Bent something hard..... - United Bimmer Community

DEATH2000 · 03-10-2006, 10:42 AM

Ok, so yesterday it snowed lightley. And im coming back from airsoft an the road im on is kinda gay cause it humps in the middle and slopes towards the curb. Unfortuantley the back end swung out and kinda raped the curb. Mind u im only doing about 40kmh, but i still hit the curb hard. so now the right rear rim is kinda fucked.

Now, what i need to know is: 1. What i bent? 2. How f*cked am i?

craig · 03-10-2006, 10:43 AM

holy crap man! that does not look cheap to fix...

witeshark · 03-10-2006, 10:47 AM

Lower arm looks less than good along with the wheel. Sorry to hear

**doughboyea** · 03-10-2006, 11:19 AM

Sorry to hear, but, just so you know, the roads are "humped" because of drainage. When all that snow melts, it needs a place to go so that it doesn't flood.

You know, even though the situation sucks, you could use it to get nicer wheels (not saying that yours are crap or anything). You could always use ur old rims for the long winter season, then use the newer rims for summer. Just an idea.

Dough

drz · 03-10-2006, 11:22 AM

YOu will need a new lower contorl arm. The wheel looks bad too. After replacing the contorl arm you WILL need an alignment. I'm sorry to hear that, man. The control arm whould run about US$80, and putting it in is 1.5 hours labor tops. May be a good time to get new wheels.

DEATH2000 · 03-10-2006, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doughboyea

You know, even though the situation sucks, you could use it to get nicer wheels (not saying that yours are crap or anything). You could always use ur old rims for the long winter season, then use the newer rims for summer. Just an idea.

Dough

Take a good look at the rear wheel in the first pic. I HIGHLY doubt im gonna be using that again anytime soon

.

Fortunatley for me, i have the money saved up for new rims. Only problems is how long is it gonna take for em to get here.

**bitcore** · 03-10-2006, 11:47 AM

That same shit happened to me, yet worse - it was an exit ramp with curbs and a guardrail [city street to a city street] during a hurricane, with bald tires.... It didn't help that I turned traction control off and I was only 18 with 2 years of driving experience. You can guess what happened... Checked the curb, went Over the curb, rear bumper checked the guardrail (amazingly just a scratch and dent on the very back corner) then slid back across and rolled over the other curb which gave me curb rash on all 4 wheels, and bent the SHIT out of my right rear. Then the flatbed driver winches my bumper off by trying to tie it down using the fucking tow-bolt... HAH. Whoops, we all learn somehow. Cost my father $2,200 (700$ of which was labor) at the stealership. Thank god he took care of me for that screw-up.

Now, you DEFINATELY need:
+new lower control arm
+new wheel bearings - (they MAY be fine, but after an impact that bends suspension components, I wouldn't risk it. besides the rear bearings are notorious for failing sooner than the front and you probably screwed up the seals.)
+new rim - well yah that’s obvious
+Rear trailing arm bushing - Extreme camber like this twists the hell out of it. Because of the age of our cars (we have the same year) this bushing is old and stressed anyways. It's probably torn now. Change both sides. Order the ground Control RTAB shims as well - $79 USD @ MPACT - RTAB Combo Kit The shims help a whole lot!
+One hardcore 4 wheel alignment...

Now, depending on the damage done, everything else **MAY** be ok, but in my case, it was not. Yours looks worse since you have so much more positive camber than I did, but that could mean 2 things:
1. The lower control arm absorbed more of the impact than my car did, which is what's suppose to happen, thusly you have less damage done to the other parts
2. You hit the curb harder than I did - and fucked up more parts than I did

YOU MAY NEED (and yes you actually may need these so check and be prepared [here's where the $$$ starts adding up...]):
+new upper control arm - Not designed to crush, it holds the tension from the spring, but this doesn’t mean it can't bend or have it's joints damaged.
+new shocks - both sides, that one may be bent, but you ned to replace shocks in pairs if it is bent. (the only things that you really *need* to replace *in pairs* are shocks and rear trailing arm bushings [RTAB's])
+new axle - the CV joints (the things inside the little rubber boots) are designed to snap and shear inwards to absorb impact to save the subframe\diff and make the impact less violent for passengers. They are likely damaged now, mine sheared all the way and I couldn't drive the car. If the boots are torn and slinging grease everywhere, get a new axle.
+new rear trailing arm - yep, that hefty mofo can bend, and if it does, then it's likely that no alignment will save you. Mine was bent, and it messed up the RTAB console too. New trailing arms come with the bushing pressed in. If you get a new arm, replace the bushing on the other side too or your handling will SUCK

