328i E46 u joint part number ???

[Davidtarr123]

Hello all, I just purchased my first bmw. It’s a fairly clean manual 328i (2000), and I was doing a shake down on it. While I had it up on my lift i noticed the rear u joint had some play in it and I really want to replace it, however the problem I’m running into is none of my local auto parts stores can even get it. I was wondering if any of you had a website or part number for this part. I have not contacted the dealership yet, thought I’d ask a couple people first . Thanks for your time, if you need any more info just let me know.

[dworthy]

Welcome to the Forum!

Sadly those u-joints are not serviceable, so you will have to replace the whole driveshaft. There are places like Portland driveline that can rebuild them, but most shops don't.

[jclausen]

We just never had good luck with rebuilt ones.

[Davidtarr123]

We just never had good luck with rebuilt ones.

That’s disappointing, I figured it’d be a quick job. I seen the 12point bolts that hold the saddles on the caps I figured it’d be a basic ujoint job. What are the reasons for failure? Do they just wear out the differential?

[shadowpuck]

in terms of replacement driveshafts - i've had great success with driveshaft specialists out of Texas on both my e36 and e46.
a little searching on this forum will bring up some posts from bmwdirtracer and he's explained several times why bmw driveshafts are not rebuildable.

http://www.driveshaftspecialist.com/

[jclausen]

The can't last forever, you can't lube them, they just where out

[bmwdirtracer]

Yep. Buy a driveshaft from Driveshaft Specialists in San Antonio. These are excellent and reliable folks, you'll have it in 48 hours. You can't fix this at home with a u-joint.