Broke my rear axle!!!

[Mac25]

On thanksgiving day I broke my rear axle, I had the car towed to Union Park BMW in Delaware. They took a look at it and confirmed the axle was broken, but they will not cover it because the suspension has been modified. I have H&R springs on the car. My service rep said the modification does not void the warranty, but if something happens it is taken into consideration. I had the car towed to my local mechanic where I will have the repair done. Can the dealership just not cover it over H&R springs?? Did the springs really make it easier for my axle to break?

[SuckaGDog]

Try taking it to another dealer. It is the shop foreman's call if it is going to be covered or not. IMO it is worth the hassle of towing to another dealer if you can get it covered under warranty.

[Mac25]

I talked to another dealership, which is the closest one at 30 miles from me. They also said because the modification they will not cover it. It looks like I'm stuck with the bill.

[Stash21]

That sounds pretty unreasonable. I'm guessing the bill will be large.

[bobblehead]

car accident or tracked related which caused the axle to break ?

[Actor]

Originally Posted by jeshie7

On thanksgiving day I broke my rear axle, I had the car towed to Union Park BMW in Delaware. They took a look at it and confirmed the axle was broken, but they will not cover it because the suspension has been modified. I have H&R springs on the car. My service rep said the modification does not void the warranty, but if something happens it is taken into consideration. I had the car towed to my local mechanic where I will have the repair done. Can the dealership just not cover it over H&R springs?? Did the springs really make it easier for my axle to break?

How did you manage to break the rear axle? Accident?

[Boss330]

Since there is no live axle on the BMW's. Which part of the rear suspension broke?

[Mac25]

The axle broke when i was doing something I've done for years. I was making a U-turn and I let the back out to get the car sideways, when I was getting it back on track I threw it in second and BOOM! I've been doing this for years in numerous cars and never got this result. Could my tune have played a factor? Too much power? (Is there really a such thing) I've asked my mechanic what the part is I'll let you know when he gets back to me. BMW quoted me north of 2k, my mechanic is doing it for $1500. He's a good friend of mine who also own a M5. The part is coming from Germany and will take 14 days to get here.

[dhirm5]

Originally Posted by jeshie7

The axle broke when i was doing something I've done for years. I was making a U-turn and I let the back out to get the car sideways, when I was getting it back on track I threw it in second and BOOM! I've been doing this for years in numerous cars and never got this result. Could my tune have played a factor? Too much power?

Depending upon what component is broken, you may have a case under the Magnuson-Moss act:

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles...ne-maintenance

Your mechanic should be able to tell you whether the H&R springs reasonably played a role in the broken component or not. If not, I'd pursue this with BMW/NA.

[Tom C]

Did you feel any axle tramp (bouncing) before the "BOOM"? Was the road surface smooth or bumpy? What type of tune are you running?

I would theorize that maybe going sideways was puttting a lot of lateral force on the axle...combined with maybe an uneven road surface and more torque from the tune... it may have been a perfect storm of bad facts to cause the axle failure. Good luck with the repair and thanks for posting and giving us a heads up!

[Actor]

Originally Posted by dhirm5

Depending upon what component is broken, you may have a case under the Magnuson-Moss act:

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles...ne-maintenance

Your mechanic should be able to tell you whether the H&R springs reasonably played a role in the broken component or not. If not, I'd pursue this with BMW/NA.

Seems like a pretty reasonable case using the act above.

[Hunter5179]

Agreed, to not repair the car because of springs is ridiculous.

[Neil McRae]

take it up with bmw usa

[Northern X5M]

Bad luck man. I probably have 20+ passes at the track on drag radials and before that insane wheel hop on stock tires so bad I am surprise that I have not broke an axle. *touches wood*

I highly doubt the couple degress the springs changed the half shaft angle would put that much extra load on them. How much is your drop? Did BMW beef up the shafts with the drop on the CP package? No.

[Mac25]

BMW NA contacted the dealership and this is what I got. The dealership can not prove to bmw warranty that the part was defective. They can not prove the springs played a role but because the suspension is altered the dealership can not be certain the broken part was defective. BMW NA took side with the dealership.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by jeshie7

BMW NA contacted the dealership and this is what I got. The dealership can not prove to bmw warranty that the part was defective. They can not prove the springs played a role but because the suspension is altered the dealership can not be certain the broken part was defective. BMW NA took side with the dealership.

That sucks.

[Andrew@SW]

Originally Posted by jeshie7

On thanksgiving day I broke my rear axle, I had the car towed to Union Park BMW in Delaware. They took a look at it and confirmed the axle was broken, but they will not cover it because the suspension has been modified. I have H&R springs on the car. My service rep said the modification does not void the warranty, but if something happens it is taken into consideration. I had the car towed to my local mechanic where I will have the repair done. Can the dealership just not cover it over H&R springs?? Did the springs really make it easier for my axle to break?

Sorry to hear about what BMW dealer told you . You could always try to put the stock springs back one and then go to another dealership as a cheaper alternative. I'm sure a new Axle will cost an arm and a leg . Hope everything works out! Keep us posted

[Mac25]

Ordered the part thru my mechanic. I'm just going to have him fix it, part should arrive in 10 days.

[stealth.pilot]

Well there you have it. I won't be using aftermarket springs ever on a BMW.

[IND-Distribution]

Did your mechanic identify which component of the axle was broken? Was it the shaft of the axle, or the CV joint?

Lowering springs or any normal amount of lowering, even with a threaded body damper solution like something from KW would not cause premature wear that would reveal itself on such a short time frame.

On a long enough time frame, extreme lowering can wear a CV joint slightly faster than normal due to an odd angle at the joint, but given how new the F10 M5 is I don't believe this can be a factor.

If the shaft itself snapped in half this is outright in no way related to lowering. If it's a bad CV joint you will have a more difficult time making a case, although I do not believe at all that this is related to lowering either, just that BMW is more likely to have a successful case and deny your warranty claim.

[stealth.pilot]

FYI here's another case of broken axle. Doubt this car was lowered.

http://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthr...ht=Broken+axle

[lincvert]

Please post the part that was replaced. At least it was only $1500; when I first start reading I expected at least $4k.