[TwnTrboCAT1212]

Needless to say I was shocked to have heard this news when I went to pick up my 335xi coupe tonight after having been in the shop to have my drivers side mirror replaced after it freakishly cracked all the way up the glass on its own the other night due to (what has to be) the recent, extreme temperature fluctuations in Mass. lately. While that was only a minor issue and I knew it would be covered under warranty, the real issue came yesterday when I was pulling out of my parking spot at lunch and hit an absolutely random, low-sitting slab of old/beat up concrete in the ground with a good sized metal light post base in the middle of it that obviously hadn't been used for a light post in quite a long time (hence the scattered metal and concrete debris that was around it probably from other people hitting it too). While the impact sounded very loud to me and felt as if I had been in a minor collision, I thought maybe it just felt worse than it really was due to the low-profile tires and was expecting to find nothing but a scuffed rim and maybe a punctured tire. Much to my surprise I get out and find Nothing! Visually wrong with the car on the underbody or to any body panels. While i knew i had only hit the edge of this useless, non-sense pile of crap in the middle of a parking spot with my right front side only, I didn’t think much of it and drove the car to feel for any noticeable damage. I tried everything (bumpy roads-no sign of unusual noise or feel, extended highway drives-car didn't pull to the left or right or even have any vibration as a result of bent rims or whatnot, heavy cornering left and right-everything felt fine) the Only thing that worried me was that my steering wheel was off-centered and turned to the left a bit while the car was going straight. I figured when I’m in for service today for the mirror I’ll just ask them to check the suspension components or whatever and see if an alignment is necessary.

Tonight I go to pick her up and I get news that almost made me fall to the floor. Service manager says to me...we can’t let you leave with the car because it needs to go to the body shop tomorrow because there likely is significant damage done somewhere. I said...WHAT? How...from a 5 mph impact?...What about the alignment?...They say we couldn’t even get your car to properly fit the alignment machine because the things were so out of wack. Being furious now and demanding explanation because I didn't think this could be possible, I speak with someone who had just checked the car out with the shop foreman. He says, not only is your camber, toe, etc. all out of wack but it appears as though your Subframe took a direct impact from whatever you hit and that even though there was nothing wrong with the suspension or with the rim and tire, you likely bent the subframe or even damaged other vital frame components (aka twisted stuff, bent the main frame, etc)...So basically I'm at a loss for words and will be facing an extremely expensive bill on my 3 week old car I'm sure if what they think occurred is actually the issue. At this point I guess I just have to deal with the sweet Chevy Malibu rental I was given from the dealership (that guaranteed me a BMW loaner every time I was in for service) and have to wait for the dreadful news the body shop is hopefully going to give me tomorrow. If anyone has had similar situations occur or has ANY feedback/advice as to whether this information could truly be accurate or if you think they are looking way too much into this (given that the car drives perfectly on the road minus the off-centered steering wheel) I'd really appreciate it! Sorry for the extensive rant and for venting on here but I feel that everyone needs to know obviously how vulnerable these car's components apparently can be! Thanks,
~ Chris ~

[JBiddy]

oh man am sorry to hear about what happened... the same thing happened to my girls car, but she hit a curb. there was no visdible damage so we though oh maybe its just the alignment that got fucked up... then when we took the car to the shop they showed us the rim and it was missing a chunk hahaha.... and she bent bend her subframe as well... just from hitting a curb at 5-10 mph

hope the best for you bro!

[nicknaz]

chris,

Sorry to hear about that. That sucks! I think you have to sit tight and wait since it is very hard to really even take a guess without pictures.

The closest I've come to that is when I smacked my old integra into a guardrail at 20mph in the wet entering a corner. At first the shop guy told me they had to replace suspension components but when they loosened everything up and got the car on the alignment rack they were able to align with back into spec.

Best of luck, and ask for pics etc, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion if needed

[Roowah]

Wow, what a strange thing to happen at a very low speed. If they're right, you must've hit it at just the right (or wrong) place. Very unusual. If there is going to be some major repairs needed, can you file a claim with whoever owns that parking lot? It seems quite negligent that a piece of concrete and old light post was left there. Keep us posted.

[Year's_End]

my friend's 350z had a bent subframe from a collision that couldn't have been any more than 5mph. sorry to hear about it man.

[40yroldawakening]

insurance, that why we have it !!!!

and the sub-frame can bend easily on most cars. Its not the main frame, its the part that holds the engine and suspension up.

[alex2112]

Damn man, that sucks.

Hopefully it'll get repaired quickly and your insurance will cover it. Like others have said, you have the right to a second opinion and I would talk to whoever owns that parking lot too, if anything just to let them know that hazard messed your car up.

GL from a fellow MA driver!

[n5160u]

The bumper and most of the componets that are designed to absorb impact energy are in-line with the frame rails. There are even crushable frame extensions that absorb crash energy before the crushing gets to the passenger cell but, the sub-frame is not part of that system and is behind the bumpers which should have protected it from most low speed collisions with other vehicles but not from high curbs or other large objects on your path.

