I was recently swapping out my winter tires with summer. when the car was on jacks I found that my back right spring broke. the lower two coils snapped will this have any affect on driving, bad for my strut, screw up the alignment?
Thanks for the replies
attached pic
Yes.
Can you not already notice the car sitting lower on that corner? With as much spring as broke off in that pic, I can guarantee the height difference is out of spec BMW prescribes. And with a lower height, you get more camber, so yes, the alignment is all out of whack too (as well as weight distribution more than likely). Not a huge thing in this regard, but I wouldn't exactly plan on any hard driving with it like that.
Not to mention you might get clunking as the spring isn't going to seat right ... and hopefully that will be it and it wont decide to pop out of place as the wheel unloads over a large bump ...
In short, I would replace it before driving the car much (if any at all) ... not worth it ... a pair of stock rear springs can be found at a local junkyard, craiglists or ebay for as little as 40-50 dollars for the pair.
Lots of verts have this issue (mine include). Crazy that the springs fatigue so much on these cars :/
+1 with slocar....it is adding camber to that side and wearing that tire a bit more.
However, I have yet to have an issue, and I drive the vert like its stolen through chicago (lots of big bumps...hit bump stops often). I put 10k on the car before realizing both rear springs were broken (thought it was just a vert sag).
brokken spring = moar low?
sweet mod!
I noticed the same thing a month ago when I switched to my winter tires. My springs were both broken (but not as much as yours) and clanking around driving me crazy trying to figure out what the sound was. Its crazy that i never noticed how low my rear was but Its been this way since I bought the car last summer. I'm going to replace all of my shocks and struts and springs this summer, might as well because I dont think its ever been done on my car.
Yes, of course it will have an effect. A negative effect to be sure.
Is it a fatal condition? Probably not. Lots of people drive on broken springs and have no clue.
I just found out that my 328i has a broken spring on the right side. I had a 325i that also had broken springs when I first bought it. Very common problem for these cars.
Current-
03 E39 M5 Carbon Black
01 Lexus RX300
Past BMWs-
98.5 M3 (sold)
97 328i
94 325i (RIP)
+1 to everyone, this is very common... Just replaced both of mine (both broken) last week. Like it was already said, your alignment is off and you will get very uneven wear on your affected tires. You are also stressing out your shock. The good news is that it's really easy to replace and won't cost you much in the end.
I would urge you to buy new upper/lower spring pads at the same time.. I didn't realize how worn they would be but they were shot. Had to go in a second time to swap those. I bought those from pelican parts. Here is the DIY I used, it's spot on.
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/...prings-t30406/
Another thing I learned was it's easier to get both wheels off the ground at the same time. When I went in the second time do replace the pads, I did one side at a time. Turns out it loads the sway bar, making one side really hard and one side really easy. I didn't realize this ahead of time.
Good luck!
Last edited by jason325is; 04-23-2011 at 05:32 PM.
Yeehaw, Nascar! We gonna go straight, then we gonna turn to the left!
Must be a popular condition this year, I had one too. Put a set of used M3 rear springs on thinking they would compliment my H&R oe sports on the front. Didn't happen, actually raised the rear enough to affect the handling. Did the unspeakable, cut the other spring to match and reinstalled them. Looks good and rides nice. Looking for proper lowering springs, but will run this way until then.
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