AC Schnitzer 335d x-drive springs

[335d]

silent ninja said:

Since BMW can supply and fit AC Schnitzer springs, does that mean warranty is intact? Does that mean you can fit the springs to a lease car (likelihood of lease company accepting?) ?

ACS provide a warranty which dovetails with BMW's warranty, so anything no longer covered by BMW will be covered by ACS. Exactly how this works in practice isn't entirely clear, but they are a reputable company.

I asked my BMW dealer to fit my ACS springs to avoid adding a third party into this arrangement, with the potential confusion which that could cause if something went wrong. As it happens some time after fitting the springs, my car developed a very odd creaking noise when the driver's side went over a bump. BMW's first attempted fix was to replace an adaptive damper, which didn't solve it. They investigated further and found that a bolt holding the strut brace had been cross-threaded (no idea if the factory or the dealer fitting the springs did this). They sorted this out and the car is now fine.

All of this was done under warranty without me having to involve ACS. That said, I have seen a video report from someone else's service dept where they appear to be hinting at the ACS springs for a failed adaptive damper. In the end they just replaced it without charge.

No idea about the lease situation, although I guess you may have to switch back to originals at the end.

[smashy]

Re lease how would they know would they check do you think? (serious Q)may come out in the wash further down the line I suppose ...anyway you would have turned a frog into a prince not the other way round

[CarsOrBikes]

335d said:

ACS provide a warranty which dovetails with BMW's warranty, so anything no longer covered by BMW will be covered by ACS. Exactly how this works in practice isn't entirely clear, but they are a reputable company.

I asked my BMW dealer to fit my ACS springs to avoid adding a third party into this arrangement, with the potential confusion which that could cause if something went wrong. As it happens some time after fitting the springs, my car developed a very odd creaking noise when the driver's side went over a bump. BMW's first attempted fix was to replace an adaptive damper, which didn't solve it. They investigated further and found that a bolt holding the strut brace had been cross-threaded (no idea if the factory or the dealer fitting the springs did this). They sorted this out and the car is now fine.

All of this was done under warranty without me having to involve ACS. That said, I have seen a video report from someone else's service dept where they appear to be hinting at the ACS springs for a failed adaptive damper. In the end they just replaced it without charge.

No idea about the lease situation, although I guess you may have to switch back to originals at the end.

One hopes that the repair was done by the same garage that fitted the springs, as it is they, that must have caused the issue, and should have paid internally, and not told you they would claim it. That's fraud and should instil absolutely no confidence in anybody. Sometimes I wish I was a warranty auditor, if money wasn't wasted here, it could be used to help people much more in periods of genuine goodwill for other failures rather than line the coffers of dodgy centres milking the warranty facility.

Carry on, just my 2p :-)

All garages have a terrible habit of blaming components supplied by a.n.other when the opportunity arises, so it doesn't surprise me the other scenario resulted in blaming an ACS spring, crazy.

I supplied a light flywheel to a dealer, and a sprung disc, it was fitted and the car left outside with no clutch pedal/feel, and told it was due to the fact i'd supplied aftermarket parts. No. It was because they couldn't bleed a clutch, which was only necessary as they never tied the slave up. I had to do it myself. They also left the front suspension hanging over a weekend, and caused the top mount to separate under the weight of the complete front hub, caliper, and driveshaft, which should have been removed or supported, then it collapsed and the braided hose took the entire strain, so wrecked that too, so they showed me, and I had to replace the damaged parts, told it only happened because they weren't original. Had to buy genuine as the broken top mount was an import. Managed to prove they hadn't followed the r&r process as per workshop information which said to remove the parts, and did get a bit of a reduction, but still left a feeling of they were doing me a favour taking the job on in the first place.

Lying cheating fookars the lot of them. Rant over haha.

[mike150]

My local BMW dealer, Prentice BMW, quoted me £980 for the ACS springs fitted.

I said 'eh..............no thanks'

The joys of living in N.Ireland.

The springs are £263 from AC Schnitzer

[DocSteve]

mike150 said:

I agree with this train of thought. I have a 2014 335d xdrive with adaptive suspension, 19" and still on the original Pirelli run flats.

I like the car the way it is, it feels to big and heavy for me to be happy in driving it hard so if the ACS springs are all people say they are I don't know that it would change the way I drive the car which is very smoothly and normally most of the time with the odd blast of speed. I can drive hard, I have owned Caterhams, Westfields, Type R's, Evo's, I just don't want to drive a big heavy BMW in the way those cars need to be driven.

I am more interested in the change I would see going to normal tires like Eagle F1's and buying a tin of sealant.

I don't think £600 on springs would be a good move for me.

I guess it depends on how you like to drive when give the opportunity. Whatever car I am in, if I come across a good road I drive it hard (assuming no complaining passengers); I happen to have a particularly excellent cross country route across Rutland that I take quite regularly and have driven it in so many different cars but it's always enjoyable to me at least in some way. The worst car dynamically for it was a Jaguar XJ8 which was a big, slow, thirsty ponderous barge with a dreadful slushbox but, on the other hand, it was a lovely place to be in. I think fitting the ACS springs and some MPSS tyres hasn't really compromised the comfort aspects of the car at all but has made it handle and grip very well. I don't have the adaptive suspension but test drove one and although the seat time was limited I still think the springs have made more of a difference even with the standard dampers.

It comes down to generic driving style and enjoyment but I agree that the tyres will make a difference regardless.

[smashy]

mike150 said:

My local BMW dealer, Prentice BMW, quoted me £980 for the ACS springs fitted.

I said 'eh..............no thanks'

The joys of living in N.Ireland.

The springs are £263 from AC Schnitzer

Hello Mate try ringing Lorcan at the dist http://www.rossiters.co.uk/ he may make some phonecalls on your behalf

Just googled They do them ,which means ACS still cover warranty work and are happy they do a good job .

https://www.performancealloys.com/Contact-Performa... see what they charge

Edited by smashy on Monday 15th August 14:33