Flex disc and center bearing R & R........

[JD525IA]

Well, ladies and gents,

I finally had to bite the bullet and go ahead and do the procedure on bmwe34.net. Also, I searched the forum to get any other info on doing these.

About a week ago, I was pulling out into traffic from a stopsign when I heard a loud pop and a thumping sound that matched the RPM's. After reading the e34.net writeup, I assumed I had a bad guibo on my hands.

Ordered one that night from BMA and it came on Friday. Spent all day Saturday getting the car up on jackstands, dropping the exhaust partially down, and getting into it to see what I had going. It turns out that the guibo was in decent shape but the center bearing was gone. Not the acutal precision bearing, but the rubber that goes between the metal bracket and the actual bearing. ****! Called Yves again and confessed my stupidity for not ordering both items at once.

I went ahead and removed the entire shaft last night and brought it in this morning to work. Removed the 19mm bolt that holds the two halves together with the help of a vise and a big extension pipe (tight), marked the two sides with grease pen to assure proper alignment when reassembling.

The bearing assembly came in this morning, so I knocked off the old one, installed the new one, aligned and connected the two driveshaft halves, and installed the 19mm bolt.

Tonite, time to getter' dun!

But, I can't believe the thin, flimsy bit of rubber that holds that bearing in. I thought it would have been much thicker.

Anyway, I will use the new flex disc even though it may not be needed.

I must say, there is a great deal of satisfaction in doing this yourself, plus you can get a good look at the underbelly of the beast.

Anybody know how much the stealer would charge for this job?

Just wondering. So, far I have spent under $80 for the parts. The compressor, air tools, and extra jackstands were all lent to me by friends.

Wish me luck!

JD

[Jon K]

Its a good thing to do yourself, but man is it a pain. I did my 525i and my sisters 530. Not fun.

[liquidtiger720]

I need to do it, but I don't think I can do it myself.

[JD525IA]

I put the drive shaft back in last nite in under 30 minutes. Getting all the 13mm and 19mm nuts tightened was the worst part. Heat shield went on easily.

Put two new figure-eight exhaust bracket hanger rubber thingies on as I raised exhaust. Lowered car, started her up, took her out for some highway time.

It's been so long since I've had quiet, smooth acceleration that I almost forgot.

Give it a try! It's really not that hard and once you see that, you will be motivated to try more work on it. It definately went back together much faster than taking it apart.

It is one hell of a messy job with all the tranny, oilpan, exhaust and differential grime and dirt.

Next project - steam cleaning of the undercarriage!!

JD

[Qube]

Charge from Indy is usually 1.5 hours. Good job!