Member
1995 525i 116,000 miles. minty.
I had my guibo and center bearing on my driveshaft replaced. I had this work done begrudgingly because I felt no signs of vibration or noise when I accelerated. Felt AWESOME. When I got the car back from the shop it felt worse than before (and before it felt perfect). It feels rough when I accelerate off the line (as if I'm driving over a gravel road for 2 seconds).
The shop owner agreed that they feel a vibration that wasn't there before so re did all the work for me to double check everything. Said driveshaft looks good and rear joint looks good. They sent me home 600 dollars later with a car that feels like crap but can't figure what it is. Pretty much are telling me to deal with it.
Any thoughts?
Carpe Timken
Driveshaft not marked prior to disassembly so it could be reassembled in a balanced condition?
Member
So maybe I'm SOL? Dude didn't mark the driveshaft and has no way of knowing how to make it balanced again?Originally Posted by locknload
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
Let me get this straight.... your car drove smoothly, you were talked into $600 of work, and now there's a vibration that wasn't there before? You should be talking to a lawyer, not us. I don't know what AZ's consumer protection laws are like, but in many states you are well within your rights to take them to small claims for 1. the $600, and 2. whatever it costs to fix the problem that they caused.
My guess is that either the CSB wasn't preloaded correctly, or the driveshaft halves weren't marked.
FWIW, Phoenix Rack and Axle have the tooling to balance a BMW driveshaft. I had a good experience with them and my driveshaft.
Member
Trust me I know I sound like a boob. I mean in my defense this was a second opinion before I had the work done. I first took it to a more general shop then to a specialist and told me more or less the same thing. I figure before I talk to a lawyer - I talk to all you experts. I’ve been calling other places in town to get their opinions and they just tell me it’s DEFINITELY the drive shaft needing replacement.
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
What made you bring the car in for a driveline inspection in the first place? And what was the "same thing" that the first and second shop told you was needed?
Apart from impacts and severe rust, the ways an E34 driveshaft wears out are...
1. Giubo (pronounced "jew-bow", not guibo), which has to be mounted such that the thicker rubber sections are compressed on acceleration. They can be mounted backwards, though my impression is that that causes early failure rather than vibrations.
2. U-joint. The factory one is staked in, replacing which takes either a good driveline shop to machine it out and retrofit a replaceable type, or a million-dollar machine to stake it back in. These do wear out, but it's a real odd coincidence that it would fail exactly when a shop was working on it. Like police suspects dying in custody, it warrants much suspicion.
3. Center support bearing (CSB). It has to be replaced with a quality part (both the bearing itself and the rubber mounting), mounted the correct direction, preloaded about 1cm, and the driveshaft halves have to be marked before disassembly to ensure proper balance on reassembly. Failure to do any of these things can cause a vibration, especially but not exclusively around 20-30mph.
4. Rear CV joint. It wears out and is replaceable separately. There's not much to it other than the CSB needing to be preloaded if it's removed. My experience with CV failure is that it causes a higher-frequency vibration at higher speeds, not quite a gravel-road feeling at lower speeds.
Last edited by moroza; 10-14-2017 at 05:59 PM.
Member
Also sounds to me like out of phase u-joints, or perhaps installed off center. I'll bet as speed increases the frequency is high enough to not be so noticeable. Sort of like driving really fast over a bumpy road. $600 would buy you a good quality re-manned shaft with enough left over for a bottle of wine and steak dinner.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
$600 would buy you a brand new driveshaft straight from BMW.
Member
What are out of phase u joints? I'm tempted to buy a driveshaft from BMW and go back to the shop and demand them to replace it for free. However, I'd hope they would do that without me having to demand.
Member
Even if the shop agrees to a free install and a BJ, do you really trust bringing your car to them again?
I've been rolling around without A/C for over 6 year now because I have been burned by a couple shops who i dont even live around anymore.... But i guess that is my own paranoia issue.
Member
Valid point. More likely I'll just do it myself if I start to feel paranoid - which I should have done in the first place.
Member
Here are two better explanations than I can offer myself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt69zYAcXME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idk3BVDVHq4
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Member
Interesting information. Does anyone have any experience with wholesaleimportparts.com for rebuilt driveshafts?
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