Quote:
Originally Posted by Racer-Ex
When the time came to put the aluminum M3 control arms on my 128, I asked around for a reputable, BMW-savvy shop. Got the car back, it drove fine. It didn't stay that way.
Got the car up in the air, and this is what I found:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jbfozp4ekz...2012.23.18.jpg
Yes, that's a nut on the upper left. It looks like maybe they stripped the threads out of the spindle when attaching the control arm, so cut the back off the threaded metal cup and went with a bolt and nut to hold the arm to the spindle.
Is it just me, or is this not a really great idea? |
It's easy to gall those threads. I did it myself and eventually replaced the spindle when I could no longer maintain torque on the bolt. (I had managed to back the bolt out when it jammed, but the threads were pretty bunged up even with re-tapping).
Straight up: the shop owes you a replacement spindle. They F'ed it up.
If they replace it with used (they're not going to want to pop for a new spindle $$$), make sure the bearing is good and that the spindle is from a 128i and not a 3-series. Also make sure it has no stripped threads.
