Bad Driveshaft ?

[javieruz]

So after about 6 weeks i finally got a new head for my bimmer and rebuild the block, replaced timing belt, water pump, distributor cap & rotor, put new ignition wires and coil in, did the rear brakes, found a hidden vacuum leak and did couple other things, car now runs a lot smoother and i can really feel it stronger. Good project after the timing belt got messed up... .

the only thing that still bothers me is that there is strong vibration from around the area of the center bearing on the driveshaft! I got the bearing replaced and the car now even makes more clunky noise (before it just used to rumble in 1st and 2nd gear when accelerating). I also checked the flex disc before, it is fine and the screws are tight. What else could it be?

What is the U-joint there for? what does it exactly do and what happens to it over time? i see its not that expensive so i could try replacing that...

i dont see any other part that could cause this strong vibration ...

could the driveshaft itself be bad????


thanks!

[xxxlegionaire]

A big concern to look out for is if the vibration does a randomly clunk clunk clunk sound. Thats usually a loose drive shaft or a ujoint. I replaced the ujoint on a friends 535 along with center bearing and etc and the problem came right out. Im pretty sure it was the ujoint that went bad, thus allowing it to move more freely. But Im also out of it right now, so this probably doesnt make any sense....

Greg Heart

[javieruz]

so today i went to a BMW mechanic and he said that the driveshaft was misaligned when they changed the center bearing (they didnt put it together in the center joint properly).... hmmm, so tomorrow, it will be out of the car again and i hope it will take care of the vibration and clunky sound......

[jze325i]

Originally posted by javieruz@May 17 2005, 02:50 PM
so today i went to a BMW mechanic and he said that the driveshaft was misaligned when they changed the center bearing (they didnt put it together in the center joint properly).... hmmm, so tomorrow, it will be out of the car again and i hope it will take care of the vibration and clunky sound......

[snapback]345274[/snapback]

Good find! I was going to suggest that because I had to get a new gas tank in mine, have to remove drive shafts to get tank... they screwed it all up... Is yours fixed now??

[offabroadway]

My 325e has the same vibration problem. So thats the fix, hey? How easy is that to do, and what do the parts generally run/cost?

My vibration is there on heavy acceleration, and sometimes a little bit when locked in overdrive with the lockup on.

What does this do to the car over time?

[javieruz]

yeah, so the guy put the driveshaft back in its position, however, it worked good for like 100 miles and then started to make clunky noise even worse than before... i suspect the problem is worse than it looks, i will go try to change the u-joins and some bushing thats supposed to be on the driveshaft that pelicanparts lists.... hopefully the mechanic (not the cheap mexican guy can do it correct :S) can do it tomorrow and that will take care of it....

to take the driveshaft out in your own garage is pain in the *** cos u have to take out the exhaust and work on those nuts underneath the car, though it would probably take 3 hours to take it all out and put it back without any complications...

then, i think if you leave it vibrate like this for a long time, it may mess up the transmission or something, plus it really bothers me that there is something wrong with the car........ aaaarghhhh

[javieruz]

Originally posted by jze325i+May 17 2005, 07:30 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jze325i @ May 17 2005, 07:30 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-javieruz@May 17 2005, 02:50 PM
so today i went to a BMW mechanic and he said that the driveshaft was misaligned when they changed the center bearing (they didnt put it together in the center joint properly).... hmmm, so tomorrow, it will be out of the car again and i hope it will take care of the vibration and clunky sound......

[snapback]345274[/snapback]

Good find! I was going to suggest that because I had to get a new gas tank in mine, have to remove drive shafts to get tank... they screwed it all up... Is yours fixed now??

[snapback]345406[/snapback]

[/b][/quote]


so how did they figure out the way it goes back in??? did they at least make marks at the transmission flange and the differential end??? cos the guy that worked on mine didnt do it, i founf the marks on the differential flange but the marks i made before on the transmission flange werent there anymore... so i wonder if it makes a lot of difference if you just mount it on there in any way, or does it have to be exactly as it came from the factory?? then how do i go about finding the right position???

[h4rdwire]

check your flex disc, where the driveshaft and tranny meet, your noise is it toward the rear or more middle near driver/passenger.

Check your mounts for your center bearing and that U joint, you should've already had them checked while you or that mechanic was there.

Some shaking or rumbling in high speeds are caused by bad tires, Accelerating and then rumbling is usually flex or center bearing. Its a common issure with e21 e30 e36 from what i've seen so far...

Its cause of bmw's design its slight angled going back.

- my 2 cents

[javieruz]

flex disc is OK, i checked that....
the noise is in the middle, but after i had the center bearing replaced it was ok for like 100 miles and then started making those strange noises...

however, i was told today that if the center bearing had been hammered on the driveshaft, the bearings might have gotten messed up, so they have to take it out and look at it again.... aaaaaa more money and more time, and even worse clunking sounds...

[Mad_Milo]

If they hammered it on, they should not charge you one penny for the rework.

[mrclean]

yeah, if they screwed up the work, its not your job to pay for it.