E30 Zone

I've been having a few issues recently. I've wrecked 3 rubber prop-shaft coupling in the last year. (all fitted correctly and bolts torqued to spec) I'm putting it down to the gearbox mounts, ridiculous clutch kicks and some all round abusive driving.


wanting to upgrade the gearbox mounts to Polyurethane units and fit a decent guibo, maybe an alloy one with the poly inserts.

what does everyone recommend

ive been using my old 318i ones from day dot 3 years now with not a single problem and the 328i guibo with the e36 prop with m20 prop coupling

what is your prop shaft coupling you using and what prop ???

its the front half of an E36 328 prop and its got the larger 96mm coupling as per the 328. I'm thinking if the mounts are away on the gearbox then when under load it could be moving around a lot more than it should be and putting extra strain on the coupling. i do like a good clutch kick to be honest, so it does take a fair pounding.

there was a site that made some really decent looking mounts and couplings and i'm sure they were UK based, I'm really just looking for a place to buy this from, as ive made up my mind on replacing them.

If this is a 2.8 engine then there is no reason why you should be wearing out prop donuts unless its either fitted wrong or is massively out of alignment

M1ke30 wrote: what does everyone recommend

Driving lessons.

Stupid question but have these been fitted the correct way around? arrows to the flange?

Were the genuine/lemforder ones?

They were euro car part ones. Not exactly sure where they source them from. But I fit them myself. Arrows pointing the correct way and the bolts torqued to the correct spec in the Haynes manual.

Dan, that's what I was thinking. Must be out of line, and if the gearbox mounts are gubbed then it will be letting the box move about sided to side while drifting whic won't help matters.


Again not really interested in replacing like for like parts. Can anyone think of the place that makes these in the UK? I've seen it before, I just can't remember the name of them!

Just sold some Condor Speed Shop UHMW mounts on here. To harsh for me but they will stop your box moving around for sure if that's your worry. Not expensive even whe VAT and shipping are added.

One thing I did notice on mine the other week was that the E30 centre bearing is offset.

this means with an E36 prop and the bearing on the right way for the prop it is offset to the wrong side.

As you have said this would put it out of line, couple that with an M5x and E30 box rotated to the right and you have the prop pushed to the left and the box to the right.

Are you using an E36 prop?
That would make things worse as the e36 prop is solid in the front section and needs a straight line from the output to the centre bearing.

Might be worth checking your prop alignment before uprating. Even an uprated one will die with bad alignment.
In fact an uprated one will probably just kill the centre bearing instead.

what i was told by the guy i bought the car from a few years ago was the front half of an e36 prop and the rear half of an e30 prop. its probably time to change the centre bearing. the first time i had a vibration it had snapped off the cross member that holds in to the chassis. i just welded it into it's original position to get me buy for a few weeks. ended up lasting ages. lol

what would u suggest for a centre bearing? e36 or e30? and what would be the best way to check its all perfectly in line? all i can think of it to hold a string line from the back of the box to the front of the diff and look to see if the prop lines through with that. suppose thats the joiner coming out in me.

A prop shaft shouldn't run completely straight - destroys the bearings in the UJs. They need to move a bit to stay healthy.

Yes, there is an offset to the rear of the prop that is vital, otherwise the ujs will fail.
The diff is offset down and to the right a touch.
The I have never quite got this front half e36 rear half e30 as you would end up short one uj.
The e36 has both ujs on the rear section and the e30 has a uj on each section.
The front half of an e36 prop needs a straight shot to the centre bearing because it has no ujs. It is one solid tube as you can see below.


This all hinges on if you have the 328 zf gearbox? If so the alignment should be ok provided the box is sat right.
My first thought would be grab a 328 prop and use it whole. E36 props will fit e30s. I have a 323 one with a g250 on mine. (Because reasons, don't ask.)
If someone had done a cut and shut on the prop then who knows what the prop is like in terms of fit.

Is the centre bush in the nose of the prop ok? If not it can cause vibrations and dead couplings.