Strange Steering Feel After Car Accident

[Lodaka]

As in my sig, my car is 2011 E92 M3. It has recenetly been involved in an accident about 2 weeks ago. The passenger side of my car hit the rear of another car (guess what... a 7 series).

The local autobody shop did great work and it's back in busines. From the worksheet they provided me, it appears that they had to do a lot but no mechanical damages or structural damages from what I was told. They did however do re-alignment.

However, since I got the car back, when the car goes over pot holes or something similar (minor ones), the car feels a little strange... kind of like I am losing control for a split second in the back end and my body seems to sway side to side a bit. It seems to happen more when the passenger side (the accident side) goes over these pot holes. I am not sure what it is and I certainly don't know enough about the car dynamics to figure out what is happening. All the other time, the car feels ok.

The car is going back to the shop for them to re-check the re-alignment work they did. Any other ideas?

[elm3]

Originally Posted by Lodaka

As in my sig, my car is 2011 E92 M3. It has recenetly been involved in an accident about 2 weeks ago. The passenger side of my car hit the rear of another car (guess what... a 7 series).

The local autobody shop did great work and it's back in busines. From the worksheet they provided me, it appears that they had to do a lot but no mechanical damages or structural damages from what I was told. They did however do re-alignment.

However, since I got the car back, when the car goes over pot holes or something similar (minor ones), the car feels a little strange... kind of like I am losing control for a split second in the back end and my body seems to sway side to side a bit. It seems to happen more when the passenger side (the accident side) goes over these pot holes. I am not sure what it is and I certainly don't know enough about the car dynamics to figure out what is happening. All the other time, the car feels ok.

The car is going back to the shop for them to re-check the re-alignment work they did. Any other ideas?

A loose suspension component in the rear can cause the body to go side-to-side feel.

[Lodaka]

Originally Posted by elm3

A loose suspension component in the rear can cause the body to go side-to-side feel.

Can it also feel like that, if there is a loose suspension component in the front? I only ask, because I don't think they did anything to the rear suspension, but I am pretty sure they did something to the front one... possibly the stiffnes in the new suspension not matching the driver side one? I am just guessing.

[M3PO]

Well, they probably gave it a four wheel alignment. And a bad one at that.

[elm3]

Originally Posted by Lodaka

Can it also feel like that, if there is a loose suspension component in the front? I only ask, because I don't think they did anything to the rear suspension, but I am pretty sure they did something to the front one... possibly the stiffnes in the new suspension not matching the driver side one? I am just guessing.

Yes it can. I would have them check anything that they touched while working on the car. If the car's alignment is off, it will cause it to feel uneasy too.

[Lodaka]

Thank you for the answers. I am bringing the car back in tomorrow; I will mention the suspension thing and will ask them to re-check everything they did. Ugh.

[Car54]

Post up the alignment specs.

[Lodaka]

Originally Posted by Car54

Post up the alignment specs.

I will post up what I can from the sheet that they gave me when I get home.

[Lodaka]

I am looking at the summary repair sheet, and all it says about alignment is "4 Wheel Align" without any specs or anything like that. Where can I get this? Is it something I can request?

[robb7979]

Yes. They should have a before and after sheet. Also sounds like it could be the control arms. That would give it a "loose" feeling. Let us know what you find out.

[Car54]

Originally Posted by Lodaka

I am looking at the summary repair sheet, and all it says about alignment is "4 Wheel Align" without any specs or anything like that. Where can I get this? Is it something I can request?

Yes, you should have a before/after alignment sheet. Request it.

If your car is skipping around you likely have toe out in the rear.

[Singletrack]

Get alignment specs as others have said...best place to start.

[Mike van D]

Originally Posted by Singletrack

Get alignment specs as others have said...best place to start.

+1

[Car54]

In the meantime....go out and grab each tire, like a kind of bear hug, and violent let shake the tire/wheel in and out. You'll need a lot of force to detect a problem. The car should be moving around on the sidewalls when you do it hard enough.

