Need help tracking down driveline vibration

[jbraswell]

Ok, well I've had an ongoing vibration on my 535i, which has now officially cost me the sale the car (don't know if that's good or bad). It began a few weeks ago.. It is mostly in the pedals and seat, starts at ~60 mph and becomes more intense while maintaining speed, but is still noticeable under load. Can't really drive through it, but it does lighten up around 80. I thought it was wheel-related so I swapped around a few sets of wheels and no dice, still there.

Today I swapped out the subframe bushings because they were shot, thought it might help but it actually amplified the vibration. I have a guibo and center bearing in my trunk waiting to go on, but the parts on the car probably only have ~40k on them and I was under the impression that would be more of a clunking issue than a constant vibration. I'll probably go ahead and install those in the next couple days as well, just to see what happens. One other thing to note, while the car was on the lift today we ran it up to 60mph and the air and there is some visible play in the passenger rear axle, but it's a little hard for me to believe that it could cause such a severe vibration. I pulled the passenger axle out of my '88 535i parts car today just to see if the two were interchangeable.. They look to be so far, but the allen head bolts on my e34 are seized (of course) and I didn't feel like fighting that battle this late in the day. Anyone know if the e28 axles will work? If not I have a line on some e34 535i axles that I can pick up, just a little skeptical of that like I said.

Sorry for the novel, any help/advice is appreciated!

Jonathan

[632 Regal]

A blown CV joint will cause a vibration, look up the axle part# cross reference in realoem.com

[BMW4LIFE]

i could be wrong but check the "flex disk"

[632 Regal]

your always wrong! just kidding.. if it was flex he should be feeling the vibes from a lower speed and all gears. I would obviously say square tires but claims to have changed that aspect.

i could be wrong but check the "flex disk"

[jbraswell]

Thanks for the resonses. The guibo looks great, there is a tiny bit of play in the driveshaft by hand, but not enough to worry about IMO. The rear axle looks to be the issue right now, but apparently the bolts are seized on mine. 2 days of rust penetrant and a huge breaker bar won't move any of them on the wheel side where it's shaking. Also, just for future reference, e28 axles are ~1/2" shorter than e34 axles, so that's not an option.

[632 Regal]

Might have to use heat

apparently the bolts are seized on mine. 2 days of rust penetrant and a huge breaker bar won't move any of them on the wheel side where it's shaking.