[White340]

I meant to post this a while back but forgot about it. I picked up my car in December 2015 and it came with the track package with 19" staggered wheels/summer tires. I immediately ordered winter 397 wheels/tires and put them on when the car had around 100 miles on the odometer.

When i removed the front drivers wheel, i noticed the below dent in the strut. Is this normal? Can't think of how it could have happened if it's not... I didn't hit any pot holes or anything like that from the time i picked up the car to when I took these pictures. The car drives fine and i'm not getting any warnings. The adaptive suspension works just fine, too.

Thanks

[eluded]

Was this built in Germany during OctoberFest?

Don't think its normal

[philipm785]

Did you compare to passenger side?

[x986]

It looks like there are some horizontal scratches. Maybe you hit a rock or something similar. Actually, it may have been the valet.

[hollandog]

That's weird. I should check mine next time I jack it up.

[ErkanTR16]

That doesn't look normal to me. Looks like its been hit with something since the sticker is pealing off and minor scratches.
You should definitely go to the Service Department. Keep us posted.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by OttomanTR16

That doesn't look normal to me. Looks like its been hit with something since the sticker is pealing off and minor scratches.
You should definitely go to the Service Department. Keep us posted.

Agreed. I'm not sure they'll do anything warranty wise at this point. It's pretty minor. I doubt it will ever cause an issue. As you said, everything is working fine. I doubt it will even have any affect on the life of the strut, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[ErkanTR16]

Originally Posted by __

Agreed. I'm not sure they'll do anything warranty wise at this point. It's pretty minor. I doubt it will ever cause an issue. As you said, everything is working fine. I doubt it will even have any affect on the life of the strut, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

I agree. Wouldn't hurt to get it checked out. That's just something that would really bug me.

[CntryClub007]

Originally Posted by __

Agreed. I'm not sure they'll do anything warranty wise at this point. It's pretty minor. I doubt it will ever cause an issue. As you said, everything is working fine. I doubt it will even have any affect on the life of the strut, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Isn't a strut designed with fluid to provide pressure in rebound and dampening at a fixed diameter of the strut tube via a plunger? Which would now be a different diameter or shape due to the damage.


http://www.knowyourparts.com/technic...herson-struts/

[lemetier]

The "dent" is normal and by design. The tire however has been rubbing against the strut (all that black rubbery debris).

If it's only on one side as you state, something in the lower suspension either isn't tight, damaged, allowing the hub to move out of camber, or the strut is bent. Really hard if not impossible to get that type of abrasion asymmetrically otherwise. If the tire/wheel was some how the incorrect size or improperly installed, that too could cause it.

[Labeef]

Looks like the tire was rubbing against it. Make sure that corner is the same size as the rest.

[.BMW.]

Originally Posted by Labeef

Looks like the tire was rubbing against it.

+1

Check wheel offset and tire size for both summer and winter setup.

Or has the rear summer wheel been test fitted up front? It is wider and has higher offset, that combination leads to strut clearance issues.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by miamiten

The "dent" is normal and by design.

That's what I was just thinking. I was looking at it on my phone earlier. As I look at it on my computer screen it looks symmetrical and intentional.

[White340]

The strut was actually like that when I took the 19" original wheel off to put on my winter setup and at the time the car only had 100 miles on it. I picked up the car from the dealer inventory when it had 35 miles on it and i can say for sure that I didn't hit anything (not even any decent pothole) during the 65 or so miles between the time i picked it up the car and when I switched out the wheels. Nevertheless, I will see how close the wheel is to the strut.

Regarding the other side, I forgot to check it at the time since I thought it might be normal, but will check it this weekend.

Thanks

[F32Fleet]

The indentation is normal.

[Labeef]

The dent may be part of the design, but burnt tire filling it is not.