I once had a body shop not tighten my lug nuts when reassembling my car.

[tamana]

They should have a before and after sheet. Also sounds like it could be the control arms.

[Lodaka]

Thank you all for all the posts. So the car was dropped off. I mentioned some of the things in this thread... like controls arms, suspension, etc. They just said when my car hit, the suspension wasn't damaged and they also didn't think it was control arms.

Anyway, they are taking the car to a bmw dealership for an alignment and I asked for a copy of the spec's when done. I will post this up when I have the car back, hopefully today.

I suppose if this doesn't solve it, they will need to have a look at other things, but hopefully this will do it.

[Lodaka]

Originally Posted by Car54

In the meantime....go out and grab each tire, like a kind of bear hug, and violent let shake the tire/wheel in and out. You'll need a lot of force to detect a problem. The car should be moving around on the sidewalls when you do it hard enough.

I once had a body shop not tighten my lug nuts when reassembling my car.

I will check this too, when the car is back. But, what am I looking for, loose tires?

[Car54]

Wheels and tires being loose could show a weak spot in wheel attachment or suspension looseness. It's a pretty standard autocross tech inspection component. You'd be surprised how many things are caught with that test.

Tell us this...were any of your rims or tires damaged in the accident?

[Lodaka]

Originally Posted by Car54

Wheels and tires being loose could show a weak spot in wheel attachment or suspension looseness. It's a pretty standard autocross tech inspection component. You'd be surprised how many things are caught with that test.

Tell us this...were any of your rims or tires damaged in the accident?

No. I still have my tires and original rims.

I got my car back today. I didn't get a chance to do this test but will try to do something maybe on the weekend.

The initial very non-professional assessment is that the car feels much better... so far. I will have to keep my eye out for any troubles.

Attaching what they gave me (personal info removed). I don't know what any of these means but it appears that they did make some adjustments.

[Car54]

Originally Posted by Lodaka

No. I still have my tires and original rims.

I got my car back today. I didn't get a chance to do this test but will try to do something maybe on the weekend.

The initial very non-professional assessment is that the car feels much better... so far. I will have to keep my eye out for any troubles.

Attaching what they gave me (personal info removed). I don't know what any of these means but it appears that they did make some adjustments.

It looks like they made adjustments, and you were toe-in on all four corners and they made it closer to the wheels going straight.

They didn't get your front right camber back to spec...was that the damaged side? You might have something bent that won't allow adjustment back to stock.

If you still feel a problem, I'd go back to the same shop to see if any measurements change or shift.

I'd ask the place why front right camber could not be corrected and get a letter from them saying why. Take that to your insurance adjuster and work on getting that straightened out.

None of these alignment specs, before, indicate a reason for really unsettling handling. Toe-out (or a -1+°) would cause that or gross toe-in.

[Lodaka]

Originally Posted by Car54

It looks like they made adjustments, and you were toe-in on all four corners and they made it closer to the wheels going straight.

They didn't get your front right camber back to spec...was that the damaged side? You might have something bent that won't allow adjustment back to stock.

If you still feel a problem, I'd go back to the same shop to see if any measurements change or shift.

I'd ask the place why front right camber could not be corrected and get a letter from them saying why. Take that to your insurance adjuster and work on getting that straightened out.

None of these alignment specs, before, indicate a reason for really unsettling handling. Toe-out (or a -1+°) would cause that or gross toe-in.

I see. Yes, the front right (passenger side in NA) was the damaged side. The alignment was done at a BMW dealership as the shop doesn't do this part themselves. I will speak to the shop, who will likely contact the dealership afterwards.

[robb7979]

Doesn't a camber adjustment require new parts? I'd ask for the original alignment specs, and see if it was aligned correctly the first time. If it was, then there is some underlying problem causing you to lose the alignment. Which would again cause me to think of the control arms or bushings. Although, I'd wonder how they'd miss that during an alignment.