Alignment and Strut Mount issue and end result

[330cic_Newbie]

hello all,

First of all, I want to thank you for all your help. Without your replies, I would be totally clueless about my car.

After I went and talked to the dealership. they told me that my strut mounts are not cover under warranty b/c the strut mount looks "damaged". [thumbd] He said the car maybe ran through a pothole and damaged the strut mount. Since it's not "normal" wear and tear, they are not covered by the factory warranty.
[shake]

I went ahead and had them replace the strut mount and did the alignment 'again'.... they were going to charge me 2 alignment (1 before replacing strut mount, and 1 after)... i had to bargain with them to get them remove one of the charge. So I walked out paying almost $1k for replacing the strut mount and 1 alignment labor.

I didn't have the time to go somewhere else b/c the dealership has my car for 2 days... and I need the car to go to work. I tried to argue with them that the strut mount should be covered under factory warranty, but they insisted no. I couldn't do anything but have them replace while my car was there.

I feel I got rip off. I don't feel like going back to the same dealership again . I'm from Houston...

 

[epj3]

By strut mount, do you mean strut bearing? I assume they are the same thing -- just some people call it a mount.

It sounds like crap to me... the strut bearing (or mount) should be able to withstand that kind of stuff. Did he show it to you when he took it out? Still sounds kind of shady to me... I live in pennsylvania which has probably the most or 2nd most horrible roads in the U.S. (I've read this in an article before) and my 16 year old 3's strut bearings (which are probably 6 or 7 years old themselves...) are still in good condition.

 

[Kirby]

I don't recall reading your original posts, so let me ask a question - did you have any wheel or tire damage? If no, I find it VERY hard to believe that you hit something that could damage the strut mount/bearing and not damage the tire and/or wheel. Seems shady to me too.

 

[olcrazy1]

I'm sorry buddy, but it sounds liek you got ripped off, if you hit something bad enough to damage the strut mount then you would have bent a rim for sure! I would have the wheel that was on that strut re-balanced and checked, if it is not bent then there is no way you hit anything hard enough to damage the strut mount. I damaged 2 rims this winter in huge pot holes and never hurt my strut mounts. The wheel will give before the strut mount without a doubt!

 

[codex57]

Sounds like Momentum BMW

 

[330cic_Newbie]

No, my tires didn't have any major damage.

I'm more pissed off now that all my tires are prematurely worn because of the alignment. And the dealership didn't even tell me about how bad my tires were. I had a flat tire on the freeway to find out my other 3 tires are all badly worn too.

sucks to be a girl... they tend to rip off girls more then guys.

 

[Section_8]

Unfortunately you're dealing with a bad dealership IMHO, they should not be treating you differently as a lady, than a guy (but, we all know the reality of things...)

As many folks have said, the wear reported on your strut mounts, would almost certainly have done some wheel damage or possibly even control arm damage. The pothole he says you'd have needed to hit to 'damage' the strut mount, would have caved whichever wheels hit it - basically he's giving you the run-around IMO.

I would take it to another dealer - if you are under warranty, that should apply to any BMW approved dealership or shop. CERTAINLY get 1-2 more opinions before going with the dealership to get this fixed out of warranty. Ask him why it didn't cave a wheel, if a pothole caused that (His, non-'normal' wear excuse).