So this is the situation now. The shop found that both front-axle control arms and ball joint are bad and need replacement. He puts the blame on the bad road condition (potholes) in Chicago. So that likely a 1k+ repair.
The funny thing is that there is apparently a TSB on this problem:
https://www.tsbsearch.com/BMW/SI-B31-01-16
I called up the dealership, but because the car is past the 4 year mark, I am out of luck with that too.