Broken rear coil spring!

Well, I bought my Z4 on 22nd Dec knowing it had 2 snapped rear springs. I drove approx 1000 miles on them until - ater a bit of a "vigourous" drive in the Lakes - a heard ad felt a loud TWANG as the driver's side rear spring snapped again. That was about 2 weeks ago. I had replacement springs sitting in a box at home, just hadn't got around to changing them. Nervous journey home it was!

So I'd say get them sorted ASAFP!
 
I got the wiper squeak too. Sprayed WD40 on all moving parts and it's gone now. I always spray any mechanical joint weekly with WD40 and treat the rubber seals at the same time. Have done with any car I've owned.
 
mason storm said:
I've been giving a bit more thought about my broken coil spring, is it safe to wait until the 24th Feb for BMW to look at it when they do my MOT? Or do I need to get it sorted sooner? The independant dealer said it should be OK when I said I would try and get my local dealer look at it next week but now I'm looking at another 1 1/2 weeks until it gets repaired?
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Personally, as long as you don't rag the tits off it in the mean-time a week or so won't make much difference.
 
sp3ctre said:
mason storm said:
I've been giving a bit more thought about my broken coil spring, is it safe to wait until the 24th Feb for BMW to look at it when they do my MOT? Or do I need to get it sorted sooner? The independant dealer said it should be OK when I said I would try and get my local dealer look at it next week but now I'm looking at another 1 1/2 weeks until it gets repaired?
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Personally, as long as you don't rag the tits off it in the mean-time a week or so won't make much difference.
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Thanks for your feedback, I guess a few more days shouldn't make too much difference if I take it easy.
 
csmith319 said:
mason storm said:
paddy wright said:
Drop of oil at base of wiper arm= squeek gone.
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I must try this to see if it helps
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I found it was on the hinge half way up the arm - sprayed WD40 on it and it's not returned.
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I'm glad you pointed this out as I tried spraying the base of the hinge and it still squeeks, I'll have another go half way up the arm (I think the noise is only coming from the drivers side?)
 
csmith319 said:
Yes - same as me, I emtied about half a can on the bottom hinge before realising where the noise was coming from!
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Well the noise seems to have gone now, fingers crossed it lasts a few months before I have to oil it again.

Thanks for the tip.
 
OK, I'm really starting to wonder if my little dream car is going to become a costly nightmare! As far as the broken coil spring issue, is this only common in certain years or is it a problem in most of the years? You know, sport model, non sport model, M model? I wonder how hard could someone drive the car to break a coil spring. I'm also surprised the car could be driven with a broken spring. I would think the body would drop down and rub on the tire.
My warranty will be done this July and from all the different issues I keep reading about I'm thinking maybe I should consider getting rid of the Z before it's too costly and too late. I realize that if you go to any car specific website that you're going to hear about more problems than if you didn't go to the site at all.
I could understand hitting a large pothole and having a spring break, but to hear that it's a common thing and seems to be accepted as a normal thing is a little hard to take. :thumbsdown:
 
CYCLONE2 said:
I realize that if you go to any car specific website that you're going to hear about more problems than if you didn't go to the site at all.
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I'm glad you said that yourself as I was about to type that myself!

I don't know what years of Z4 the spring issue affects, but I wouldn't let it put you off keeping your Z4. Even if worst-case you do suffer a snapped spring, it's not an expensive fix. IMO the best solution is to replace them with non-BMW springs, hence removing the possibility of them breaking again in future. A full set of 4 Eibach Pro springs is only £155 over here, not sure how much on your side of the pond though. Fitting can be done by any competent owner! Or around £100 on top of that for labour.
 
cyclone2 - you read a board and you read about problems (as you and ally said), but it does not mean that more than a small percentage of the cars are affected. My 2003 is on it's original springs and no breaks and I guarantee the vast majority on here are the same.

In terms of the car 'dropping down and rubbing the body' then that just would not happen, as they tend to break the last part of the coil at the top, not in the centre, so without looking or hearing a certain clunk you'd never even know it was broken.
 
