Front right spring broken near at the bottom

[Stewthebassman]

And I cannot find a replacement online. What's with that?

My 2011 Diesel has 223,000kms on it, so I guess this was bound to happen.

Are there reasonable aftermarket suggestions?

I don't want to lower it or anything, just get an idea of the potential repair bill...

Thanks!

[Qsilver7]

If you don't have the BMW ETK/EPC software that contains the "spring table"...you'll need to contact a BMW dealership's parts department...give them your VIN (and options). They will input that into the BMW ETK/EPC and can then give you the 11 digit BMW part number for the coil spring that matches your VIN & options "spring rate"

Once you have the 11 digit BMW part number...you then can probably find comparable non-BMW coil spring options. BTW...the parts department and service department are different areas. You can call or stop by your local BMW dealership's parts department and get price quotes for parts anytime you need them without making an appointment for service work (or the cost of using their service department.

If you click the following link to the BMW TIS...you will see that it mentions basically what I wrote above. BMW uses a "spring table" to determine which coil spring: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...unting/OQ2jHrW

The pics below shows an example of how the "spring table" is accessed: (my 97 e38 was used to pull this info up years ago)

[Stewthebassman]

Hey QSilvr7.............thank you!! That's super helpful - I didn't think I'd get an answer so quickly!

Thank you very much. I'll call the parts department when they reopen Wednesday and let you know how that goes.

This exact same thing (broken coil) happened to me 4 years to the day at 200,000kms in my 2007 E61 .... funny how a big repair bill shows up right at Christmas, eh?

[wsmeyer]

This guy has a pair off a 2011 with 66k miles.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Passenger-F...dZ6ciS&vxp=mtr

[Stewthebassman]

Thanks for the tip!

[ard]

Originally Posted by Stewthebassman

Thank you very much. I'll call the parts department when they reopen Wednesday and let you know how that goes.

"The parts department"???

IMO a brick and mortar dealer is the WORST option.

Buy it from an online BMW source.

Also, if you are paying to have it done, not sure a used part is wise... JMHO

[wsmeyer]

Originally Posted by ard

"The parts department"???

IMO a brick and mortar dealer is the WORST option.

Buy it from an online BMW source.

Also, if you are paying to have it done, not sure a used part is wise... JMHO

My humble opinion mostly aligns with yours but at 140,000 miles you should explore all options and start thinking about how long you expect the car to last and how much you want to put into it.

I hope he was just calling the dealer to get the part number. If he's not doing it himself he's got to take it to an indy.

[Stewthebassman]

Actually, thanks to the accurate reasonings of the above posts, I will definitely be seeing my indy on Wednesday, when he reopens from his holiday. He is good at finding non-OEM parts, and actually, good with his advice.

The only springs I have seen online are for lowering kits. Will I be replacing the full unit, as is represented by the above poster's eBay link, or just the coil?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by ard

"The parts department"???

IMO a brick and mortar dealer is the WORST option.

Buy it from an online BMW source.

Also, if you are paying to have it done, not sure a used part is wise... JMHO

Just to clarify...talking to the parts department on the phone or walking up to the counter to have them look up information is free (at least where I live...for now). My recommendation to call his local BMW dealership's parts department was only to get the correct 11 digit bmw part nbr based on the correct spring rate for how his X is optioned. I never suggested that's where he should purchase them.

I recommended that once he had the correct part nbr...he should shop using that number. The suggestion to call the parts department was if he didn't have access to the spring table. The online parts databases don't list the coil spring part nbrs...only the dealerships have it unless one gas purchased or has a cess you the BMW EPC/ETK database.

[Stewthebassman]

Thanks Qsilver7, indeed I inferred correctly that speaking to the Parts dept at one of the several dealerships in Montreal is a no charge affair. The place where I have gone while under warranty is so busy I doubt they would have any problem. I recall getting info from them in the past, I think I even purchased a battery once from them that I installed myself.

I'll call tomorrow and see how that goes!!