Rear swaybar end-link fell off

MaxL · 06-03-2012, 07:02 PM

I started getting a ton of vibration from the car, took off a wheel to get it balanced and saw that swaybar link was just hanging down.

I am not surprised that happened - roads are terrible here. But I am curious - what is more likely to have caused it (all happened in the last few days)
1) I hit a a couple big potholes recently
2) I drove for 200km with a rear wheel unbalanced by a lot (6 oz!) - it is the same wheel that had end-link broken. Rotating tire on the wheel brought it down to normal (2oz opposite to the tire pressure monitor, like on other wheels)
3) Driving on track - I know many people who drive much more and much harder than I do without similar issues, so it's definitely not the main cause, but I'll through it in there. Anyone seen this happen due to track driving?

Now I am worried what else I need to check. After re-balancing all wheels (regular, not road-force), the car still has slight vibration at 130km/h or 80MPH. but the vibration seems to be front and rear and kind of comes and goes. With it being so slight, I can almost convince it's in my head, but it's probably not. The car seems to drive perfectly fine otherwise.

Any thoughts on what to check/replace? Also, what's the best way to get the endlinks replaced? BMW or independent? I am probably not going to try to claim warranty since I have aftermarket springs in the rear, so is there any reason to go with the dealer in that case?

MaxL · 06-03-2012, 08:00 PM

The plot thickens -just look at the end-link once again, and it looks perfectly fine - identical to the other one. What came off is the bolt that was holding it's lower end. Both endlink and the place where it attaches to the arm look like new, but the bolt is just gone. Also, the seal on wheel bearing is pulled off a bit and the grease is pushing out of the crack.

So my optimistic theory is that because of unbalanced wheel the bolt came loose and fell off, leaving end-link loose, and end-link damaged the seal. Probably means I need to replace the bearing as well?

Another option would be that something else damaged both the seal and the bolt, but in that case I'd expect to see damage on the end-link.

06-03-2012, 07:02 PM	#1
MaxL Captain 69 Rep 957 Posts Drives: E90 M3, Cayenne T, 991 GT3 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (0)	Rear swaybar end-link fell off I started getting a ton of vibration from the car, took off a wheel to get it balanced and saw that swaybar link was just hanging down. I am not surprised that happened - roads are terrible here. But I am curious - what is more likely to have caused it (all happened in the last few days) 1) I hit a a couple big potholes recently 2) I drove for 200km with a rear wheel unbalanced by a lot (6 oz!) - it is the same wheel that had end-link broken. Rotating tire on the wheel brought it down to normal (2oz opposite to the tire pressure monitor, like on other wheels) 3) Driving on track - I know many people who drive much more and much harder than I do without similar issues, so it's definitely not the main cause, but I'll through it in there. Anyone seen this happen due to track driving? Now I am worried what else I need to check. After re-balancing all wheels (regular, not road-force), the car still has slight vibration at 130km/h or 80MPH. but the vibration seems to be front and rear and kind of comes and goes. With it being so slight, I can almost convince it's in my head, but it's probably not. The car seems to drive perfectly fine otherwise. Any thoughts on what to check/replace? Also, what's the best way to get the endlinks replaced? BMW or independent? I am probably not going to try to claim warranty since I have aftermarket springs in the rear, so is there any reason to go with the dealer in that case?
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06-03-2012, 08:00 PM	#2
MaxL Captain 69 Rep 957 Posts Drives: E90 M3, Cayenne T, 991 GT3 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (0)	The plot thickens -just look at the end-link once again, and it looks perfectly fine - identical to the other one. What came off is the bolt that was holding it's lower end. Both endlink and the place where it attaches to the arm look like new, but the bolt is just gone. Also, the seal on wheel bearing is pulled off a bit and the grease is pushing out of the crack. So my optimistic theory is that because of unbalanced wheel the bolt came loose and fell off, leaving end-link loose, and end-link damaged the seal. Probably means I need to replace the bearing as well? Another option would be that something else damaged both the seal and the bolt, but in that case I'd expect to see damage on the end-link.
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