CHECK: (things that could be damaged, likely arn't, but if they are they need to be fixed)
+your swaybar if it's bent -> when the rear lower control arm crushes, it folds upwards into the swaybar. It can bend it and or mess up the drop-links or where the drop-links mount to the upper control arm
+your differential seals to the axle - If it's leaking, you need to replace that seal - you should also get a good shop to check the gears in the diff too if your seal is leaking. If a lot of your other parts were damaged, then check the gears anyways. They should be fine but they can be damaged.
+Your entire rear sub frame (AKA: the differential carrier) - Get the car on a lift, look at all 4 mounting points for the sub frame . Look for ANY cracks in the metal where the bushing mounts to the frame, examine the bushings as best you can to see if the rubber even appears torn or cracked. If you see any cracks in the metal - Bad news, you have to drop the entire rear suspension & exhaust and get a welder to repair the sub frame (if you gotta do this, buy re-enforcement plates) If a bushing is torn, you need to drop the sub frame and get new ones pressed in. You better prey your sub frame is ok, the labor involved is $$$$$$$$$$$!
+your rear shock mount - you can check this without lifting the car in the air, just peel back the carpet and sound damping material in your truck. Make sure it's not torn up (rubber OR the metal from the body of the car). In this kind of impact, the shock moves in a way it's not suppose to and applies a hefty torque to the mount, it wasn't designed to handle that force. The mount (black thing) itself ought to be fine if it looks solid, but check the metal it mounts to be sure it's not torn or bent. (new ones are cheep anyways [get mounts for the E46 M3 convertible if you replace them - those are direct replacements and are much beefier than standard E36 ones])
+ Hopefully the hub wasn't bent, that thing's strong as hell, check it for cracks or anything out of the ordinary anyways.

Now, unless your sub frame is damaged you are not *fucked*. BUT, these parts are expensive, especially the trailing arm and labor involved in replacing these parts. [bearings are a bitch to change out for example]

CHEAP PARTS WEBSITES (I wished someone gave me this list when I screwed up my car back then when I was 18... the stealership is EXPENSIVE compaired to these places!):
pelicanparts.com - they have a lot of the more obscure BMW things
autohausaz.com - they have damn near everything & damn near the chaepest prices out there - & it's OEM stuff too.
mpactmotorsports.com - mostly racing stuff, they have the RTAB's & shims for cheep tho
bavauto.com - I hate these guys, their prices are ludacris, but if you can't find it elsewhere, it might be here and it's nice to see what a deal your getting from other websites. They ARE slightly cheaper than the stealership though, so they aren't quite the devil.
www.bfbmw.com - Apparently this is the new eap4parts.com - which is what lots of guys on bimmerforums.com loved. I've had no experience with them but apparently they are just as good or better than autohausaz.

Whatever you do dude, replace that lower control arm soon, the rest of your right rear suspension does not like being torqued like that, just look at the little bushing at the botom of the shock, it's being smushed at the top left and bottom right. Same thing is happening to your RTAB even though you can't see it, you don't want all of the little rubber bushings stressed like that for too long.

Storamin · 03-10-2006, 11:47 AM

Definitely replace your Rear lower control arm. In a collision like that, it is designed to fold and to save other parts of the car. Chances are this is the only part that is damaged.

I would also check your rear upper control arm, they're pretty weak as well. Check your subframe where the two control arms connect to for any damage. Check the rear trailing arm where it connects to the chasis. Check your halfshaft. Check the rear shock mount, too.

Basically, get your head under there and check out everything. It's tough to tell what could be damaged.

Edit: yah... what bitcore said ^^

**Hoppy** · 03-10-2006, 12:26 PM

i did that once! spun 180 int a granite curb in the rain. had to replace that whole back quarter assembly, but my cars old so. kinda wasnt gunna make it either way

**///M Power** · 03-10-2006, 12:49 PM

Real lower control arm, RTAB, wheel, alignment. done.

Time for some lightweight 17s

**xsperf** · 03-10-2006, 01:22 PM

yea like everyone in the whole world said, lower control arm

**catalyst** · 03-10-2006, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitcore

That same shit happened to me, yet worse - it was an exit ramp with curbs and a guardrail [city street to a city street] during a hurricane, with bald tires.... It didn't help that I turned traction control off and I was only 18 with 2 years of driving experience. You can guess what happened... Checked the curb, went Over the curb, rear bumper checked the guardrail (amazingly just a scratch and dent on the very back corner) then slid back across and rolled over the other curb which gave me curb rash on all 4 wheels, and bent the SHIT out of my right rear. Then the flatbed driver winches my bumper off by trying to tie it down using the fucking tow-bolt... HAH. Whoops, we all learn somehow. Cost my father $2,200 (700$ of which was labor) at the stealership. Thank god he took care of me for that screw-up.

Now, you DEFINATELY need:
+new lower control arm
+new wheel bearings - (they MAY be fine, but after an impact that bends suspension components, I wouldn't risk it. besides the rear bearings are notorious for failing sooner than the front and you probably screwed up the seals.)
+new rim - well yah that’s obvious
+Rear trailing arm bushing - Extreme camber like this twists the hell out of it. Because of the age of our cars (we have the same year) this bushing is old and stressed anyways. It's probably torn now. Change both sides. Order the ground Control RTAB shims as well - $79 USD @ MPACT - RTAB Combo Kit The shims help a whole lot!
+One hardcore 4 wheel alignment...

