[McNutSackMcGee]

Picture attached. Not to sure what I’m looking at damages wise. Purchased a new rim as the previous one was dented and took it to Costco to get it replaced and they pointed this out to me. Left front side wheel spins freely (undamaged side) while the right front side will not spin freely (damaged side). Does anyone have any idea what kind of damage I’m looking at?

[ClevelandBeemer]

You should not be driving this car anymore. You have one of two failures. Either the strut hat is no longer attached or there is a possible failure in the hub carrier. Either way do not drive the car with the tire touching the strut.

This is not normal.

[McNutSackMcGee]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBeemer

You should not be driving this car anymore. You have one of two failures. Either the strut hat is no longer attached or there is a possible failure in the hub carrier. Either way do not drive the car with the tire touching the strut.

This is not normal.

I haven’t been driving it at all. It’s been sitting for a week. Combination of bent rim and now this. Only time it’s been moved is it put it off and on the tow truck.

[ClevelandBeemer]

Originally Posted by McNutSackMcGee

I haven’t been driving it at all. It’s been sitting for a week. Combination of bent rim and now this. Only time it’s been moved is it put it off and on the tow truck.

Good to know. Sounds like its already at the shop?

[skier_du]

Most likely this is the same problem I had with my car. After a number of massive potholes, I started to see smoke from, passenger wheel well while driving. Also nicked the front right was significantly lower than the front left. Turned out the extreme force of bottoming our had shoved the shock down in the hub. This can happen if there's not much of a lip, like my Bilstein shocks at the time, and the pinch bolt isn't torqued down enough. The fix is to losses it up, pull the shock back out, and tighten the punch bolt a lot. They're very strong bolts so they can take a lot of torque. Not sure what the factory torque value should be.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by skier_du

Most likely this is the same problem I had with my car. After a number of massive potholes, I started to see smoke from, passenger wheel well while driving. Also nicked the front right was significantly lower than the front left. Turned out the extreme force of bottoming our had shoved the shock down in the hub. This can happen if there's not much of a lip, like my Bilstein shocks at the time, and the pinch bolt isn't torqued down enough. The fix is to losses it up, pull the shock back out, and tighten the punch bolt a lot. They're very strong bolts so they can take a lot of torque. Not sure what the factory torque value should be.

I think this is a very likely explanation of what's happened. It's the kind of thing that any half-decent shop should have identified quickly.

From memory, the clevis (pinch) bolts which tighten the hub clamp around the mcpherson strut are recommended to be tightened to 100NM. Don't just take word for that though - do check the correct torque.

[xpro]

Whats after happening here the impact from pothole fully compressed the shock and when it hit the solid end, the strut moved from it sleeve pushing the carried bearing( strut holder) further upwards into the strut.

This can be rectified easily as said above by releasing the shock clamp and adjusting the strut, but the problem is that stop pin on the strut has been sheared off. Therefore you wont be able to perfectly align the strut with the pin broken.
I suggest you replace the strut.

[McNutSackMcGee]

Originally Posted by xpro

Whats after happening here the impact from pothole fully compressed the shock and when it hit the solid end, the strut moved from it sleeve pushing the carried bearing( strut holder) further upwards into the strut.

This can be rectified easily as said above by releasing the shock clamp and adjusting the strut, but the problem is that stop pin on the strut has been sheared off. Therefore you wont be able to perfectly align the strut with the pin broken.
I suggest you replace the strut.

You guys are actually all correct. The issue was found the following business day that the shop was open and its set for repairs now. Should have it by Tuesday as long as no additional damage is found after the strut replacement and alignment. Will be paying out of pocket as to not raise my insurance premiums due to them counting it as collision!

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by McNutSackMcGee

You guys are actually all correct. The issue was found the following business day that the shop was open and its set for repairs now. Should have it by Tuesday as long as no additional damage is found after the strut replacement and alignment. Will be paying out of pocket as to not raise my insurance premiums due to them counting it as collision!

Huh... what insurance is this? This is usually covered by comprehensive part of the insurance which doesn't raise the premium.

[bimmer_devil]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Huh... what insurance is this? This is usually covered by comprehensive part of the insurance which doesn't raise the premium.

I have the same exact problem. My mechanic said that the strut assembly, strut bumper, control arm, axle, wheel mount and steering knuckle are all damaged and need to be replaced. I got the car 3 weeks back and I am now looking at a 4k expense (parts + labor).
My insurance provider is evaluating my claim, but said that it will go in a collision if it does since "I drove over something I should not have"!

[Ennoch]

Over here in the UK any claim, even with a protected NCB, will still lead to an increased insurance premium as the risk element has increased. You will still receive the % discount you were entitled to but on a higher base calculated cost.

Also, are you able to claim against the local authority? I had a similar situation last month and have had the approval through from the relevant council for about £3k in costs; 4x tyres, 2x rims and an alignment. I took the hit on replacing the front control arms myself as I already had a set of Mehle HD ones there ready and it only took an hour or so of my time.

[JoHnMuir]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Also, are you able to claim against the local authority?

Unfortunately, even in the states that do have a process to cover road damage to vehicles, they're bullshit. As an example, here in NJ you can't file if your insurance would cover it, which is just paying for it yourself with more steps. Even if you can file a claim, there's not a huge chance you'll get paid out from the state. For county and local roads any claims are basically a pipe dream.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by JoHnMuir

Unfortunately, even in the states that do have a process to cover road damage to vehicles, they're bullshit. As an example, here in NJ you can't file if your insurance would cover it, which is just paying for it yourself with more steps. Even if you can file a claim, there's not a huge chance you'll get paid out from the state. For county and local roads any claims are basically a pipe dream.

Ahh, that's frustrating. They try to get out of it over here too but if you have things documented then it is possible. They do say on the forms that you should claim on your own insurance if you have cover but it doesn't get them out of their due care clauses which is where you can get them through. Bloody frustrating either way though, it would be much easier if the roads weren't full of holes!

[BavarianJeff]

I’m always impressed with the amount of abuse from potholes my F30 can take. I’ve hit a few big ones over the years and am scared I’ve broken something. Worse thing was I pinched a sidewall once and it caused a bubble which required a new tire. You guys must be hitting absolute craters in the road to cause damage to the suspension.

[cfm56d7b]

Any encounter with a pothole is less than exciting to say the least. My F36 encounter with the pothole in San Diego area produced a sound that almost convinced that something has been damaged. Yet the inspection revealed no damage.

F3x suspension can absorb quote a bit.

The Pirellli run flat served its mission well. I was able to limp along to the final destination.

[MysteriousGas]

Typically when replacing your strut due to damage you’ll also want to replace the steering knuckle as that’s what holds it in place on the bottom end. When the strut is moved out of place/damaged it will cause the knuckle to bend slightly sometimes even undetectable other than a laser alignment machine which was what happened to me. Thought the dealership was trying to up sell me since the knuckle looked fine however after many indies telling me that it looked fine as well i decided to take it to multiple alignment shops and looked at the report myself which were all within spec. Finally found one that had the cross caster value and determined that it was off and had to do steering knuckle as that was what affected caster. Hope this helps as suspension repairs are costly and confusing! These cars are also very finicky as i’ve experience simarly damaged suspension but to a worse degree on Mercedes vehicles but do not alter steering nearly as much.