[Sail Boat]

Hey all,

Some of you are aware of my journey attempting to fix a front-end clunking noise on my '14 M235i. I've installed KW V3's, Vorshlag camber plates, Turner end links, and new thrust arms - all of which improved the handling of my car but did little to solve the clunk.

Most recent were the thrust arms, which I thought made sense given my car has rolled just over 75k miles. At the very least it wouldn't hurt to replace them anyways given the limited lifespan of the hydraulic bushings.

The next logical step was to replace the LCA's with F8X versions, a popular upgrade as we all know. After installing them yesterday, I noticed that the drop was much more than expected; about 12mm or roughly 1/2 inches. For those of us with coilovers, this is very good news since we have to compensate for the additional drop by increasing the ride height on the coilover body = 12mm additional shock travel.

Now for the ridiculous part. I knew that I would need to have my car towed to my local BMW shop to get the toe back within spec. No problem, AAA will tow for free. However upon arrival at the shop this morning the tech informed me that the tie rod adjustment on each side were totally seized. By totally seized, I mean heat, penetrating liquid, and some serious leverage had zero effect. In fact, after watching the techs try to loosen the rods it was pretty obvious that additional force would cause a twist or break.

At this point, I had two options.
1) I could "save" money by paying for a tow truck back to my house, order the $150 tierod and boot kit from FCP Eruo, wait a few days, attempt to install the parts, and pay for another tow truck to the shop for an alignment. About $500 all done plus one week and plenty of hours on my end.

2) I could pay this shop to do the work for $1,000 (top-shelf parts, labor, and alignment). At first, this seemed insane... I come in for a $150 alignment and end up with a massively unexpected bill. On the plus side, I can get back to work, don't have to worry about the logistics in option 1, I get warranty from a damn good shop, and my car will be done by today.

I went with option 2. After this work is complete, I will have replaced every moving component of my front suspension. With that said, I might have a conniption if the clunk is still present - keep a lookout in the news for an irate BMW driver taking a sledge hammer to his vehicle.

The car modification snowball effect never ceases to amaze me. For anyone 2er or BMW owner that hasn't had regular alignments, make sure your tierods aren't seized.