Guibo .... flex disc

Are you sure it's not the Guibo ... aka Flex disc?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtR1VxfDsXw

There are lots of YouTube videos ...

 

Your best solution, if the driveshaft is the problem, is to buy a remanufactured driveshaft. There are several companies that do a great job of reman'ing BMW driveshafts.

 

new driveshaft you sure? If the vibration feels like a rumble strip on the road generally when accelerating hard in 1st and or 2nd gear then its your centre support bearing and or propshaft guibo. Not expensive.

 

Mine is doing the same thing. But at 201k miles, it is getting a full rebuilt drive shaft, new center support and new flex disk. I am not going to take the time to swap a center support bearing just to have it come back out in another couple of years because a u joint failed.

 

BMW likes to make things difficult by slightly tweaking the driveshaft from model to model. Manual trans cars have different shafts from autotragics. The 2.3L shaft differs from the 2.8L shaft. 5 speed and 6 speed shafts are different. Etc....

In my personal experience across a range of BMWs (E28, E30, E36, E46), I find that replacing the center bearing and guibo are usually good enough up to the 100k mile mark. If your car is much beyond that, you should consider an entire reman shaft because the U joints can go at higher mileages. I usually order directly from Driveline Service of Portland. They usually have fresh shafts in stock so I can get a new one right away and send my core in later. Beyer Driveline also does good work. Beyer does not sell direct so find a shop or online vendor to help you out if that is the way you want to go. Bimmerworld may still carry their stuff.

EDIT: If you order online, call the vendor FIRST to ask where they get their reman shafts. There are some scary rebuilds floating around from less than reputable countries.

 

Try the following:
http://driveshaftspecialist.com/default.html

bmwdirtracer buys from this company. That's good enough for me.:clap:

 

Odds are very high that you do not need a drive shaft. Far more common failure is the center bearing or the flex disc. Not a difficult job at home if you are any sort of a mechanic at all.

You have to drop the exhaust and remove the heat shields -- including putting the car on jack stands, this should take about one-half hour if you are a slow poke with the tools.

Looking at the transmission, there is a rubber disc where the drive shaft connects to the output shaft of the trans. Following the shaft to the rear, there is a bearing in the center of the shaft that is held by some heavy rubber. The rubber breaks and this allows the drive shaft to flail around in the support.

You have to take the drive shaft out to replace the disc or the center support. BEFORE YOU DROP THE DRIVE SHAFT, use some paint to make marks at all of the connection points -- the shaft to trans, the slip joint in the middle of the shaft, and the yoke to diff connection. You will want to align all of these marks again when you put the shaft back in. It is important that the two yokes in the drive shaft remain in phase. Yokes are the part of the shaft that house the u-joints. If the u-joints are not aligned, the drive shaft can vibrate badly and the center support and flex disc will take a beating. There is a u-joint where the slip joint is, and another at the diff. You need to mark the spline of the slip joint so that you put the drive shaft halves together in the right place.

There is a gasket where the exhaust connects to the bottom of the header, you might need to replace this gasket. It's not expensive, and it is worth the cost to replace it just so you do not have to do the work over again if the old one leaks. The design of the connection point is pretty good, the gasket might be still be serviceable.

I forget the cost of the flex disc, but the center support will run to about $120. This repair should take about 2 hours at home if you have the proper compliment of tools. Observe the direction of the bolts in the flex disc, this is important.

 

Depending on the miles the u joints could be going, which has taken out the center bearing. If you're over 100K miles I would replace all three.

Tim

 

Hey all thank you all so much for such quick and thoughtful answers! So a little more info on my car is that my car is just around 124k miles on it , it is supercharged , not sure if this makes things different because of the increase hp and torque, but anyways I just got a 100 dollar bill for an estimate from BMW "specialized" mechanic that told me that the entire shaft should be replace because he believes one of the U Joints may be seized . But it seems like most of you are in agreement that it could just be the guibo, which would make me feel so much better haha ? I have already replaced tranny mounts , center bearing , which will need to be replaced again because it's now "mangled" says the mechanic lol . So do you guys think I should drop it down replace the center bearing and guibo this time? Thank you all for helping again you have no idea how much I appreciate it !!!

 

Hey guys so I just remembered that the mechanic took some pictures when he was under there here are the pictures hopes this helps ! Thank you all again !

 

IF you need a new shaft, it must be from a 330 with the same transmission. The 330 has a CV joint at the differential and the transmission type determines length.

Hey guys so I just remembered that the mechanic took some pictures when he was under there here are the pictures hopes this helps ! Thank you all again ! View attachment 638754 View attachment 638755 View attachment 638756

Clearly you need a new CSB.

 

Hey guys so what you guys all think? Should I try to find a "new" drive shaft or can I get away with just replacing the center bearing again and replace the guibo as well? Help Bump!!!

 

Since I'm not there to inspect the shaft, I can't say. A used <100K miles shaft is not expensive. The bearing and guibo will be about $140 total. On the 330 you need to be concerned about CV condition as well. Those are $130. At that point, it's best to get a refurb driveshaft for around $400-500.

 

What is that CV exactly? I know it's prob a newb question but driveshaft work is a first for me haha . Where is the CV located?

 

If you are paying for labor, I suggest you replace the whole driveshaft to avoid paying labor again in 30k to 60k miles when U-joints go.

 

A "CV" is a constant velocity joint. They are located at both ends of every BMW's rear axle half shaft-the shaft that goes from the differential to the wheel. The design of a cv joint is totally different than a regular u-joint.

