Holy Moly Ver. 2.0: Replacing the Driveshaft Center Support bearing

[slownrusty]

While replacing or upgrading my shifter to a short shifter, I had a "while I'm in there moment" so decided to replace the center support bearing.

Working on my driveway with the the car on jack stands a few inches from forehead.

1) Remove the 4x17mm (M10) nuts holding the companion flange of the drive shaft to the rear diff...do your best not to round them off as they are self-lockers. Requires an open ended wrench with a cheater bar, and in the process of removing them..a few of the nuts actually take a beating and now you have to re-order a new set from BMW (fortunately available for $1.20 each).

2) While removing the above nuts don't let the wrench and the cheater bar fall on your forehead and make a bloody mess....too late. Take two (2) minutes to mop up the blood and catch your breath.

3) Driveshaft is out.

4) Mark the driveshaft clearly on both sides with a paint pen or grease pen as they are balanced together.

5) Try to figure out how to separate the driveshaft halves, then realize there is some kind of threaded collar that is the "mechanical joint". That collar is so large even my largest 34mm open wrench doesn't fit, get a pipe wrench and cheater bar and still no budge. Ask my wife to come out and help, let her hold a pry bar with a cheater bar placed in the U-Joint to counter me as I try to loosen that collar with the pipe wrench. No luck..take another 2 minutes to mop up my bloody forehead, calm my wife down that I'm not going to die from major blood loss...realize its now 9pm and working in the dark on my driveway on a broken down Amazon cardboard box is no fun.

6) Time to bring out the big guns...fire! Light up the Map Gas torch place it on that

threaded collar for a few minutes until "stuff" starts oozing out of it...get it really nice and hot. Time to try the pipe wrench again with the cheater bar with the wife continuing to help..voila the collar starts moving slowly...victory. Wife goes into the house and says "good luck!" The collar is now beat to crap and fortunately you can get a new one for $12.

7) Surprisingly, I still can't separate the driveshaft halves scratch my head..I don't have a big enough vice to place it in and "work it loose"....decide to use my 7lb sledge and hammer against the old center support bearing working in 360 degrees around the circumference, notice the splines are rusty and probably the reason why its stubborn. Slowly I see they are separating with the blows from the sledge...a few minutes later they are apart....

8) Sit on my flattened Amazon cardboard box "chair" on the driveway in amazement of the last 2-hours.

[jmile46]

Why I don’t look forward to this job lol!

[masbury]

Alternative to blood, aggravation and pissing off the wife.

http://driveshaftspecialist.com/

[DaHose]

Slide hammers are magical tools. Get yourself one. It would have made separating the halves WAY easier.

My M6 has a driveshaft specialist part. Performs great, and good price. Although I recall they sent the wrong shaft the first time.

Jose

[sienayr]

Too late for you, but +1 on replacing the whole drive shaft. I went through the CSB/giubo replacement pain on my e39 540i, only to have the u-joint go out less than a year later, requiring a new drive shaft. All the CSB work for nothing. The problem is that if the CSB has gone bad, it's probably already caused damage to the u-joint before you may even know that the CSB is bad.

[slownrusty]

Too late for you, but +1 on replacing the whole drive shaft. I went through the CSB/giubo replacement pain on my e39 540i, only to have the u-joint go out less than a year later, requiring a new drive shaft. All the CSB work for nothing. The problem is that if the CSB has gone bad, it's probably already caused damage to the u-joint before you may even know that the CSB is bad.

You didn't read my first post, there is nothing wrong my driveshaft, the CSB or the universal joints. I decided to change the CSB only as I had easier access to it due to the installation of a new short shifter.

[sienayr]

You didn't read my first post, there is nothing wrong my driveshaft, the CSB or the universal joints. I decided to change the CSB only as I had easier access to it due to the installation of a new short shifter.

Oh yeah probably ok then, I did the exact same thing on my e30 and it's been fine for several years. I just try to save people from the mistake I made whenever I can!