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Thread: Suspension/alignment issue after accident.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
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    Hanford, Ca
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    2002 BMW M3 coupe

    Suspension/alignment issue after accident.

    Hey guys, sorry if I posted in the wrong forum. Long story short I have an e92 m3 that was involved in a front end collision (front passenger side) The car was parked on the side of the road and someone swiped the front fender, headlight, front bumper, and barely tapped the hood. Anyways, I got the car repaired and everything and I checked every single control arm/thrust arm (whatever you call it) I checked everything under the car and around the strut and I couldn’t find anything unusual. I also saw zero damage to my primary frame rails. The front right apron was a bit bent up but only in the front portion (far from the strut tower). Anyways, my car drives straight (as if it has a perfect alignment), when I let go of the wheel, the car continues driving straight BUUUT I’m having ridiculous inner tire wear on the side of the accident. Every other tire on the car is wearing evenly except for that one (front passenger side). I took the car in to get an alignment and they said they couldn’t align it for some reason. They think something is bent but they couldn’t spot anything unusual and I personally took a second and third look and can’t seem to find anything. Do you guys have any ideas as to why my car drives straight, but my alignment is off and why it can’t be aligned?


    In conclusion
    -car drives straight (even with bad alignment specs on front passenger side)
    -steering wheel is straight
    -car doesn’t pull in any side (theoretically my alignment is good, the car drives straight, but camber is off and can't be adjusted, and my inner wear is awful)
    -no worn bushings
    -no bent suspension components (maybe strut, maybe spindle???)
    -alignment shop couldn’t align my car

    another note is I noticed the inner side of the tire is closer to the strut on the messed up side compared to the good side I’m not sure if that means a bent strut or spindle/knuckle, but how do you even check that? it looked fine to me, but maybe I just need to take a better look?
    Last edited by karimnassef; 08-09-2018 at 05:27 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Hanford, Ca
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    2002 BMW M3 coupe
    My left side is good according to the sheet. The stats are
    FL-
    camber: -1.3 degrees
    caster 7.1 degrees
    Toe: .09 degrees.


    My right side is what’s bad though

    FR-
    camber: -2.4 degrees
    caster: 6.5 degrees
    toe: -.02 degrees

    they didn’t do an alignment because they said something is bent and they can't adjust camber so they just gave up on it and just gave me the specs the car was sitting at the current moment.
    Last edited by karimnassef; 08-09-2018 at 05:35 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
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    Hanford, Ca
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    My Cars
    2002 BMW M3 coupe
    Here are some photos;
    As you can see from the photos the damage wasn't bad. And I attached photos of the driver side and passenger side to compare alignment. the passenger side has a noticeably larger amount of negative camber, and it kind of looks like its toe'd out a bit.

    BIaMXuz

    Rs253KM
    5Rb4rkm
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    mGNYGN1
    oLCLJp5
    ySNKl8E
    XUJTWkK
    Last edited by karimnassef; 08-09-2018 at 05:34 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Seattle, WA
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    1999 BMW M3 Coupe
    Something in the front right strut or strut tower, control arm, or spindle/hub is bent. That's the only way you'd have way uneven camber like that on a car without camber plates where camber isn't adjustable. We're only talking about a couple degrees here, so the damage is likely too minor to be visible. A very subtle deformation on one or more of those parts or their connections/connectors would do it.

    A good shop should be able to take the suspension apart on that corner and figure out what the issue is.

    The toe is probably related as well, though they can almost certainly dial that out in the tie rod end but just didn't bother due to the suspected damage. It just needs a small adjustment to match the left side.
    1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy


  5. #5
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    washington, dc
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    96 E36 Vert 03 E39 M5
    Strut housing where it attaches to the knuckle ?
    IF you can get hands on a used strut housing maybe try that. Otherwise I agree with the poster above, likely strut tower damage.
    http://www.bmwmregistry.com/detail.php?id=13792
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by TostitoBandito View Post
    Something in the front right strut or strut tower, control arm, or spindle/hub is bent. That's the only way you'd have way uneven camber like that on a car without camber plates where camber isn't adjustable. We're only talking about a couple degrees here, so the damage is likely too minor to be visible. A very subtle deformation on one or more of those parts or their connections/connectors would do it.

    A good shop should be able to take the suspension apart on that corner and figure out what the issue is.

    The toe is probably related as well, though they can almost certainly dial that out in the tie rod end but just didn't bother due to the suspected damage. It just needs a small adjustment to match the left side.
    I replaced my tires and got an alignment. I took it to a different shop and they were able to correct it a little, but camber is still off by 1 degree. I don't think its too much an issue to worry about, but we shall see. I will take the car to a very well known suspension shop to take a look at it for me.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Turbohugh View Post
    Strut housing where it attaches to the knuckle ?
    IF you can get hands on a used strut housing maybe try that. Otherwise I agree with the poster above, likely strut tower damage.
    Hopefully nothing major, im going to take the car to a specialist shop sometime soon and get it diagnosed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    1999 BMW M3 Coupe
    1 degree is a lot when it comes to camber, and having uneven camber side to side will give you uneven steering feel, grip, and tire wear. On a normal undamaged car with stock suspension I'd expect both sides to be within 0.1-0.2 degrees or so of each other, at worst, under proper alignment/weight conditions. Hopefully whoever you take it to can give you an answer.

    My money is on the strut tower, especially if you don't have the reinforcement plates. An impact could easily put enough lateral force on the strut to cause it to slightly deform the steel at the top of the tower (or possibly damage the strut or spindle). If the force was applied to the top half of the wheel above the spindle then it would tend to force more negative camber once something gave, which is exactly what you have on the damaged side.
    Last edited by TostitoBandito; 08-23-2018 at 07:47 PM.
    1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    ATL
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    My Cars
    '91 325i
    I used align and repair cars for local body shops and with 95% certainty I can say that it is the aluminum strut that is bent the most and the knuckle bent slightly. Measure the distance from the wheel to the strut on the inside and you will see that the distance on the left front is noticeably smaller than the front. But I do have a feeling that it'll need control arms also because when the camber is fixed the car will pull right as the caster split is not favorable.

    Find a reputable alignment shop and have them show the issue to the insurance person. I had never sent a car out without the alignment being within factory specifications, -2.4 is 100% out of spec.
    Harrison Motorsports
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