I thought I was hearing a suspension related clunk this morning on my 38 mile drive to work.....
Turns out the boot was open :o must have hit the remote button without realising, thank god it didn't spring up like it would on most cars :oops:
My old VW Polo was good for this, it would freeze shut so I couldn't open it, then spring wide open whilst I was driving, sometimes hours later. :headbang:
 
CYCLONE2 said:
OK, I'm really starting to wonder if my little dream car is going to become a costly nightmare! As far as the broken coil spring issue, is this only common in certain years or is it a problem in most of the years? You know, sport model, non sport model, M model? I wonder how hard could someone drive the car to break a coil spring. I'm also surprised the car could be driven with a broken spring. I would think the body would drop down and rub on the tire.
My warranty will be done this July and from all the different issues I keep reading about I'm thinking maybe I should consider getting rid of the Z before it's too costly and too late. I realize that if you go to any car specific website that you're going to hear about more problems than if you didn't go to the site at all.
I could understand hitting a large pothole and having a spring break, but to hear that it's a common thing and seems to be accepted as a normal thing is a little hard to take. :thumbsdown:
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I hear what you are saying but from my experiance of other car forums the Z actually doesn't have as many problems as other cars.

e.g.

Toyota MR2 - Complete engine failures due to valve seals going
Mini Cooper S - engine rattle from cold sounding like a knackered taxi, or loss of boost pressure (neither of these problems yet have a definative fix)
 
A spring that is easy to detect as snapped, and relatively easy to swap, isn't really a huge problem imho...

I'd rather a spring snap than something engine/drivetrain related!

If they cost alot that is a bit more of an issue. I'm sure if someone wanted they could get custom ones made up the same rate/length as OEM, but just don't snap!?

Dave
 
Yeh, I always notice there are a lot of broken Chevys in the Chevy dealership garages. :D Before I bought the Z4 I had been researching the Honda S2000. I had always thought Honda quality was about as good as it gets. Then I started reading about problematic transmissions and a few other issues. I couldn't believe what I was reading. A Honda with mechanical problems? :? Anyway I ended up with the Z and I couldn't be happier with it, but, so far I had a faulty rain sensor which meant a new windshield had to be installed. My subwoofer amp died (due to water in the trunk)and they replaced that. They were never able to duplicate the water in the trunk thing but I think I've got that figured out. I'm sure the cost of those repairs would not have made me happy if the car wasn't under warranty.
I'm OK with working on the car myself. As long as the cost of the parts doesn't get too bad I'll keep the car. :thumbsup:
 
CYCLONE2 said:
Yeh, I always notice there are a lot of broken Chevys in the Chevy dealership garages. :D Before I bought the Z4 I had been researching the Honda S2000. I had always thought Honda quality was about as good as it gets. Then I started reading about problematic transmissions and a few other issues. I couldn't believe what I was reading. A Honda with mechanical problems? :? Anyway I ended up with the Z and I couldn't be happier with it, but, so far I had a faulty rain sensor which meant a new windshield had to be installed. My subwoofer amp died (due to water in the trunk)and they replaced that. They were never able to duplicate the water in the trunk thing but I think I've got that figured out. I'm sure the cost of those repairs would not have made me happy if the car wasn't under warranty.
I'm OK with working on the car myself. As long as the cost of the parts doesn't get too bad I'll keep the car. :thumbsup:
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Rainsensor fix is actually about £10 > £60 repair depending on the part that might be broken (more often than not £10 it seems)

Not sure on the amp...

I think half of the problem for most cars is the prices dealers charge to fix them, not what they actually cost to fix!

Thankfully we have great communities like this one which mean users can now fix their rain sensor for £10, not £££ for a new screen!

Dave
 
Well tomorrow I take my car into the dealer for MOT and to get them to replace the coil spring as this should be under warranty. I really hope they don't try and stitch me up with anything. My car has just had an inspection 1 service including new front pads by an indy so they should have noticed anything major. I kind of hope I'm doing the right thing taking it into the dealer as the extended warranty that is about to run out states that if it fails the MOT then most items are covered except wheels and brakes.
 
Well my Z passed the MOT And the dealer repaired the broken coil spring under warranty :D So I can now get on with some more spirited driving again :evil:

I must say they did a good job cleaning it as well, it looked stunning when I collected it. On this occasion getting the dealer to do the MOT was a good experiance:

1) Use of a free coutesy car 320i Coupe with just 2,000 miles on it
2) Spring repaired under warranty
3) Car nice and shiney clean when I collected it

All in all very happy with the outcome, I just hope I don't get any more broken springs for a while.
 
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