I just took delivery of my e92 M3 in early October. Last weekend, only 500 miles beyond the 1200 mile service, I slid on wet leaves in m dynamic traction mode at about 25 mph. I experienced some understeer, and couldnt redirect the front driver wheel away from a 4" curb. The traction control malfunction indicator came on immediately. I also noticed that the brake light remained illuminated in yellow after I disengaged the parking brake. After a tow and a dealer once over, it turns out that I bent the lower control arm and did some wheel damage. Parts are on massive backorder and it looks like even with expedited shipping, it will take 10 business days for the control arm to arrive from Germany (I'm hopeful that it stays at 10 business days since the dealer keeps pushing back the eta). I had an e46 M3 for 6 1/2 years. Over that time I hit some pretty massive potholes, slid off of a few tracks and even lost the back end into a curb once but never did I do this much damage or have to wait more than a few days for parts. I don't know what irritates me most (obviously excluding the ultimate issue - the gut wrenching fact that I just slammed my new baby into a curb) - the fact that I have to wait 10 business days (over 2 weeks) for a part that takes less than 6 labor hours to replace on a brand new car, or the fact that a 25 mph curb bump did so much damage while the e92's predecessor took much tougher shots and kept going. Is the the new m3 suspension weaker intentionally to avoid more severe damage, ie. to bend the control arm rather than more important parts? Just a case of bad luck? Or is the build quality simply held to a lower standard? And what's the deal with a 10 day parts order on a common control arm that must be damaged in just about any front end accident?
The backorder thing is a PITA for sure, but in my experience, any car slid sideways into a curb at 25 ends up with a bent control arm and wheel, or worse. Part of the issue is parts lightening. If you want a car that performs like a race car, it must have light, and therefore inherently weaker, suspension parts and wheels. I tagged a curb in my dad's Hyundai Excel at about 15mph when I was 17. Bent a rim, control arm, and destroyed a half shaft. You put that much force though something optomized to take loads from a completely different direction and something is bound to fail. Look for your wheel bearing to fail soon as well.
May want to take a look at any of the rubber bushings on that side of the suspension as well. They could very well be torn or otherwise damaged. Agree with the lightened and weaker components....but the cars continue to get heavier....doesn't make much sense to me...
Some of the reasons these things get heaveier each model are. 1. More safety bs 2. More luxury bs 3. More room needed You see, even if bmw wants to build a hardcore stripped down racer, they wouldn't sell enough to make a good profit, but if they make it rommier, and put more features that the avg joe will want, and what the AMG benz across the street has, then they can attract a wider range of buyers. The safety and emission crap is mandatory to sell these cars worldwide, so it really is a lose lose situation. So they lighten and trim where they can. And easily replaceable compenents are the ones that tend to get the trimming. As light as the suspension components are, I'm sure they're still strong enough where it counts, so as not to affect handling.
So in case anyone was checking up, the parts made it in after 10 business days after being ordered. They were successfully installed within a few hours. Within a week, I noticed a rubbing noise from the back around slow tight corners. A quick trip back to the dealership and a brief tech ride revealed that there is a little known issue with the e92 M3s - the oil used in the rear diff isn't lubricating correctly and needs to be drained and refilled with up to 600 miles to get rid of the abrasive noise. After 20 minutes of figure 8's in a nearby parking lot, I left my lunch on the curb and pulled away without having any issues since.
Glad it got sorted out. Now be careful out there, traction control cannot override the laws of physics.
DSC off I had the misfortune of turning the traction control off to see how it changed my M3 handling. Much to my surprise, there was a massive decline in cornering ability. So, now I'm going to sign up for the M school, after I get it fixed.... I probably wouldn't have been tempted to run this "experiment" if I'd attended the M school.
can you explain more about how cornering ability declined with DSC off? are you sure you turned it off completely? did you get power to the wheels while losing traction?
It's well-proven that DSC inhibits a car from obtaining its maximum cornering capabilities, in some cases substantially. With proper driver technique, the M3 is much faster around the skidpad, slalom, autocross, and track with DSC fully off.
We had a local club member who was constantly turning off his traction control in his M3 after he went to a few driving events. He was also constantly hitting things. The insurance company eventually cried "enough" and totaled his car after about the 4th or 5th time. Last time I saw him he was at the body shop taking off all the Dinan, Brembos, and BBS wheels to replace with OEM and sell on eBAY. He now has 911 Carrera S.....
No doubt; we already have side bets going. I have a friend is the president of local chapter of the National Porsche Club. He'll keep me in the loop I'm sure.
