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DIY: Guibo, center support bearing, transmission mounts.

50K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  LeverThis 
#1 ·
This is a DIY for the replacement of the guibo, centre support bearing and transmission mounts for a 330Ci convertible with the ZF auto transmission.

I know a lot of this information is already out there, but having searched extensively prior to the job to get as much info as possible, I found there were gaps in the information I needed. Hence this DIY.

This DIY is for the driveshaft that has the rear CV joint (that bolts to the diff), so it won’t apply to all cars.

The reason for the DIY was a small vibration that occurred when accelerating through about 50km/h. I actually did the job four times inside 2 weeks. The first was on a mates 330 coupe, and then I did my car. Unfortunately after I did my car, the vibration was a lot worse. I took everything apart again, and thought initially it was the support bearing not being secured correctly. This turned out to be wrong, and when I took everything apart again, it was actually a dud part. The rubber support to the bearing was already split (it was very thin and very different to the original part). I purchase a new bearing only from my local bearing dealer, and pressed it into the old bearing support, which was still in good condition. This finally fixed the problem, and the car now drives like new.

Whilst I was a little disappointed to have done it four times, in the end I had a pretty good idea of how to do it in the most effective manner.

Before I start the DIY, I’m someone who is a big fan of removing components to make other tasks easier. I’ve seen other DIY’s that leave stuff connected that I remove. Your choice.

Once the car is off the ground, remove the rear wheels. It’s going to make some tasks later easier.

First job is to remove the exhaust. If you have a convertible, you will first need to remove the tension strut at the rear underside of the car. The large bolts at the end have a lot of torque on them 59 Nm + 90deg, so you may need to use a breaker bar with an extension. You need to replace these bolts for installation.

There is no need to get original bolts from BMW. It is far cheaper to go to your local high tensile bolt dealer and get the equivalent and put a washer on it. I've got a bag of these ready to go for each time need to replace them. The bolt is the same as what goes on the front cruciform reinforcement place under the engine. The spec is M10 x 35 - 10.9 ZN.





Prior to exhaust removal, ensure you pull off the rubber hose connected to the bellows on the rear muffler.

Removal of the exhaust requires three sets of bolts/nuts to be removed. The most forward, that connect to the catalytic converters, can from what I understand from other posts be very difficult to remove. I’ve never had any problems. Each time I remove the exhaust I apply some copper anti seize paste to the bolt threads, and also to the gasket so it comes apart easily each time. I’ve removed the exhaust about 5 times and never had any problems. Also, a convertible is slightly different to others with respect to the center support point. It should be pretty obvious what you need to do.

Unless you are really organised with supports, etc, this is a two person job. The best way I’ve found to remove the exhaust is to remove all the bolts at the centre support bracket first. Then remove the 4 nuts at the front that connect to the catalytic converters. The exhaust will sit on the bolts that stick out. Now with someone supporting the muffler at the rear, remove the four nuts that hold the rubber mounts at the rear muffler. Now go to the front, and slide it rearwards to pull it off.









Once the exhaust is removed, now remove the heat shields. There are two that need to come off, the large one at the rear, as well as a small one forward of this on the right.









You will now see the driveshaft. Prior to anything else, put the gear lever in N. This will allow you to turn the wheels and driveshaft as required to have access to bolts. To lock the driveshaft so you don’t have to continually jump inside and put on the park brake, here is a simple solution. Get two good sized screwdrivers and put one in each rear brake calliper as shown in the photo. This will lock the rear wheels when you want to loosen/tighten stuff. When you want to turn the driveshaft, just remove one of the screwdrivers and turn the driveshaft. Put the screwdriver back in place to then work on the next bolt.






First job is to loosen the bolt that holds the two halves of the driveshaft together. You are just going to loosen it and nothing else. This is because it is difficult to hold the driveshaft and apply the required torque to loosen (or tighten on installation). You will separate it later once out of the car.






Next support the transmission. Do it solidly, as it will wobble about a bit as you remove the guibo bolts. When you support the transmission, do it by the edges of the pan. DO NOT support it under the center of the pan. Inside the transmission there is a gap of a few mm at most between the pan and where the filter draws in fluid. It would be very easy to bend the pan and create problems for fluid flow inside. I’ve seen pictures of people doing this floating around the web, and it makes me shiver. I would definitely suggest supporting it by the edges. You don’t have to support it on both sides like I’ve done here. I just did this to make absolutely sure it wasn’t going to fall. On my third and forth times doing the job I only used one support.






