Lower Control Arm +

[Rick27]

I am - embarrassingly enough - not the most DIY guy on the planet. I'm not even sure I would be trying to rotate the right things.

I know....I suck. It's part of my overall frustration. If it weren't for you and others on this forum, I would have no idea of the possible issues.

At this point, I refuse to bring it back to those a-holes at the dealership. Due to a few recent experiences...and not wanting to bore you...I hate those f'n guys. I'd much rather bring it to the dope who did the work on the control arms and ball joints. See what he has to say. The problem I had with him is that I bought the parts and told him to do the job. I think he took that WAY TOO LITERALLY and just did what I asked without a concern for anything else.

I just received a bill from the hospital about 'a thing' I had to deal with over the summer that my insurance didn't cover. I owe $2,100. I'm not looking for sympathy, but trying to express how I want to avoid the dealership and may have to suck up this issue - which puts me in a bad mood upon every commute home - for a little while, if the final result is another big bill.

I still love the X and my choice to buy one. I just need to figure this out and get past it.

[dpgx5]

Check those calipers...I remember reading a thread that it happened to one member here. Your rotors could be wraped?

[heuer21]

Im going with seized calipers too.

[Rick27]

Thanks guys, I'm going to have that checked.

[Rick27]

So, the issue has been fixed 100%, so I thought I'd report what it ended up being.

$10 hub rings.

If I wasn't so happy that I finally have my X-perience back, I'd be PISSED!

[1stE53]

Originally Posted by Rick27

So, the issue has been fixed 100%, so I thought I'd report what it ended up being.

$10 hub rings.

If I wasn't so happy that I finally have my X-perience back, I'd be PISSED!

got to be kidding!!! Did you replace the entire hub assembly while you were at it?

[Rick27]

Originally Posted by 1stE53

got to be kidding!!! Did you replace the entire hub assembly while you were at it?

No sir, it drives perfect.

[dpgx5]

are you serious? lol dont you have original wheels? interesting. well thanks for the follow up! enjoy the X

[Rick27]

Originally Posted by dpgx5

are you serious? lol dont you have original wheels? interesting. well thanks for the follow up! enjoy the X

Well, that was the interesting part...I guess I didn't. I'm the second owner. However inside the rim it still says "BMW". I understand that the replicas would not and would rather have "Made in China" or something similar. So while they MUST be replicas to need the rings, there's nothing that shows they are. That part is still a bit of a mystery.

And so it turns out that I must have had the hub rings and the tire shop just tossed them out when they changed the tires. They eventually replaced all 4 tires (replaced the new tires they put on, with another new set of 4) as you see earlier in the thread. You'd think somebody would have thought of that during the 6 times I brought it back there.

The mechanic at my new and favorite Indy shop knew it before he got all the lugs off the first tire he checked. Unreal.

[TriX5]

Congrats. Great it is fixed. If the wheels are OE then there should more markings than just BMW. Usually it says when they were produced and who produced them. BMW does not make its own alloy wheels. Could be Borbet or one of the other OE producers.

If somebody strapped on wheels from another type of BMW with 74.1mm hubs they'd still be OEM but just not the right centre bore for your e53. Or somebody used those wheels on a vehicle that had larger hubs and had the wheels bored out to fit. Either way you are fine with the hub rings.