Spring broken?

[tiglon]

I haven't had time to look at it properly yet, but last night when pulling away from a parking space there was a loud metallic clang from the passenger side rear, and that corner is now visibly lower than the other side.

I'm assuming spring broken, does that sound like a sensible guess?

 

[Nictrix]

If it sounded like a brick bouncing off the car it'd probably the spring. When it happened to ours I actually stopped and got out the car to look for dents.

 

[Busterboo]

If it's a broken rear barrel spring - apparently a common failing - it's not an expensive repair. The spring's about £70 and my indy did it in half an hour.

 

[Zed Baron]

Ive replaced both rear springs and the car has only done 35k!

 

[tiglon]

Thanks everyone, definitely a broken spring then!

Do I just replace... or try some lowering springs all round... or use it as an excuse for some coilovers??

 

[B21]

Thanks everyone, definitely a broken spring then!

Do I just replace... or try some lowering springs all round... or use it as an excuse for some coilovers??

Bilstein B8 plus MSport springs either OE or supplex…with the benefits of hindsight

 

[Nictrix]

Thanks everyone, definitely a broken spring then!

Do I just replace... or try some lowering springs all round... or use it as an excuse for some coilovers??

Bilstein B8 plus MSport springs either OE or supplex…with the benefits of hindsight

Does this mean if you were starting again you wouldn't go for Ohlins?

 

[B21]

Thanks everyone, definitely a broken spring then!

Do I just replace... or try some lowering springs all round... or use it as an excuse for some coilovers??

Bilstein B8 plus MSport springs either OE or supplex…with the benefits of hindsight

Does this mean if you were starting again you wouldn't go for Ohlins?

For the 35is no expense spared project…no…but…

If you want a cost effective solution that for most people will easily meet their demands then the B8 or even B6 is a no brainier..

Apart from cost the trade off the Ohlins is more biased to high speed performance / large travel excursions at the expense of some stutter over low speed poor tarmac..

The old 80/20 rule….or in this case about 50% of the cost for 90% of the capability…

 

[Nick2449]

If it's a broken rear barrel spring - apparently a common failing - it's not an expensive repair. The spring's about £70 and my indy did it in half an hour.

Hi, My Drivers side rear arch gap is half the size of the near side, I'm guessing the spring also?

 

[Busterboo]

If it's a broken rear barrel spring - apparently a common failing - it's not an expensive repair. The spring's about £70 and my indy did it in half an hour.

Hi, My Drivers side rear arch gap is half the size of the near side, I'm guessing the spring also?

I don't know. When my near side rear barrel spring broke, there wasn't a significant drop. Or, if there was, I didn't notice it.

It was, however, a cheap and easy fix.

 

[tiglon]

Thanks for the replies. I toyed with the idea of spending 4k on the Birds dynamic package and then decided to be a tad more sensible and had a set of Eibach springs fitted - I'll see what it's like tomorrow and plan to change the dampers to Bilstein B8s when one of the existing ones needs replacing.

 

[Busterboo]

... and had a set of Eibach springs fitted ...

How much was this, please?

 

[tiglon]

... and had a set of Eibach springs fitted ...

How much was this, please?

The springs themselves were £150ish from Autodoc, then I made the mistake of not getting an estimate for the fitting so they charged me £540, apparently it took them 6 hours?!

Pretty sure that in 6 hours I could learn how to do it, go buy the tools, change the springs myself, and have 30 mins spare at the end to make myself a nice sandwich.

 

[Argyll Andy]

... and had a set of Eibach springs fitted ...

How much was this, please?

they charged me £540, apparently it took them 6 hours?! :.

f**k ME

 

[tiglon]

.

 

[tiglon]

How much was this, please?

they charged me £540, apparently it took them 6 hours?! :.

f**k ME

When questioned, he told me its because it's an M Sport Z4 so the suspension technology is much more complicated than a normal car. I asked him what was complicated about a coil spring and a damper... his response was that "it's a more complex setup, and that's why the handling is so good, imagine what would happen if you put an engine like that in a golf, it would end up in a heap at the side of the road."

Anyway, my new problem is that one corner (the one that had the broken spring) is now higher than the others. Could that be just a case of the spring needing longer to settle, or is something else likely broken?

 

[Nictrix]

He's full of s**t.
I changed the rear springs on our old 23i and if it wasn't for one of the droplinks snapping it would have been done inside an hour.

 

[Busterboo]

Mmm. For my 35iS, the replacement OE spring & labour was ... er ... seventy quid.

Feels fine.

 

[Argyll Andy]

they charged me £540, apparently it took them 6 hours?! :.

f**k ME

When questioned, he told me its because it's an M Sport Z4 so the suspension technology is much more complicated than a normal car. I asked him what was complicated about a coil spring and a damper... his response was that "it's a more complex setup, and that's why the handling is so good, imagine what would happen if you put an engine like that in a golf, it would end up in a heap at the side of the road."

Anyway, my new problem is that one corner (the one that had the broken spring) is now higher than the others. Could that be just a case of the spring needing longer to settle, or is something else likely broken?

I’m going to agree with Nictrix, I’d expect the rears to be done in an hour and the fronts around an hour each max.

Re the corner sitting higher I’m not sure, maybe damaged damper due to the broken spring? If settlement I’d expect them all to need to settle not just one corner. Just a punt but I’m taking it the adaptive stuff doesn’t need some sort of software/coding reset if worked on?

 

[Zed Baron]

When my rear spring went my local dealer wanted £190 supply and fit, I managed to buy 4 oem ones for £80 off a car with 2k miles on it (wasn't damaged, guy building show car and replaced the suspension). My mechanic fitted the spring for £30, so £50 in all. We tried fitting a heavy duty spring but it was catching at the bottom, that's why the oem ones have the thin pigtail at the bottom and that's where they normally fail.