broken rear coil springs

[mr.tourette]

I'm having both rear coils replaced atm, normally a job I would do myself but as a mate has just opened his own garage and I couldn't be arsed with the weather I decided to support his new venture and give him the work. As a note I trust Andy implicitly and although not a bmw tech he's hugely experienced and knows his stuff, he's kept me posted every time he's tried a new set and won't send it back until its right

He's running into issues with aftermarket rear coils though, He's tried 2 sets kym and some other I can't remember the name of. He's saying that the car sits fine on them but on cornering they're clunking and contacting at the top of the coil as it compresses.

I told him to maybe try sachs as I believe they supply the oem coil...exactly the same problem.

When he's comparing these other springs against the oem spring that came out he says the oe spring is much thinner l at the top so when there's compression the coils can't contact.

I've no issue paying oem if i have to although both expensive and fragile but I just find it really odd that 3 different manufacturers springs are all badly designed enough to cause problems..Anyone else experienced anything like this?

Kinda glad I didn't attempt this myself as it could have been a serious ballache if this is the case.

Interested to hear if its a known problem as I've not seen it mentioned before

 

[Zed Baron]

I had a rear spring go and like you I have a mechanic who I trust implicitly. He tried a heavy duty aftermarket spring with exactly the same problem. If you look at the OEM springs the ends taper off, this is why they don't contact but its also where they fail. Luckily I was able to get a complete set of springs off a new car for £80 (spares for the future!) So supply and fit worked out at £50, far better than the £190 BMW wanted.

 

[Adil_3]

Same problem with an indy i trust fully. Tried an very reputable aftermarket spring on the rears and boom clunk, did heaps of research, changed sides, position everything. No luck. Only thing that worked was OEM.

 

[Adil_3]

Same problem with an indy i trust fully. Tried an very reputable aftermarket spring on the rears and boom clunk, did heaps of research, changed sides, position everything. No luck. Only thing that worked was OEM.

 

[Nictrix]

I changed the ones on our 23i myself and used simplex springs as that was the only ones available at the time.
Only issue I had was a drop link snapped while installing one of them so swapped both of them as well.

 

[mr.tourette]

I changed the ones on our 23i myself and used simplex springs as that was the only ones available at the time.
Only issue I had was a drop link snapped while installing one of them so swapped both of them as well.

I take it you mean Suplex? How did they compare to oe buddy? you run into any issues?

 

[Nictrix]

I changed the ones on our 23i myself and used simplex springs as that was the only ones available at the time.
Only issue I had was a drop link snapped while installing one of them so swapped both of them as well.

I take it you mean Suplex? How did they compare to oe buddy? you run into any issues?

It will be , I was trying to remember of the top of my head and failed
They looked identical to the originals and had no problems in the 10,000 miles they were fitted.

 

[Busterboo]

My n/s/r bust. Indy replaced it with OE. Said others weren't good. Charged part + 1/2 hour labour.

 

[mr.tourette]

My n/s/r bust. Indy replaced it with OE. Said others weren't good. Charged part + 1/2 hour labour.

Not so much not good i guess than not actually fit for purpose. The lack of tapering down make them completely unfit for purpose, not sure how they can get away with supplying as a pattern part when its not remotely the same

 

[Busterboo]

He was being polite, then.

 

[mr.tourette]

Just to wrap this up.. Gen springs fitted and all is well, (except my bank balance at £133 each including vat) both springs broken and a broken drop link, no wonder the car has had more rattles recently that i originally put down to the change in temperature, the car is driving beautifully again and is once more rattle free.

Hopefully this thread may save someone else the hassle of fitting non gen rear springs because they're mostly not fit for purpose, if you do try aftermarket make sure they taper down thinner at the spring ends

 

[Anonymous]

Good write up..

I’ve bought myself a complete set of low use OE MSport springs for that rainy day..which as a result of buying a spare set, will never be needed.. :rofl: :tumbleweed:

 

[maxman]

Excellent info Steve,will save a lot of hassle.