Now, depending on the damage done, everything else **MAY** be ok, but in my case, it was not. Yours looks worse since you have so much more positive camber than I did, but that could mean 2 things:
1. The lower control arm absorbed more of the impact than my car did, which is what's suppose to happen, thusly you have less damage done to the other parts
2. You hit the curb harder than I did - and fucked up more parts than I did

YOU MAY NEED (and yes you actually may need these so check and be prepared [here's where the $$$ starts adding up...]):
+new upper control arm - Not designed to crush, it holds the tension from the spring, but this doesn’t mean it can't bend or have it's joints damaged.
+new shocks - both sides, that one may be bent, but you ned to replace shocks in pairs if it is bent. (the only things that you really *need* to replace *in pairs* are shocks and rear trailing arm bushings [RTAB's])
+new axle - the CV joints (the things inside the little rubber boots) are designed to snap and shear inwards to absorb impact to save the subframe\diff and make the impact less violent for passengers. They are likely damaged now, mine sheared all the way and I couldn't drive the car. If the boots are torn and slinging grease everywhere, get a new axle.
+new rear trailing arm - yep, that hefty mofo can bend, and if it does, then it's likely that no alignment will save you. Mine was bent, and it messed up the RTAB console too. New trailing arms come with the bushing pressed in. If you get a new arm, replace the bushing on the other side too or your handling will SUCK

CHECK: (things that could be damaged, likely arn't, but if they are they need to be fixed)
+your swaybar if it's bent -> when the rear lower control arm crushes, it folds upwards into the swaybar. It can bend it and or mess up the drop-links or where the drop-links mount to the upper control arm
+your differential seals to the axle - If it's leaking, you need to replace that seal - you should also get a good shop to check the gears in the diff too if your seal is leaking. If a lot of your other parts were damaged, then check the gears anyways. They should be fine but they can be damaged.
+Your entire rear sub frame (AKA: the differential carrier) - Get the car on a lift, look at all 4 mounting points for the sub frame . Look for ANY cracks in the metal where the bushing mounts to the frame, examine the bushings as best you can to see if the rubber even appears torn or cracked. If you see any cracks in the metal - Bad news, you have to drop the entire rear suspension & exhaust and get a welder to repair the sub frame (if you gotta do this, buy re-enforcement plates) If a bushing is torn, you need to drop the sub frame and get new ones pressed in. You better prey your sub frame is ok, the labor involved is $$$$$$$$$$$!
+your rear shock mount - you can check this without lifting the car in the air, just peel back the carpet and sound damping material in your truck. Make sure it's not torn up (rubber OR the metal from the body of the car). In this kind of impact, the shock moves in a way it's not suppose to and applies a hefty torque to the mount, it wasn't designed to handle that force. The mount (black thing) itself ought to be fine if it looks solid, but check the metal it mounts to be sure it's not torn or bent. (new ones are cheep anyways [get mounts for the E46 M3 convertible if you replace them - those are direct replacements and are much beefier than standard E36 ones])
+ Hopefully the hub wasn't bent, that thing's strong as hell, check it for cracks or anything out of the ordinary anyways.

Now, unless your sub frame is damaged you are not *fucked*. BUT, these parts are expensive, especially the trailing arm and labor involved in replacing these parts. [bearings are a bitch to change out for example]

CHEAP PARTS WEBSITES (I wished someone gave me this list when I screwed up my car back then when I was 18... the stealership is EXPENSIVE compaired to these places!):
pelicanparts.com - they have a lot of the more obscure BMW things
autohausaz.com - they have damn near everything & damn near the chaepest prices out there - & it's OEM stuff too.
mpactmotorsports.com - mostly racing stuff, they have the RTAB's & shims for cheep tho
bavauto.com - I hate these guys, their prices are ludacris, but if you can't find it elsewhere, it might be here and it's nice to see what a deal your getting from other websites. They ARE slightly cheaper than the stealership though, so they aren't quite the devil.
www.bfbmw.com - Apparently this is the new eap4parts.com - which is what lots of guys on bimmerforums.com loved. I've had no experience with them but apparently they are just as good or better than autohausaz.

Whatever you do dude, replace that lower control arm soon, the rest of your right rear suspension does not like being torqued like that, just look at the little bushing at the botom of the shock, it's being smushed at the top left and bottom right. Same thing is happening to your RTAB even though you can't see it, you don't want all of the little rubber bushings stressed like that for too long.

You pretty much need to replace all the bushings on the rear now and check everything to make sure its not bent.

listen to bitcore, he knows what hes talking about.

**komodo** · 03-10-2006, 02:18 PM

Bitcore, if you tweak that a bit into an article, I'll add it to the Knowledge Base for "Article: Things to Check When Sliding into a Curb". It'd be a nice addition, and sounds like most of the information has been compiled already.

And if you're looking for some new wheels... http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=6555

**tomctx** · 03-10-2006, 03:37 PM

And if you're looking for some new wheels... http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=6555

I can't believe no one has bought those wheels. If I had $1200

I'd take a drive to Athens.

**komodo** · 03-10-2006, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomctx

And if you're looking for some new wheels... http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=6555

I can't believe no one has bought those wheels. If I had $1200

I'd take a drive to Athens.

They're brand new also, and they're marked down hundreds of dollars from what they cost me.

I'm kinda surprised also.