Is this rumble a bad Guibo / CSB?

[sefeing]

Hi All-

Recently purchased an E46- 2002, auto, 4 door with 80k miles. I had the wheels fixed (they were dented) so that’s likely not the issue and doesn’t feel like it would be.

Symptoms: a very low (think subwoofer) noise is felt at about 60mph, and gets louder when I LET OFF the throttle. The noise goes away below 50, and above 65. I do feel some vibration when this is happening, but nothing major. I also have a small shake between 20-30 under moderate acceleration.


Would this be a guibo, CSB or u-joint issue most likely? If so, what am I looking at for a replacement driveshaft, or (hopefully) just the CSB / Guibo

The only other thing I can think of would be tires, but they have plenty of tread on them, they're just old and need to be replaced, but I can't imagine letting off the throttle affecting that.

Any help's appreciated. I tried getting under the car to check out the guibo last weekend, but don't have jack stands or a lift accessible that I can really get under it to look.

[easymoney]

Check the driveshaft center support. I just replaced mine which is a common problem for E46.

[Raddee]

+1 on the CSB. If you're removing the drive shaft, replace the guibo anyway while you are there

[sefeing]

+1 on the CSB. If you're removing the drive shaft, replace the guibo anyway while you are there

Fair enough. Bringing 'er into a shop tomorrow to see if that's all the cause. fingers crossed it's not the driveshaft / U joint :/

[Critter7r]

If you're going to do the tires anyhow, do those before spending money for diag

[Honolulu]

When you don't have a jack or stands, there are still options. My trolley jack has trouble getting under the low front lips of some of my cars, so I have two one-foot pieces of 2x4s to drive on first. Even the 1.5 inch thickness is just enough lift to get the jack under.

Next, if the streets are clean in your 'hood, you can drive the right side wheels up on a curb, then shimmy under. It sounds gross, but you're looking to avoid going to a shop to pay $100/hour for someone else to do the work. Consider that you can pay yourself that for a few minutes of grubby crawling.

I got a 170,000-mile E34 525i the other day from a friend, it had a bad giubo which made itself known as a shudder in the driveline when on the gas. Moving along without accelerating was pretty much okay but I live up on a steep ridge to things had to be made right. You can easily see a bad donut, it will have gray strings hanging from it. As it gets worse it will look more like a ball of gray string. One that is only just starting to go bad may look okay, but the damage does progress as does the poor appearance. It took me all day with all four wheels off the ground, to remove the exhaust, heat shield and old giubo. Back together a good deal quicker. This is a job you want the car up in the air for - not just 18" up, but three feet or more. But it got done and the Ruffian (because the license plate starts with "RFN") is a smoother ride now.

[330XITodd]

I replace my center both the gimbo and center support bearing to fix my issues. The part that wasn't fun was I needed to remove both my exhaust and heat shields on my 330XI. The only thing I wished I would have also replaced was my drive shaft u-joint since it felt stiff. But in the long run it really helped with noise when accelerating.

[presone]

So I just had my drive shaft center support bearing done and the shop said the flex disc was fine. Now I’m driving it and at a stop n go it rumbles in the rear. Brought it back to the shop the put it on the lift said everything was good put the bearing used was an aftermarket one and that it could be the issue. So they are replacing it with a bmw bearing. Does this sound legit?

[dhurley34]

The u-joint closest to the differential is a common failure point on non-CV shafted 100k+ mile E46's. Check the shaft for rotational play.

[presone]

That’s the thing they checked everything yesterday on the lift and it was all bolted tight. So he told me he would order the bmw csb n that should fix the issue and to call him after work today. Turns out this morning I stop at a red light then start to go n my car thumped n the gear light for the trans came on. After I turned the car off n on the light cleared. So not taking any chances I called off today n took it to them. They told me no charge on the labor since they were the ones who ordered the 1st aftermarket csb

[Critter7r]

Not sure that a driveshaft problem would cause a transmission light to come on.

[White94RX]

I don't think it would either, but I've seen stranger things.

[dhurley34]

Torque converter?

[Critter7r]

I don't think it would either, but I've seen stranger things.

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