Dealer replaced tension strut - but it looks old?!

[och]

I brought my car last week for the N63 engine recall, and while they were at it I asked them to look into a suspension clunk that I've been hearing during slow speed movement. I could hear it mostly when parking the car, slowly moving/braking while turning steering wheel.

They finished the car today, and I went to pick it up. Service advisor told me that the suspension clunk was caused by bad tension strut and they replaced left side tension strut. Below is a screenshot of what was done.

I drove the car home, and soon as I pulled into my driveway, I hear the same clunks. Drove around a bit more, running errands - same clunk occurs. So I went to look under the car and the tension strut looks old. There's a bit less dirt on it than the one on the right side, but its still all dirty and old.

I'm going to wreck havok at the dealer tomorrow. If they lied about the easy to replace tension strut, what are the chances they actually replaced all the parts in the N63 recall?

The car is a 2012 x5 5.0 currently with 17,600 on the clock.

[och]

See pictures of the "new" tension strut. The car has done maybe 15 miles since I picked it up from the dealer.

[blue dragon]

I replaced mine myself a couple of weeks back, definitely made a difference in stiffening up the rear end

[RideM5]

The ball joint looks pretty fresh. They may have used some grease during the install that ended up spraying on the arm. Typically the point of failure on these arms are the rubber bushings. You should be able tell if the bushing on the body side looks new.

[lanbrown]

Originally Posted by och

I'm going to wreck havok at the dealer tomorrow. If they lied about the easy to replace tension strut, what are the chances they actually replaced all the parts in the N63 recall?

The car is a 2012 x5 5.0 currently with 17,600 on the clock.

So, they would risk losing their license and their franchise over a few parts? They have more to lose than to gain. That is not to say that this doesn't occur, but not at a franchise dealer especially a premium brand.

That strut still has a tag on it that is clean. If it was used, there would be no tag. How does the other side look?

[PAX5]

1. Very, very unusual for a tension strut arm to need replacement at 17K miles. Mine were done at 70K miles (see pics)! Since the clunk is still there, the culprit may not be the tension strut, or ...

2. the right tension strut is faulty also, or ...

3. they replaced the tension strut with a defective unit, or ...

4. your replacement tension strut is a rebuilt unit with a new ball joint on one end, but the bushing on the other end was not replaced or renewed.

It that bushing that will cause the clunk you hear at low speeds.

BTW, BMW replacement parts policy includes using "used" or "recycled" parts. In the case of a tension strut, the metal arm itself does not wear, it's the ball joint on one end and the rubber bushing on the other end that wear. So you could have a "used" arm, but with "new" components on either end.

But the arms should be branded with BMW letters and part numbers.

[RideM5]

Also, the clunk could be a worn sway bar end link. Pretty common suspension failure.

[och]

So I looked closer and it appears that the small bushing on the tension strut is indeed new. I can't see the other side because its under plastic covers.

But the strut itself is definitely not new. I guess they installed a rebuilt one. I'm just hoping its properly rebuilt with genuine bushings, not some aftermarket junk,

[lanbrown]

If it has a BMW part number on it, then it would be a BMW part.

[GregWX5]

They can press out the old bushing and install a new one into the same arm and re-use the ball joint.