How would I go about replacing the driveshaft on my 89 325i? Between the diff and the passenger rear wheel? Any advice anyone? Any no-no's?
Is it an easy job?
Driveshaft - how??
Moderator: martauto
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Andy335Touring
- Married to the E30 Zone
- Posts: 7144
- Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Long Eaton,Nottingham
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First off, make sure you have the right sized socket for the big drive shaft nut in the hub and a good set of allen keys or sockets.
If you use an allen key you will need to put a tube over the end of it for some extra leverage, i used the spark plug remover from the tool kit in the boot.
Release the drive shaft nut retainer by tapping it back away from the nut with a flat blade screw driver and small hammer, crack the nut with the wheel on the ground and remove it.
Jack the car up, place it on an axle stand and remove the wheel.
WD40 and wire brush the allen bolt heads at the diff end to make sure you get the dirt out of the bolt heads so your allen key/socket can FULLY enter the bolt head because you need quite a bit of force to crack these bolts if they haven't been off before and they will round off. I also tap the allen key/socket with a hammer to make sure it's in properly.
Put the car in gear and firmly apply the hand brake.
Crack the bolts you can get to then rotate the shaft and reaply the hand brake/in gear and crack the remaining bolts.
Before you remove the last bolt make sure you have some way of supporting the drive shaft as the CV's don't like to be bent beyond a certain angle so i'm told. Pull it of the diff hub and support it just clear of the dif hub so that when you tap the drive shaft out of the wheel hub it has room to move and not get trapped.
When you put it back together put some copper slip on the splines of the drive shaft and don't forget to tap the drive shaft nut retainer so it holds the nut.
If you use an allen key you will need to put a tube over the end of it for some extra leverage, i used the spark plug remover from the tool kit in the boot.
Release the drive shaft nut retainer by tapping it back away from the nut with a flat blade screw driver and small hammer, crack the nut with the wheel on the ground and remove it.
Jack the car up, place it on an axle stand and remove the wheel.
WD40 and wire brush the allen bolt heads at the diff end to make sure you get the dirt out of the bolt heads so your allen key/socket can FULLY enter the bolt head because you need quite a bit of force to crack these bolts if they haven't been off before and they will round off. I also tap the allen key/socket with a hammer to make sure it's in properly.
Put the car in gear and firmly apply the hand brake.
Crack the bolts you can get to then rotate the shaft and reaply the hand brake/in gear and crack the remaining bolts.
Before you remove the last bolt make sure you have some way of supporting the drive shaft as the CV's don't like to be bent beyond a certain angle so i'm told. Pull it of the diff hub and support it just clear of the dif hub so that when you tap the drive shaft out of the wheel hub it has room to move and not get trapped.
When you put it back together put some copper slip on the splines of the drive shaft and don't forget to tap the drive shaft nut retainer so it holds the nut.
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jog5000
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Cape Town, South Africa
- Contact:
Thansk guys. Ended up replacing the drive shaft, wish bone, and all related bits because the bolt holding the shaft to the hub was completely rusted. No wd40, blow torch or drilling would get it off. Must admit though, I think my wishbone was ever so slightly bent anyway.
Thanks for the advice though.
Thanks for the advice though.