Once the transmission is supported, the transmission support bracket needs to come off. This has the transmission mounts attached to it. It needs to come off to you have access to the guibo bolts. Remove the bracket by loosening the top nuts on the mounts, removing the four bolts that hold on the bracket, and then slide it rearwards. Reverse for installation. You can see from the picture below that the old mounts are compressed significantly, and definitely required replacing. There are notches and knobs in the mounts that show how they are to go on.












Now remove the guibo bolts that attach to the transmission. Don’t remove the bolts that attach to the driveshaft. The guibo will come out with the driveshaft. Both ends of the bolts are 18mm. When installing, ensure you turn the nut end (closest to the transmission) and hold the bolt end steady.






When the bolts are out of the guibo, it won’t fall off. It has to move about 1 inch rearward to come off the transmission output shaft, so there is no problem with removing all the bolts now.

Now go to the other end of the driveshaft. To get the CV joint out, you first need to remove the bracket that is at the front end of the diff.

First remove the small heat shield.






Now remove the bracket. You don’t need to support the diff, as it will stay in place no problem. Once the bracket is off, put the two big nuts back on for the rear subframe and tighten to hold everything in place while you do everything else. You need to remove this bracket so you can remove the rear CV joint.






Now remove the 6 torx bolts that attach the rear CV joint. Once these are out, get a large flat head screwdriver and lever out the joint. When it comes free, due to its dimensions, it won’t fall down, and will sit there nicely. When installing, insert a bolt on each side, and gradually pull the joint in evenly until it is seated in place.






Now it’s time to remove the driveshaft. Both ends should be loose, so all you need to do is remove the two nuts that hold on the center support bearing, and pull down. When you pull down at the bearing, hold the CV joint at the rear, as it will come free first. When the CV joint has dropped free, and you have pulled the bearing bracket down (there will be lots of butyl tape trying to hold on and making a bit of a mess as you do this) you can slide the whole driveshaft about an inch rearward, and the guibo end will come off the transmission output shaft. It’s not heavy, and is easily a one person job.






When you have the driveshaft out, the first job is to separate the two halves. Ensure prior to separating you scribe marks on each side to show you where to align it later. The shaft is balanced as a single unit, and if you don’t put it back the way you found it, it will most likely vibrate.

Remove the bolt that you previously loosened.









To separate the two halves, with the bolt removed, it should just pull apart. It may be corroded, and you may need to give the transmission flange end a bit of a hit with a mallet to get it to move.

Once the two halves are separated, you now want to remove the bearing. I used a standard bearing puller as shown. I’m sure a 3 jaw puller or something like that would work fine.









Putting on the new bearing is simple. You can use a socket or pipe piece like I’ve shown in these photos, or you can tap it a little into place, and then join the two halves of the driveshaft, and install the bolt. Tightening the bolt pulls the bearing easily into the correct position. Ensure the bearing isn’t back to front.





 

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#2 ·
To change the guibo, remove the remaining bolts that are attached to the driveshaft flange, and install the new one. Look on the guibo and ensure the small arrows point to a flange attachment. Install the bolts and nuts for the driveshaft flange now and torque correctly.









If you haven’t already joined the two halves of the driveshaft, do this now. Ensure the two halves are seated solidly against each other, but torque later when the driveshaft is back in the car. It’s much easier to do it there.

Now it’s time to put the driveshaft back in the car. Installation is the reverse of before. Put the new butyl tape on the new bearing and then initially place the guibo end on the transmission output shaft. While bending the driveshaft downward at the centre, place the CV joint loosely in its place at the rear. Now push the bearing up into place. It’s easier to do this if you have a second pair of hands hold the rear CV joint in place so it doesn’t fall out. You will need to have the two bearing bracket nuts handy so you can get them on a few threads to hold it in place. The TIS talks about using some engine oil smeared on the chassis to allow the butyl tape to slide easily up into place. I found this wasn’t necessary.

