Right, calmed down a little, time for a quick update...
The car is at a local Indy in Maidstone run by ex-BMW techs, and they came recommended. When I thought it was a springs issue I phoned around and their prices seemed there or thereabouts - factoring in the hassle of travelling a long distance, I decided to go with them and took it in this morning...
As above, the drop in ride height on the front was being caused by an incorrectly fitted spring - folded the rubber spring pad up and forced out. Been fixed, apparently the car is completely level now
They then took it out for a drive and the brake judder is still there, coming from the n/s front. The mechanic also said that he's driven a lot of Z4s and mine feels very unstable at the front end. He appreciates that I might have simply put it down to the runflats, but it's not... They had a poke around and the following became apparent :
- The car has gone over something very hard in the past - no damage of significance, but I have known it's been repaired following an accident for a while so no surprise
- Apparently, however, the n/s control arm is bent slightly (probably, but not definitely, as a result of this accident), and as a result the compliance bushes have been out of kilter. The latter are now very worn and close to failure.
- The judder is being caused by the whole assembly flexing under braking loads and pulling the toe of the wheel inwards
- As a Brucey bonus this flexing has had an adverse affect on my front discs and pads, which are now 'shot' because of the wear patterns on them.
So today I have learnt a few things about buying a car - tbh I should have had it checked more thoroughly before buying, as this sort of thing would have shown up, if it was evident of course. Unfortunately I bought it more than 6 months ago, and in any case the selling dealer could argue that I caused the damage and the spring issue was Kwik Fit who fitted it. And of course the issues may just be one of those things that happen.
Deep breath... the costs :
Sorting the rear spring - £90
Control arm and compliance bush replacement - £360
Front discs and pads - £200
All of the above include labour, so £650 + VAT = £780
It needs done, I have decided to trust them, so it should be sorted tomorrow. They promise me that the car will feel totally different - given what they are telling me the problems are, I am assuming this will be the case ?
There is a silver lining - the car is due an Inspection 1 in 575 miles, so I asked them how much to do that at the same time... They quoted £180 incl parts and labour, excl VAT - so £216 total, which from looking on here is actually a really good price.
Still, I am going to be a grand out of pocket tomorrow evening - or my credit card will be
- so I am now off to the Rugby Club for a committee meeting and a pint or two
I will look forward to all the comments telling me I'm a mug when I get back :lol:
