update on my body shop problems

[stygian7]

I posted a couple weeks back on some problems we were having after having body work done following an accident:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...nuine-bmw.html

We ended up calling State Farm and they put me in touch with one of their service first inspectors. He was helpful and we ultimately opted to take the vehicle to a different body shop for the repairs to be properly completed.

They found several loose components inside of the door. They also found that the shop that originally did the repairs failed to put any sound deadening panels in the new door. Those items seemed to take care of the rattle from within the door.

As far as the whistling sound, they said that they struggled to adjust the door. Finally, they were able to adjust the door well enough to eliminate the whistling noise (at least, I haven't heard it since the repair). I do believe that there is still a geometry issue somewhere, as I can see a difference between the driver's side and passenger side. However, it is only about 1mm, and as long as it does not whistle, I am willing to let good enough be. I'm crossing my fingers that the noise is gone forever.

Another interesting issue with the car is a vibration in the steering wheel when braking. This was an issue in Feb. 2010, when we had it in to the dealership and the rotors and pads were replaced under factory warranty. The warranty has since run out and the vibration has returned.

Took it in this morning and they are now telling me that the front wheel hubs are both warped. I asked about the rotors and the service guy told me that they weren't sure about the rotors, but they were certain that the hubs were warped. I suspect that the hubs were the problem to begin with and they have over time caused the new rotors to warp as well.

I'm not real happy about this; if my suspicions are right, they misdiagnosed the problem when they replaced only the rotors. Since the warranty is over and I simply don't have time to replace the parts myself (nor do I have the tools to pull the hub), it looks like I'm going to get to eat this one. I'm hoping this is the end of problems for a while.

Anyway, I wanted to at least post a follow-up on the door whistle/rattle problem and thank everyone again for their input. My time is very limited these days and I don't post on this forum or the e38 forum that I used to frequent, but I always appreciate the help that I receive.

-Kevin