How do I remove my drive shaft?

[ewrjontan]

So I have the older style (I guess) driveshaft that connects to the differential via 6 studs vs the more common 4 as seen here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=26_0108

Here are some pictures of mine:









and I found this:



So obviously, that's where the drive shaft connects to the differential but how the heck do I separate the assembly? The end of the driveshaft seems to go INTO the cup that connects to the differential and I don't see any spot to slip a screw driver/pry tool in to pry them apart. I can't pull it apart either since the cv joint moves.


I'm also having trouble removing the bolt that holds the front and rear sections of the driveshaft off (9 and 10 in the realoem diagram) or as seen here:



I've tried wacking my wrench with a hammer and can't get it; the carrier bushing just absorbs the impact :/ I haven't tried removing the bolt with the shaft off of the car, I imagine it would be more difficult?

Any tips would be appreciated

[scooper]

remove the bolts at the flex disc first. Then you can drop the DS. If you want to separate the halves make sure you mark both pieces with a line. Otherwise, when you go to put them back you will have vibration.

[ScotcH]

If you rotate the shaft, there should be a couple slots in the rear CV where is meets the diff flange where you can slip in a screwdriver to pry them apart. You might have to clean it a bit to see them

[Chespirito]

If you can't find the spots ScotcH is talking about thread some nuts onto the bolts. Thread them on enough so they're covering the end of the bolt then use a pry bar between the diff and nuts to push the drive shaft towards the front of the car. Also, if it wasn't already apparent, you'll have to loosen the center nut on the driveshaft halves so you can push the back half forward, otherwise you'll be pushing against the transmission/guibo.

[jayjaya29]

Unbolt the center support bearing before prying on the bolts to break the seal with the diff output flange.

[kevinwilly]

Those can be REALLY stubborn. As said above- there should be two grooves on the CV joint to pry against. A nice pry bar and a large hammer should get it loose. Just hammer the prybar into the groove, once you break the rust loose it'll just slide out.

The center bolt you don't need to remove at all unless you are replacing the carrier bearing. It's not hard to do with the driveshaft out, just put a prybar through the U-joint to hold it while you are breaking the bolt loose. It's hard to get the right angle on it when it's in the car. It's MUCH easier on the ground, because you have to kind of bend the shaft the right way to get the wrench in there.

[TostitoBandito]

I thought 6 bolt was more common among later model M3's than the 4 bolt.

I know when I did my diff, all I had to do to get the drive shaft off was undo the 6 nuts that you can see in the fourth picture above. There's also three little reinforcement brackets connecting the bolts in pairs which slide off once the nuts are off. Once you've done this and also removed the three bolts holding in the diff along with removing the half shafts from the diff, the diff should be able to be pulled right off of the drive shaft with a little coaxing. I didn't need to touch anything on the drive shaft forward of the joint to the diff, and I didn't need to drop the shaft itself.

[Chespirito]

I thought 6 bolt was more common among later model M3's than the 4 bolt.

I know when I did my diff, all I had to do to get the drive shaft off was undo the 6 nuts that you can see in the fourth picture above. There's also three little reinforcement brackets connecting the bolts in pairs which slide off once the nuts are off. Once you've done this and also removed the three bolts holding in the diff along with removing the half shafts from the diff, the diff should be able to be pulled right off of the drive shaft with a little coaxing. I didn't need to touch anything on the drive shaft forward of the joint to the diff, and I didn't need to drop the shaft itself.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the rear axles? The bolts shown in the pictures above look pressed in.

[kevinwilly]

Are you sure you're not thinking of the rear axles? The bolts shown in the pictures above look pressed in.

Correct, the CV joint bolts are studs pressed into the joint. At least on e34's and e36's. In the e46 they switched to using threaded flanges on the diff and torx head bolts through the CV joints instead of studs. And those have the same plates as the axles.

Tostito was talking about pulling his diff, though. Not just removing the driveshaft, which is what you are talking about. The disconnection of the shaft is the same, though.

I had to soak my CV joint in PB blaster and let it soak for a day and then get out my biggest pry bar and hammer when I removed mine two weeks ago, though. They REALLY get stuck on there. The car I was working on had NEVER had the driveshaft removed, either. It sucked.

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah maybe I was thinking of disconnecting the half-shafts. I can't keep all the different kinds of bolts back there straight. I know a bunch were torx. It was several years ago. Still, I'm positive that I did the diff swap without needing to drop the driveshaft or disconnect anything apart from its connection to the diff. I know this because a couple years later when I had to service the transmission was the first time I had to figure out to get the whole driveshaft out.

Maybe this M3 is different than mine. Just noticed that it's a 95, so that's probably it.

[ewrjontan]

I saw pictures a week ago of slits/slots to insert a pry bar into however, I can't find them on mine. I will try putting the nuts on and using the pry bar against those. Might have to soak it in PB for a few days.

[Braymond141]

6-bolt shafts are on all manual trans US M3 till the production date of 10/96, afterwhich the lesser 4-bolt shaft was used. This means 95 and up to early 97 model year M3 with manual trans have a 6-bolt shaft.

Fun fact; The rear half of the 6-bolt driveshaft is identical to the Euro 5MT and 6MT rear half. Sourcing a front Euro half off an EVO M3 allows for a proper fitting driveshaft with a 6-speed swap. 4-bolt owners don't have it so nice.

BMW did NOT use 4-bolt driveshafts on these early manual (auto 95 M3 are 4-bolt) M3 here in the US... whatever people are about to comment disregarding this is false.

[TostitoBandito]

Yep, my bad. I was remembering it wrong for some reason. My 99 definitely has a 4 bolt shaft.

[ewrjontan]

So I was able to get the nut connecting the two drive shafts off but I still can't get the rear shaft off of the diff; definitely don't have slots so I will keep trying with the pry bar. Currently, I don't need it off, but I will whenever I take the diff apart so I figure I might as well loosen it while I have everything taken apart :/

[hc1001]

I used a rubber mallet on the sides to break it apart. Yours is probably stuck together from time and corrosion.

That bolt in the middle was a bitch.

[NoLastName]

I used a rubber mallet on the sides to break it apart. Yours is probably stuck together from time and corrosion.

^This. Tap the joint from the side while rotating the driveshaft. It'll work loose eventually.

[ewrjontan]

So I finally broke it free. I read somewhere that hitting it with a real hammer (non-rubber, non-deadblow) was necessary; the metal-to-metal shock is what does the trick. Tried it today, with the smallest metal hammer I had...a real dinky little thing...and it worked like a charm. It fell apart after just a few hits


New question, what kind of grease is used in there?

[LockDots]

So I finally broke it free. I read somewhere that hitting it with a real hammer (non-rubber, non-deadblow) was necessary; the metal-to-metal shock is what does the trick. Tried it today, with the smallest metal hammer I had...a real dinky little thing...and it worked like a charm. It fell apart after just a few hits New question, what kind of grease is used in there?

I'm quite surprised a deadblow didn't work over a regular hammer. As for CV Grease, you can't go wrong with Redline CV-2. I'm sure it's overkill for how little it actually moves around compared to the wheel axles, but I don't think it could hurt. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I don't have experience with this still driveshaft coupling.

[ewrjontan]

How exactly is it packed anyways? Do I just wipe up as much as I can and then gob on an ungodly amount INSIDE of the gasket area?

[hc1001]

The correct way would be to clean out all the old grease and apply new grease into it.

Its CV grease... Just pack it in with your finger as much as possible to the CV joint on the driveshaft. Any excess will just go towards the diff flange when its installed.