Seeking help with the repair of my bent 95 M3

["Jim Perrings" <jperri@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,

I am hoping that some of the collective digest wisdom and knowledge can help
me decide what direction to take with my 95 M3.

History:  In June of last year a young woman made an error in driving
judgement and illegally turned across traffic.  Realizing the error she was
making she decided stopping in front of two lanes of oncoming traffic was
the prudent thing to do.  Even the M3's incredible brakes and handling could
not prevent the impending mayhem.  Sadly, the M3 took a hit to the right
front corner at about a 45 degree angle as I tried to steer out of the
situation.  The impact did not deploy the airbags, but did result in the
vehicle being towed and $17,000 in repairs to date.

The Problem:  The M3 no longer handles the way it should.  In fact, it has
taken throttle steering to a new level or dimension.  I can literally steer
the car with throttle modulation.  Apply power and the car pulls to the
left.  Lift off and the car pulls back to the right.  The greater the
velocity the more dramatic this new feature becomes.  What I notice is that
under brisk acceleration the right front of the car seems to lift just a bit
prior to pulling.

To make a very long story short, the M3 has been in the hands of four
different "repair" groups for most of the last year.  This includes the
local BMW dealer's favored shop and a couple groups who enjoy a good
reputation with the local performance/racing community. This problem has
left everyone scratching their heads.  The original repair work included
pulling time to reconstruct the geometry of the vehicle.  This work has been
verified as correct by two of the groups.  The car measures spot on.  The
list of attempted fixes includes essentially a new front end, (springs,
struts, bushings, control arms, etc. for both sides), a new steering rack,
new springs and struts in the rear of the vehicle.  All the performance
folks swear the problem has to be in the rear of the car.  Based on that
notion, the BMW favored shop swapped out the entire rear end assembly from
another low mileage M3 to see if that would work.  No luck.  There has been
some improvement.  The car no longer pulls to left when you lift off, but
consistently pulls to the right under power although not as severely.

Any guru's willing to make suggestions of what might work to fix this car?

Sadly, I am getting close to the point where I feel I have to fight with the
woman's insurance company to declare the vehicle a loss.  My stance with the
insurance company has been this is unique vehicle, with unique handling as
recognized by the automotive industry.  The car no longer functions in that
capacity and I have been very rigid in my insistence that the car be
repaired correctly. My wife, an attorney, has been wanting to total out the
car for sometime now as she never liked the M3. (Reminds of the quote I saw
at the UUC web site,  "My wife and I have only 1 thing in common when it
comes to the M3 - She doesn't like driving it, and I don't like her to drive
it."   My compliments to the author and apologies for my faulty memory if I
miss quoted):).

I really don't want to part with the M3.  I would also hate to see the
insurance company resell the vehicle as it really is only an M3 in name, but
not in performance at this juncture.  Any help would be appreciated.


TIA,

Jim Perrings

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