LCI with broken rear springs

[E46_TommyP]

Hey guys, was wondering if anyone else has had broken rear springs on their e70. Packed the x5 up for a family vacation to Maine this passed Saturday, maybe 150lbs worth of stuff. Drove about 10 miles up on the Taconic state parkway, and all of a sudden I heard a loud pop kind of noise like my tire just blew out. So pull over look at the tires and nothing. So I drive a little bit and I can definitely tell something is wrong. Truck is super bouncy and I hear a rattle coming from the passenger rear. Drove the car home and swapped cars. Fast forward to yesterday, bring the x5 up to my buddie's shop when I got home from vacation yesterday. Both rear springs broke and they managed to spiral down around the axle and springs were sitting on the control arms. I searched and didn't really find any cases for the e70. I was shocked considering I have pretty low miles (52k) and i literally drive back and forth to work, there's no off-roading or beating on this truck. I'm pretty baffled by this. Just wondering if there has been any other cases.

[racermp]

Take a pic. Was it rusted?

[jandref321]

I had a spring break on my E46 M3. Didn't notice until I swapped RTABs since that one was shredded...I ended up throwing on lowering springs. I figured the PO hit a curb or something...are you the first owner? Only driver in the family? I've loaded up the wife's e70 heavy before and no problems, plus other guys tow...not a normal thing at all. Something must be off on the rear axle support if both snapped. Subframe bushings toasted or support points

[deansbimmer]

These would be air springs so you can't compare their failures to steel coil springs. Being that air springs consist only of rubber bellows sealed around a pair of plastic mounts, they are much more likely to fail than steel coil springs. Age and usage environment plays much more of a role in lifespan than mileage on these parts. It's not terribly common but it happens.

Bummer that it interfered with your vacation, but luckily aftermarket springs are not very expensive and they are very easy to replace.

[heatmizr]

OP's description did NOT sound like the air bags at all...

[deansbimmer]

The OP's post doesn't go into enough detail to make any determinations, but it is possible that he has a unicorn with rear coil springs. They are extremely uncommon.

[E46_TommyP]

My x5 does not have rear bags, if I had bags I would have said bags, and bags don't spiral down around the axle. I didn't happen to take any pictures of the springs but the passenger side completely sheered off where the spring turns in towards the center of the spring, no rust, undercarriage seems to be very clean. I will update once I get the new springs in and I have the old springs infront of me. I've heard of e46s, e39s, and even e53 springs breaking but never a e70. My buddy with the shop is a tech at bmw and he says he or any of his coworkers have never had a case like this on an e70. I am the second owner, bought the truck with 20k on it. When we go to install il have to look at all the bushings and make sure everything is tight and in order.

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by E46_TommyP

...I've heard of e46s, e39s, and even e53 springs breaking but never a e70. My buddy with the shop is a tech at bmw and he says he or any of his coworkers have never had a case like this on an e70.

Very well, springs it is! I'm not surprised your tech buddy hasn't seen this before as maybe 1 in 100 E70's were optioned without the self-adjusting rear end. Makes a rare failure even rarer. Strange indeed for them to both break though.

[jandref321]

Originally Posted by E46_TommyP

My x5 does not have rear bags, if I had bags I would have said bags, and bags don't spiral down around the axle. I didn't happen to take any pictures of the springs but the passenger side completely sheered off where the spring turns in towards the center of the spring, no rust, undercarriage seems to be very clean. I will update once I get the new springs in and I have the old springs infront of me. I've heard of e46s, e39s, and even e53 springs breaking but never a e70. My buddy with the shop is a tech at bmw and he says he or any of his coworkers have never had a case like this on an e70. I am the second owner, bought the truck with 20k on it. When we go to install il have to look at all the bushings and make sure everything is tight and in order.

Yeah, super odd...let us know how it goes. My wife's E70 had normal coil springs but I pulled them to install coilovers. Those springs are really tough to mess with and long as hell once you get them out. Hope it goes smooth for you.

[JoeyBimX5din]

My 50i has rear coils. That is a win in my opinion. I am not a fan of the ride quality of some of the air sprung vehicles I have driven. Though the disadvantage is the increase in price for a set of drop springs.

[E46_TommyP]

Update:
So my buddy and I installed the new springs on Saturday. What a pain in the ass. You know it's going to be a job when you pull up the bmw job manual and each job calls for 4 hours a side and the job asks for bmw specific tools. Luckily we did not need a spring compressor for this. Job went smooth and x5 is back on the road. Passenger spring broke at the bottom about 3/4 of a coil, driver side broke at the top and bottom and the bottom wrapped tight around the control arm, we had to cut it to get it off. Really hope I won't have to do this ever again. Spring orientation in pictures are the same to get an idea of how much is actually missing from one to the other.

NEW SPRING ON RIGHT OLD ON LEFT


DRIVER SIDE SPRING BEFORE WE TOOK IT OUT


DRIVER SIDE RIGHT PASSENGER LEFT COMPARISON


DRIVER LEFT PASSENGER RIGHT

[jandref321]

Originally Posted by E46_TommyP

Update:
So my buddy and I installed the new springs on Saturday. What a pain in the ass. You know it's going to be a job when you pull up the bmw job manual and each job calls for 4 hours a side and the job asks for bmw specific tools. Luckily we did not need a spring compressor for this. Job went smooth and x5 is back on the road. Passenger spring broke at the bottom about 3/4 of a coil, driver side broke at the top and bottom and the bottom wrapped tight around the control arm, we had to cut it to get it off. Really hope I won't have to do this ever again. Spring orientation in pictures are the same to get an idea of how much is actually missing from one to the other.

NEW SPRING ON RIGHT OLD ON LEFT


DRIVER SIDE SPRING BEFORE WE TOOK IT OUT


DRIVER SIDE RIGHT PASSENGER LEFT COMPARISON


DRIVER LEFT PASSENGER RIGHT

Where did you get the job manual? Glad you guys were able to knock it out.

[E46_TommyP]

Originally Posted by jandref321

Where did you get the job manual? Glad you guys were able to knock it out.

My friend is a tech at bmw and has older gen bmw software GT1 and also the newer icom software. All the info on everything up to G series is on it I believe.

[racermp]

The print looks.like it's in good condition, no rust. Must be MFG defect. I would show this to BMW USA and see if they would compensate for the part and labor as its more of a safety hazzard

[JoeyBimX5din]

doing springs was hard? I figured you could knock an entire rear spring swap out in like 2 hours. What BMW special tools are required for the springs?