Now that was scary..Ball joint separated (pics added)...

[Zenon]

why it fell to its knees...

That says it all right there. Worn out, riveted original ball joint.

Man, you are lucky it was not a whole lot worse. Glad you made it.

This happened to me once:

http://www.zeebuck.com/bimmers/tech/rustystrut.htm

Not nearly as dangerous as your situation but still pretty traumatic. It is easy to forget how old our cars really are and that we have to be extra vigilant.

regards,

Zenon

[InkaSteve]

Changed my shorts, and the car is back home now. A few battle scars, but everything else checked out A-OK. Sure is a lot tighter than the worn out old 76.

[jgerry2002]

Damn that is bad, but could have been much much worse.

With the whole issue of E36M3 (and E30M3) snapping control arms/ball joints at the track I've been extra careful replacing the ball joints on all my cars. My tii has a new set, the '76 was replaced a couple of years ago, and the M3 had a new set of control arms about 3 years ago.

I figure I have about another year with the M3 set and I'll probably have to replace them again, especially if I manage to get to the track again next year.