Here's how I learned about that:

I was driving during a major rain burst in Texas one summer night and the streets were flooded. In the darkness ahead of me I did not realize the streams of water spouting up from the center of the road were from water jetting through the holes in the top of a man hole cover in the road. Like any brainless five year old I headed straight for it figuring it was just a big puddle to splash through. Just before I got to the water jet I was able to see not only the water coming out through the man hole cover but also saw for the first time the man hole cover was being lifted up into my path by the volume of water coming up from under it. I hit the thing so hard the car almost stopped but I continued on and everything seemed normal enough. Since it was very dark and wet I did not check anything until the next day. When I glanced under the car later in the morning everything seemed to be OK and there was no sign of any oil leaking out so I forgot about it until I took the car in for an oil change a few months later.

What we found after putting it on a lift was the cross-member part of the subframe had been pushed back onto the lowered part of the oil pan caving it partway in while the crossmember was crushed along the front side bad enough the welds had ripped open. Since it still worked fine I drove it around like that for another six months until I could save enough money to get it fixed properly.

[darkphantom]

Originally Posted by 40yroldawakening

insurance, that why we have it !!!!

and the sub-frame can bend easily on most cars. Its not the main frame, its the part that holds the engine and suspension up.

my accord got hit from the rear, looked like nothing happened, impact frame was bent

[BMW335icDDS]

I hope everything is okay. Good luck with this.

[sailvi767]

It sounds like you took the collision on the frame itself. The frame is designed to work in conjunction with the body in a impact. If you took a 5 mph impact on a portion of the frame I would expect the frame to bend. 3500 Lbs of car moving at 5mph on a point impact with a frame is going to bend it every time. If however you took the impact on a bumper or the body of the car you should not have frame damage. Sometimes low lying objects that pass under the bumper but don't clear suspension parts do damage that costs far more to repair then body damage.

[raleedy]

You showed excellent judgment, though, when you got the news. It is important to become very angry at people who tell you this kind of bad news.

[ragingclue]

The subframe is not incredibly strong. And with the way cars are built to absorb energy in any way possible these days, it's just the way it goes....

The same concept will save your life in a head on collision, so I guess either you could be pissed that hitting an immovable object damaged your subframe, or you could feel safe and secure knowing it might save your life (and your family/friends) someday.

[BMWDAD]

TwnTrboCAT1212 hope you finish the story for us, thanks.

[blakjack23]

Did you buy your car new or used? If it was used maybe the damage was already there.

[bsamoul]

The sub frames aren't really that strong on most cars nowadays because they are meant to be replaced if you hit something or if it gets bent somehow. It kind of sucks

[TwnTrboCAT1212]

Originally Posted by blakjack23

Did you buy your car new or used? If it was used maybe the damage was already there.

Nah man I just bought this thing brand new less than a month ago...Thing had 5 miles on it and now I have only 2,000 which is part of the reason why I'm so pissed that this had to happen to me. Thanks for the concern though. I'll keep everyone updated as to what needs to be replaced and for how much money this deal is gonna cost me.

[TwnTrboCAT1212]

Originally Posted by Roowah

Wow, what a strange thing to happen at a very low speed. If they're right, you must've hit it at just the right (or wrong) place. Very unusual. If there is going to be some major repairs needed, can you file a claim with whoever owns that parking lot? It seems quite negligent that a piece of concrete and old light post was left there. Keep us posted.

Hey everyone...Well I have an update on my situation. I just got back from the dealer body shop and Thankfully the damage was not as bad as what they initially had made it out to be! The biggest relief is that the dealer's frame machine showed that there was little to no movement from either the main frame or the sub-frame during the impact (aka specs were still within an acceptable level for the car). Now, while they aren't positive, they feel quite confident that the brunt of the impact was taken by the control arm and therefore ordered a new one to be safe. Much to their surprise there was no visual markings or damage on any of the suspension components that made contact with the concrete slab, so it was difficult for them to pinpoint what to inspect first. They admitted that while the control arm isn't visually bent to their own eyes, its possible for it to be bent just enough to throw off the toe and camber completely off on the right front, therefore wanting to install a new control arm to rule that out. In addition, there were two plastic underbody panels that were toast and were recommended to be replaced to protect vital engine parts. I was further told that once the new arm is in, they will try re-aligning the car (which shouldn't be a problem after the installation) and that I should be on my way by Wed. afternoon/just in time for Thanksgiving. While the news is better than I was expecting, they said that I'm still looking at a $550-$600 bill for the damage (as an initial estimate given they don’t find any further damage). Aside from seeing my car in pieces tonight I feel like I Can breathe a little more easily now. The only thing I'm concerned about is that the car may not drive the same as it did before the incident. I don't see why it shouldn't and I may just be paranoid but if someone could reassure me that the car will still drive like it did from the showroom after this and tell me I'm nuts, I'd really appreciate it! Anyway, if all goes well, I'll keep you all updated on when I get the car back and to tell you what happens. Thanks,
~ Chris ~

[VMRWheels]

Ah, that's unfortunate. Hopefully they'll be able to align it correctly once you have the new lower control arm in.

[Orient330iNYC]

it all depends on what direction the force was applied to what component, and what direction that component was designed to resist force in.

for example, on the E46, many a control arm was bent by flat bed operators lashing the car down via the control arm instead of by the wheel. force load was alot less that what the part sees in normal use, but was directed in the wrong direction.

thankfully, the parts are relatively cheap to replace. the OP got unlucky and managed to load a part in a direction it wasnt designed to be loaded in.

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

damn that sucks man
Sorry to hear it but it could've been worse.
PDC FTW

[1cleanm6]

you guys make the subframe seem like its made of plastic its very strong..