -2.1 degrees of camber without using camber plates.

Hi Polo,

It's not always noticeable is it when the control arms are bent, on my pictures I really can't see any difference then the passenger side but it sounds like a good place to start. In the images I took really can't see it but it's hard to tell on the upper control arm because it already has a curve to it so really hard to judge.

[RedlineF30]

I'm looking for recommendation based on what has been posted here as to what you would feel would be the proper game plan in this situation. Out of these component which would most likely be the cause:

Strut
Upper Control Arm
Lower Control Arm
Knuckle
Other

Sorry to be a pain just trying to avoid throwing a bunch of parts at the job if something the obvious problem. My non-expert thought is to start with the strut > control arms and eventually knuckle if all else fails. I'm just not sure the control arms affect the camber and they visually look identical but the only visual thing I can see is the tilting of the wheel inward and at the strut tower base I can't even fit my hand in the gap as not only is it closer to the strut it almost seems lower vertically towards the tire but that might be because it's leaning towards it.

Thank you,
Rui

[weehe126]

Measure the amount of strut under the knuckle. They visually look the same but are they exactly the same? If they are the same replace the control arms first. If not the same replace the struts.

[obert]

Originally Posted by RedlineF30

I'll do some more poking around today and see if I can spot any difference in the control arm. Your thinking that the control arm may be bent causing the wheel to tilt in and causing what we are seeing with the tire near the strut coil base?

Looks like something came apart on the one you cant get your finger through?

Could just be the picture but something looks off towards the bottom of that one?

[RedlineF30]

obert the strut boot is ripped at the bottom on that side, one of the rings on the boot is ripped and hanging down.

weehe126 I will measure today again after work but like you said they do look like the same on both sides, I have started at it for quite a while trying to see the differences. If it measures the same I will take your recommendation and order both control arms and replace.

Thank you guys for the input.

[RedlineF30]

Update 8/28/2021 - Measured the strut on both sides to see if the driver side was pushed down further into the knuckle and they seem to be exactly the same on both sides.

Ordered two new control arms (TRW) after confirming the correct part numbers and unfortunately that did not resolve the issue still.

Any recommendations on what I should try next? I'm torn between strut and knuckle but I can't see any bend on the strut so kind of leaning towards the knuckle but how rare is that to go bad? Could it be that someone installed the wrong bearing and put in one of those camber correcting bearings? Would they adjust to -2.4 degrees (which is where I'm at)?

[weehe126]

Look at the top hats. If you pop the caps off the top (under the hood), do they look the same? Possibly the one collapsed.

[_ObiJon]

Can you measure the distance between the shock and the inner lip of the wheel on both sides and compare? It might be an indicator that the shock mount on the knuckle side bent, causing the additional camber.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by weehe126

Look at the top hats. If you pop the caps off the top (under the hood), do they look the same? Possibly the one collapsed.

I'm thinking that's unlikely because changing the camber from top mount area doesn't change the position of the wheel/tire relative to the bottom portion of the strut.

It's possible it's the knuckle. They are aluminum are can get bent from an impact.

OP, did you have this car since it was new?

[RedlineF30]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

I'm thinking that's unlikely because changing the camber from top mount area doesn't change the position of the wheel/tire relative to the bottom portion of the strut.

It's possible it's the knuckle. They are aluminum are can get bent from an impact.

OP, did you have this car since it was new?

No, I've had it since 2018 it was 5 years old then and it did have an insurance claim on the CarFax record of about 3k for side damage but did not say what it was. It drives great just has a slight pull to the right and because I barely drive it (more of a summer car) I kept putting off doing the wheel alignment until now and this is when I found this.

I think I will try the knuckle next but I might just go ahead and do the struts, mounts, and all the other smaller hardware while I'm at it instead of having to do it later again. You think I should change the hub/bearing while I'm at it as well or just added work that's not needed yet?

My car has 103,000 KMs (64K miles) on it now.

Thanks everyone,
Rui