Don’t tighten the nuts now. Do it after each end of the driveshaft is secured and torqued, and then ensure there is no stress on the rubber surround. Pull it gently forward or back so that the rubber is in a neutral position prior to pulling it up into place using the nuts.






Don’t forget to tighten the bolt that holds the two halves of the driveshaft together. Unless you have some very fancy tools, it is difficult to torque this bolt, or the bolts on the guibo. Just tighten it as hard as you can. I also used loctite on the guibo bolts, as these are self locking style nuts, which the TIS calls to replace for this reason.

Install everything in reverse order that you removed it, and your car should feel a whole lot better. Mine is vastly smoother after the job. I hope this helps.
 

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#3 ·
Very nice write up mate!!! I hope it's the same for an 05 M3 (I'm sure they're both the same). I've been looking for a good DIY for the guibo, CSB, and tranny mounts. The parts have been sitting in my garage for 2+ years... time to do it now thanks to your detailed description.

One more item that I bought was the DIFFERENTIAL INPUT SHAFT SEAL, is this hard to get to and change? It's not leaking, but I thought I'd get whatever there was to replace while everything was already out.
 
#5 · (Edited)
jjrichar,
Your attention to detail and pictures with designations embedded makes your DIY's the easiest to follow. I have the mounts and guibo sitting on my desk, wish I would have seen this sooner, as I would have ordered the center support bearing as well, Trying to determine if I am going to put the bearing off, until I get one in, and just doing, at least, the mounts.
I also used your Transmission Selector Switch DIY.
As these cars continue to age, your drive component DIYs will become more important to more of us. I just hit 182,000 so it's time to get this done, I can hear the noise during load on the driveshaft.
Thanks again for all the time you spent on this writeout, it is appreciated!
 
#6 ·
If the rubber surround of the CSB is in good shape (warmer climates they tend to last a lot longer), I would either push out the old bearing and insert another (I think it's a standard 6203 2RS, but I can't be sure), or regrease the existing bearing. Bearings fail because they go dry, get gunk in them and then wear. Pop the covers off, clean with solvent, then pack with grease. I do this with all my bearings on the car. They last forever because they constantly have a good supply of grease in them.
 
#7 ·
Great information!
Before reading this last post, I changed the steering coupler/guibo. Although intact, it had shrunk considerably compared to the new one.
Figured the rubber on the CSB was probably in similar if not worse shape, so I ordered a new one. (I already have the shaft coupler). If I get the old one out and the rubber is still good, I'll save it for a refurb.
I really didn't want to get it all apart and then find out the noise I'm hearing was the bearing bouncing around due to distressed rubber.
188,000 miles, 120,000 in San Diego and 68,000 have left most of the rubber parts on this beauty toasted.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Project completed. My car didn't have the bolt at the universal joint. It had a threaded sleeve behind the CSB. I marked its location on the driveshaft before cracking it loose, left it on until I took out the driveshaft. Inserted a new one during the reinstall.

Thanks for all your help jjrichar!

Was planning on putting in the post cat 02 sensors while I had the muffler off, but there was a non functioning bracket welded on that needed to be ground off to get to the sensor.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using E46Fanatics mobile app
 

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#9 · (Edited)
Great write-up thank you! Still working on this DIY, but wanted to ask a question.

For the steering guibo bolts are those M12? And if so should the torque be 74 ft lb?

Edit: Finished it and it fixed my vibration during acceleration. Some things I learned:
1. If your guibo looks twisted on installation, install your transmission and differential brace and it should straighten out.
2. Having a headlamp made this much easier; I just got a Nitecore HC60.
3. Cordless impact wrench is awesome.
 
#13 ·
This is a very detailed instruction! I printed it off and followed every step yesterday and I was able to replace the giubo, transimission mounts, and center support bearing all alone. Took me about 5 hours in total with a hour lunch break in between.

In addition, having a creeper to slide the exhaust system out of the car once you dropped it was very helpful. That thing was very heavy.

this saved me about $1000 CAD in local BMW specialty garage. Don't even ask about stealership rate in Vancouver.

Thanks a bunch!
 
#16 ·
Preloading the CSB means to push it forward towards the front of the car and bolting it down in that position. The Bentley actually has a specification for how far forward to move it, but I find the bolt holes on the csb limit how forward it can go.
 
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