E30 Zone

Got a set of 2.5 driveshafts with my rear disc upgrade and want to refurb them, couple of the boots had split so rather than messing around fitting new ones I've stripped them down to rebuild them fully, and if necessary replace them.



Everything looked in great condition! no nasty scores or signs of much wear at all, I was wondering if anyone with experience of rebuilding them could shed some light on them for me..



I did some digging around and couldn't really find much in terms of a full replacement cv joint but on realoem it seems you can buy the repair kits 05 and 06 in the picture above, $110 seems reasonable if it contains boots as thats only about £65.

But do these kits come with all the metal caps (the parts you can see to the right of the picture I took) and everything I require..
Thanks

I normally swop over the complete driveshafts left to right....the wear areas on the parts are no longer on the forward running side but sit on the rear side. I replace the boots if needed and clean out and re-pack the CV grease.

The large metal clips that hold the boots in place are a pain to fit...I always use long thin electrical nylon cable ties.

Same here! Rotate the joints about in your hand at the extreme angles they don't normally run at in use, to 'exercise' things, and swap them side to side.
Your username suggests you might have been used to VAG scrap. Whole new game now you've moved up to BMW, where things were made to a quality, not a price. I've never seen a dud E30 driveshaft.

haha I did have a past with vag fags, (still own a passat) but fortunately I woke up before things got to serious!
I must admit I'm very impressed with the quality of these bad boys!! But I do require the new thin metal plate/cups which hold everything in, Where can I buy them individually?, or are they included in the rebuild kits on real oem picture above?

I damaged them beyond salvation removing them and new ones will tidy them up a treat

Dealer only as far as I know, ive not been able to find them anywhere else

as long as I can get them somewhere I'm happy! I'll give cotswold a ring next time I place an order thanks

the dealers do full kits for each end which includes new grease and circlips etc...from memory i paid about £50.00 or so for each end..(about 4 months ago)

Dont be tempted with the aftermarket boots..the ones that i was presertned with, even from some quality parts companys was very poor.

hope this helps.

Brianmoooore wrote:Same here! Rotate the joints about in your hand at the extreme angles they don't normally run at in use, to 'exercise' things, and swap them side to side.
Your username suggests you might have been used to VAG scrap. Whole new game now you've moved up to BMW, where things were made to a quality, not a price. I've never seen a dud E30 driveshaft.

what if said driveshaft was from a 1986 325i with 180k and was used as a track slag for a few years,

ive got a clicking noise under load?

shift cmd 4

aimlessrock wrote:the dealers do full kits for each end which includes new grease and circlips etc...from memory i paid about £50.00 or so for each end..(about 4 months ago)

Dont be tempted with the aftermarket boots..the ones that i was presertned with, even from some quality parts companys was very poor.

hope this helps.

Thanks mate, Oem it is!

The inner joints look identical to what were used on loads of other cars around the same time as the e30. Although no one will actually sell you e30 ones I'd be amazed if others don't fit.

From just having worked on the cars, they look identical to mk2 golf inner cv joints, which were also the same as the propshaft coupling, and all four inner cvs on my Lancia integrale.

It would be nice to be able to compare the bits side by side. The outer ends are much more likely to be bmw specific though. But again, it wouldn't surprise me if the inner bush, cage and balls were standard sized parts.

Thankfully, they work through far shallower angles than a fwd cars driveshafts and rarely wear out. A thorough clean, fresh grease and boots will probably see them fine for another 20 years.

My rear shafts have about 1-2mm radial play, some on the inside some on the outside. Shame no one does oversized balls to repack the joints with.

Demlotcrew wrote:oversized balls