Quote:
Originally Posted by apecush
The appearance of those arms doesn't instill a lot of confidence - they are very thin stamped steel (though probably fairly high-strength). Given the stiffness of the rest of the arms (solid aluminum) it isn't surprising that they are deforming. They are carried over directly from other 3-series cars where the suspension linkage is likely quite a bit more compliant, not to mention higher profile tires - perhaps they are there to protect a weakness of the subframe.
Like I said before, I'm pretty sure this issue is more widespread than most believe, since a very small percentage of us actually inspect the suspension components on our cars closely enough to see the damage shown in the pictures.
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Like others have said, it is the weak link because it is designed to be that way. The way it fails is actually a safety feature which keeps you from losing control of the car. The OPs situation definitely doesn't look normal and does appear to be caused by someone prying on it which I have heard is common for some inexperienced installers to do when installing springs.