Bilstein PSS-9 Strut Damage

[mmobmw]

Hi, I have an E46 M3 with damage to my Bilstein PSS-9 coilover kit. Recently the front suspension was making a lot of noise and, after taking it to a local shop, I was informed that both front struts appear to be blown (the shop said: the struts only "kick back" about 1/8", there is no tension, there is a bubbling noise, and there appears to be an excessive amount of oil on the strut). It looks like I need new struts, even though I've never tracked the car since I bought it, although the prior owner may have done so. Has anyone heard of such strut failure by driving normally on local roads? If you have any suggestions on the cause or repair I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[OwnedbyDuncan]

If the previous owner still has the original receipt Bilsteins shocks and struts have a lifetime warranty. Not sure about this jit though.

When Ii got rid of my E30325i it still had the Bilstein Sports on it and the shocks and struts had over 200k miles on them without a problem. Car was tracked.

How many miles are on the struts? Its either a bad set of struts or more likely the installation caused a problem.

Give Bilstein a call you never know what they will do for you as long as you pay shipping. Do not expect them to pay for the labor of removal and reinstallation and alignment. But they may buy you new struts.

Be nice, very nice with them on the phone.

Dave Apker and the collies

[mmobmw]

Thanks. I don't know when they were installed, but the car has 55K miles. They were fine when I purchased the car last June. I'm afraid that I'll have to buy new struts since I don't have information about when and where they were purchased. I can't believe the damage would have been caused by driving on DC streets, but I guess I can't rule that out. I will see if Bilstein will at least repair the struts.