Still loving the M440i although I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about M adaptive suspension. Switching from Comfort to Sport made little difference the car was rather firm to say the least. I had also noticed what sounded to be a rattle from the front of the car when going slowly over rough surfaces.. Anyway at the weekend I fitted my new 18” square set up winter tyres and wheels and had a good nosey at the suspension set up. With the car jacked up I grabbed the strut and gave it a shake to find a rattle – lifted the rubber boot and found two transport blocks either side at the front of the car! So the first owner specced ever option including the frozen paint and never complained about the suspension in his nearly 3 years of ownership?! Wow, maybe explains the low mileage he did. Driving the car this morning it is transformed now some could be moving from 19” summers to 18” winters but the suspension is noticeably better and there is zero rattle. I have raised the matter with the supplying dealer who are the same garage who supplied the car new – lets see what they have to say for themselves.
Wow that's dreadful. I wonder how many vehicles supplied by that dealer are driving around with them still fitted!
That is poor, so much for quality checks! I know that @boylucifer had the same issue when he picked up his brand new G21 M340d.
The salesman responded yesterday to my text and phoned early this morning full of apologies. They have offered to drive over leave me a car and take mine away to inspect. Looking on the internet it seems many BMW's and other marques suffer from this and it is highly unlikely that plastic blocks can do lasting suspension damage. Rather than add an additional 250 miles to my car I may see if I can get some other goodwill.
They need to start videoing PDI's to provide reassurance that the work has been completed. What a sad state of affairs.
So that car has had a least A PDI A service An MOT And undergone AUC checks Still non of the "highly trained" BMW technician's noticed ?
I agree and that is part of the reason I am not inclined to let them collect the car and drive 250 miles to do a 'thorough inspection' It is a shame after me waxing lyrical about them. I wish I could confirm if transport spacer blocks (2 per side) are only fitted to the front struts of G26. I could not see any on the rear but the suspension looked quite different. Seems this type of block is also fitted to Toyota, Audi, Porsche, VW, Skoda etc - internet has rather a lot of stories of these being left in.
As Wynne mentioned I had this experience on my car from picking it up brand new and driving it the 250 or so miles home, plus the first few days of normal driving. The area I really felt it in, on top of the overly stiff ride, was when braking. I felt like with no give at the front and the weight of the big old diesel lump, the car was really hard to stop, and not very controlled. My ultimate push to jack the car up and check was based upon one of the blocks breaking up a bit and causing a substantial rattle over one of the many speed bumps local to me. Handling of it by supplying dealer and local dealer to resolve was a pretty lousy experience. The only people to come out of it with any credit at the time were the Arnold Clark call centre handler who actually took the time to understand my frustration and force through a resolution. Interesting you mention rear concerns as even 15 months down the line I am not 100% sure that my rear suspension behaves exactly as it should, and there is one particular speed bump that I go over locally that is bone jarring from the rear passenger side in particular. I’ve had the car jacked up more than once to look and I can’t see anything untoward, but I also am less than 100% certain on what I’m looking for.
I am still waiting for the supplying dealer to confirm if they are fitted to the rear from new.. separately I asked my local dealer who said they are fitted to the rear but are obvious and also our site sponsor who said they are only fitted to the front on a G26 but there should be 2 x white fitted and 1 x blue at the front. I could only see 2 x white as my original photo. The 3 series touring rear suspension maybe different to the 4 gran coupe, I don’t know. Will have another look at the weekend.
To update this in the case of a G26 M440i transport blocks are only fitted to the front but there should be two white and one blue. I only found two white per side. It would appear that at PDI only the blue ones were removed. This maybe explains why the suspension was stiff but had some give - just not as much as it should. The previous owner did very low miles so may be did not notice although I certainly did along with the rattle. Anyway mistakes happen and once notified the supplying dealer were very good at offering solutions including future service requirements at a local BMW centre. While this definitely should not have happened in a weird way I am relieved I found the fault as now the M440i rides exactly as I expected and is now silent in regard to the suspension. I have not made a mistake I was fearing moving from the 6 series. I asked about the 3 series touring and its transport blocks - it appears they do come with them at the rear so @Wynne71 and @boylucifer may be worth looking just in case.
Thanks for the update. I’m planning on swapping my wheels over at the weekend, so will have a good look then. Currently I’m not worried as the ride is good and silent, but what do I know!
You should have an increased ride height with transport blocks installed. First thing I check when I get a car but on mine it looks an X3M if the blocks are installed. Not a great situation for you but at the same time a great outcome considering the ride was not as expected at first.
The ride height on mine was not increased so it was not obvious but then again one of the three blocks had been removed so the other two were just loose on the strut so not propping the car up if you see what I mean. Anyway resolved now and I can get on with enjoying the car as it should be. The M440i really is good especially with the xdrive, I can only imagine the difference again in your M3
This thread has made me paranoid about my car.....driving back today I was listening for rattles, wondering if the difference between Comfort and Sport really was there..... As I pulled up on the drive I had a peek under the OF front dust cover, to my shock I saw a glimpse of white plastic! Arrrggghhhh....! Went inside, dumped the work suit and changed home wear, dragged the trolley jack out and had a closer look. Thankfully the white plastic is simply to top of the strut where the arm feeds in, the rubber gator fits over this plastic lip to hold it in place, phew. Checked the other side to make sure this was matching, and had a look at the rears, no sign at all on there.
My issue at the rear is I believe they are very different, but I have no idea really what I am looking for or even to be honest where I am looking at the rear as the whole setup looks very different!
