2003 525i - Found my rear end noise / What causes this?

[type2sam]

Greetings all,

Been plagued by a drivers side rear end clunk in my 2003 e39 for the last couple months. I'll hear it a bit when cornering left over undulating pavement and especially when I go over speed bumps.

Got around to taking the left rear wheel off today and found the following (apologies for the orientation of the pic). The noise is being caused by the coil spring banging into the back top cap on the strut body.

I'm sure I'm due for new struts (180k), but do I need a new spring too? What would cause this bend?

[Ed CT]

You may have a broken spring. It's common on these where the corrosion works its magic on the bottom half-coil, and it eventually breaks off. If enough of the coil breaks, it'll throw off the springs squareness to the strut.