E36 - Lower control arm faliure

["Tarun - bmwmarketplace.com" <tarun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A co-workers 1998 328i suffered a broken lower rear control arm. He has not
hit anything but there are a couple other drivers in the house so he can't
make the statement with 100% confidence.  Pictures are available at the
following location:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tkundhi/snap.htm

A couple things stick out to me. In the third picture you can see damage to
another suspension component, which appears to be from an impact of some
kind. Also you can see rust on the broken arm. Is it a valid assumption that
a crack had been in the arm for some time allowing the rust to form and
weaken the arm.

The car was in the dealership last week because the owner felt the rear was
unsettled while cornering. The dealership claimed it was simply worn
bushings.  I'm surprised a tech would not notice this kind of damage if the
car had actually been inspected. Thankfully the arm broke while backing into
the driveway and not while the car was on the highway.

I believe this is a rare failure as I couldn't find any reference in the
archives or any other on-line resource. Has anyone seen this before.

Thanks,

t.
www.bmwmarketplace.com

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