Rear axle rebuild/replacement?

[Bry5on]

Your mileage may vary, but I did those inner CVs and thought the car was wonderfully tight for about 3k miles. 20k miles later and it feels pretty similar to how it did before I did the inner CVs.

My car is a daily, but those didn't solve it for me. Play is definitely in the CVs or splines after several inspections. Freshly built diff, driveshaft CV (no play at all), center carrier and guibo otherwise.

[OldRanger]

According to some internet sources, BMW started manufacturing these axles again in 2024 and they are becoming available in the market again.

I’ve seen them on EBay from UK suppliers, and in the US at Bimmerworld. At BW, at the time of this post they will run you $932 or $949 depending on which side

[texaslonghorn]

Yes it seems BMW started manufacturing again, i purchased mine via eBay in some dealer in the UK, got them for about $1,500 shipped to Texas. I kept my old ones and when i get some free time, i'll figure out to rebuild both the inner and outer boots since BMW sold both inner and outer rebuild kits.

[OldRanger]

I kept my old ones and when i get some free time, i'll figure out to rebuild both the inner and outer boots since BMW sold both inner and outer rebuild kits.

Good idea! Maybe if we’re lucky, someone will start making the CV joints.

Remember to mark them Left and Right!

[Feffman]

Does anyone know if the two outer silver & black housings (circled in red in photo) can be separated to thoroughly clean the outer mechanism? If so, how?

Feff

[bigjae46]

Does anyone know if the two outer silver & black housings (circled in red in photo) can be separated to thoroughly clean the outer mechanism? If so, how?

Feff

I forget where it separates. IIRC, the boot is attached to a silver flange which is pressed on to the CV housing. Its a single assembly from the splines to the CV housing. I cut the boot off and then removed a couple of ball bearings and separated the CV outer from the inner cage which is attached to the axle.

I think...its been awhile.

[OldRanger]

I wish I could help here, but I never did the job myself.

I remember finding an assortment of videos from far and wide that gave me enough confidence to buy the materials to service that end of the axle… but I never actually did it.

New axles came back on the market April of last year. It looked like a PITA of a job.

[Bry5on]

Your mileage may vary, but I did those inner CVs and thought the car was wonderfully tight for about 3k miles. 20k miles later and it feels pretty similar to how it did before I did the inner CVs.

My car is a daily, but those didn't solve it for me. Play is definitely in the CVs or splines after several inspections. Freshly built diff, driveshaft CV (no play at all), center carrier and guibo otherwise.

For the record and for closure here, I’ve been going strong for about 5k miles on new BMW half shafts from the manufacturing run mentioned above and all is well. Much better than just the CVs, I suppose the splines on the half shafts were worn or didn’t match perfectly.

[bigjae46]

The inners are easy. The outers are a little trickier.

Pry off the end plate that the boot is attached to
Remove a couple of balls from the CV joint
Separate the CV joint
Slide the boot onto the shaft

I'm missing a lot of little steps. It's not hard, just a massive mess. I couldn't get the pinch clamps on, I think they were for a non-M. Ended up using zip ties until just buying some from slightly larger clamps from McMaster Carr