Buy a rebuilt driveshaft from http://driveshaftspecialist.com/default.html. bmwdirtracer, a top notch tech, recommends this vendor. Just do it!

 

Not sure why some are selling him a driveshaft. (I think i know why... employees/owners of the website?) I paid £70 labour in London to do centre support bearing and guibo - only 1 mechanic does work for me and he gives me a massive discount for being polite, regular and bringing the parts to him whenever i need help (anything under the car otherwise i diy everything). If driveshaft fails I pay same labour again. Find someone who is reasonable.

 

Not sure why some are selling him a driveshaft. (I think i know why... employees/owners of the website?) I paid £70 labour in London to do centre support bearing and guibo - only 1 mechanic does work for me and he gives me a massive discount for being polite, regular and bringing the parts to him whenever i need help (anything under the car otherwise i diy everything). If driveshaft fails I pay same labour again. Find someone who is reasonable.

What a silly accusation. Literally nobody in here owns a site that he would potentially buy from.

The recommendation for a new shaft from a few in here has good justification.

1. If he's replacing guibo, CSB, AND CV joint, then that basically totals a refurbished shaft anyway. That new shaft is also going to have good U joints. So that's a big benefit for just a bit more.
2. If he's having the labor done for him, a new shaft can guarantee that he doesn't have to pay the labor twice for shaft install if the guibo/CSB doesn't fix the issue.

My personal recommendation is that OP replace the CSB/guibo himself and ignore the CV for now. If OP cannot replace it himself, then it's probably best to source a reman shaft and have it installed to avoid the possibility of paying for the job twice. If OP wishes to have it done for him and just does the CSB/guibo, then there's a small risk that U-joints or CV are bad. It may be a risk worth taking though to try to save a few hundred dollars.

 

Not directed to you Tim - you didnt come across as selling - it was the recommended companies posts. Op has done this much to come and ask and im sure he'll do more to source the best he can.

Also not everyone has deep pockets - some people if not most just spend what they can and try to stay within their "limits". Its a risk of paying labour twice or saving something here.

Did not know you are owner of this site - maximum respect to you for what have created here

 

On the 330 shaft is it possible to replace the CV end and not have to replace the entire drive shaft? (Ok I see you can replace the CV joint 26117548392 about $175)

Also, why can't the average joe press out the universal joint themselves? I have done this on a Silverado before with a simple tool for this purpose and it is not a big deal. Is there some place to get the correct universal joint?

However, if pricing this up, the cv at $175, the center support at $120 = $295. Replacement $458 which includes those two parts. So new drive shaft is $160 with new universals. Would still need the Guibo either way.

 

Yes the CV is replaceable. I already answered that.

The U joints are not serviceable because they're crimped in with some unique process. You also can't buy E46 u joints.

I thought new shafts came with a Guibo. Call the vendor and ask.

 

Yeah I just saw a video on that. They are staked in, while mostly everybody (maybe only US vehicles) else in the free world uses retainer clips in theirs to hold them in which my chevy had. They make it so the universal is actually serviceable. What it looks like is BMW sets the universal in and then they press the opening to form tabs that hold the universal in. To remove you would have to grind off the tabs which ends up being way more work than the average joe would be willing to do, plus you would have to be able to re-create the tabs.

Someone has to make them, where do the guys doing the remaned ones get their parts? One solution would be http://rockforddriveline.com/replacem.htm, however I didn't see a direct fit for our vehicles and the only other you tube video of someone using this brand showed they snapped it off trying to do a burn out.

Or you would need to machine new grooves to hold the ring and probably bore the holes to use a universal that would work....yeah that is not worth the trouble.

But for the extra $160 at this point, it would be worth it just to have it done.


WDE46 - yeah I just checked the link MarkusMarkus posted, that one doesn't come with the guibo.

No idea why BMW just couldn't use serviceable universals that could have been removed.

 

I think you just need a new Center Support

 

I replaced by Guibo and the old one was shredded. The transmission felt much better and I did not replace the center support bearing at the time but regret not doing it because it now has kind of a whine at high rams

 

Hey guys sorry been away for this for a couple days busy with work and getting ready for another semester at college , so I'm currently in the process of deciding to do the guibo and CBS myself or to have it done by a mechanic and risk it being the problem , could anyone tell me how difficult it is to replace the guibo and CBS on only 2 jack stands? I've read many DIY and watch some videos but I would like to hear some more experiences from you guys . Thanks all for helping too !

 

With only two it's not going to be fun if it's possible. If you can get ramps for the front and use the jack stands on the rear, it's doable. That's how I did mine.

If this is one of your first DIYs, I would not recommend it.

 

I do have the ramps as well but I've never done half stands half ramps before , I've don't a good amount of DIY such as coolant overhauls , replaced my whole shift assembly , brakes , all suspension , but this job dose scare me , I'm having it get looked at to get an estimate by another local mechanic hopefully he's much more reasonable than the others I've brought it to . I'll report back to you all! Thanks again everyone !

 

Hey guys update , I found a mechanic who actually helped me out and found that not only was my center bearing a mess my guibo was completely cracked ! I'm going to have him do the repairs he said it will be done possibly Monday , I'll report back thank you all guys !

 

Not to thread jack but...

If after replacing guibo/CSB the vibration still occurs (30-40mph under acceleration) does that mean U joints are bad?

Thanks.

Edit: 164k miles. Auto trans.

 

Hey all just got the car back from the mechanic! Everything turned out well as of now the problem seems to be fixed , thank you all so much for helping !