Rebuilt rear axles from ECS?

[r4dr]

The ECS acquisition killed Turner motorsports. You used to be able to call up Turner and get someone on the phone who designed the part they sold and give quality advice.

I think the last I heard there were 4 actual Turner employees. Sean who does their wholesale stuff (and helped everyone out by saving that wheel group buy) has been there since pre-ECS but I would bet that the true Turner guys are on their way out any day now. It's a shame.

[Arith2]

Well Rockauto sent me two left axles. They just prove our points. The left one will be GSP and the right will be FEQ if I can ever get this turd assembled. Shafts are 30mm where the stock ones are 38mm. The GSP inner CV plate does not match the stock one. I'm not sure if it fits but the FEQ has the same inner plate shape as stock axle. FEQ sent a big bag of grease, the right axles nut, and a cork gasket. GSP axles came assembled.

[Maxhouse97]

Thanks Arith2, eager to hear on the install.

Also on a related note, when doing my rear bearings is there anything else that you would replace beyond bearings and axles? Hubs?

[Will]

Well Rockauto sent me two left axles. They just prove our points. The left one will be GSP and the right will be FEQ if I can ever get this turd assembled. Shafts are 30mm where the stock ones are 38mm. The GSP inner CV plate does not match the stock one. I'm not sure if it fits but the FEQ has the same inner plate shape as stock axle. FEQ sent a big bag of grease, the right axles nut, and a cork gasket. GSP axles came assembled.

Were both the GSP and FEQ shafts 30mm?

Thanks again for being the experimenter with this.

[Arith2]

Were both the GSP and FEQ shafts 30mm?

Thanks again for being the experimenter with this.

Yes.
I just got done with the struggle on FEQ axle because it was sent only 80% assembled. What a nightmare. I thought maybe I just suck at rebuilding CV's but it's so tight I can't move the shaft. I guess the tightness is good but it made it and absolute pain to put together and now the CV feels like it doesn't want to do CV things. I'll pop it on the vice tomorrow and move the shaft down in reference to the inner mounting point. What I don't understand is why the outer CV was all put together but not the inner... Maybe they had the same issue and just sent it on its way with a pack of grease. When I opened it, the zip tie was broken and a ball was rolling around the box. So far this has been a very negative experience.

[Arith2]

FEQ is a bust. When the pieces are together, the only thing that can really move are the bearings and the cage. Something is off with the tolerances of the outer or inner portion of the CV joint. They will not reorient no matter what I do. So where I can move the bearings and inner splined piece easily by itself, as soon as it's set in place, the CV is stuck straight. I'm returning this and one of the two left side axles Rockauto sent me for the right one. It says the PN right on the axle so I'm pretty annoyed overall with both situations. There's a local CV rebuilder I'm going to bring my originals to just for when one of these non M shafts snaps. At this point I wouldn't really recommend cheaping out on this portion of the car. Get GKN if you can. OE is highway robbery. There are 1000hp axles for cheaper than OE ones.

I'll see how long the GSPs last. Two cost what the one FEQ cost. Right now I'm at $300. I've seen 330i's snap axles stock so I'm not expecting much.

[Maxhouse97]

Ok thanks for the heads up.

[Irhase46m3]

The ECS acquisition killed Turner motorsports. You used to be able to call up Turner and get someone on the phone who designed the part they sold and give quality advice.

Now they gave taken the Turner designs, and get the cheapest fab shop to produce them. Monoball FCABs are a perfect example, the quality went way down.

The last straw was when I ordered a full set of Turner whee studs. The studs that arrived were of clearly mixed metalurgy from different manufacturers. Their response was “that is normal”. I showed up to the track and failed tech because they thought I was swapping wheel studs one at a time, until I showed them the email chain.

I still buy things like oil change kits and stuff for the Audi from ECS, but I don’t trust any of their house brand stuff.

I have had the similar experience with their silicone hoses, catastrophic experience, the oring within the snap connector failed within a few months of install, this among other things (magnetic drain plugs not fitting properly, etc) - I only use them if their price beats the competition, but never again with their brand stuff. I've been buying from them since 2013