E28 88 528e Driveshaft Questions

[AllGo'n'Show]

hey there,

I need a new center support bearing on my driveshaft, are they fairly easy to interchange? I do have access to a fullshop of tools including presses and such but another shop I used to work at said it was a bitch to do and to take it to a driveshaft shop.

Would a 325e driveshaft work in place of the original?
Would any other driveshaft work? This is just my winter beater so it doesn't need ot last 10 years.

[Turbo Ready]

hey there,

I need a new center support bearing on my driveshaft, are they fairly easy to interchange? I do have access to a fullshop of tools including presses and such but another shop I used to work at said it was a bitch to do and to take it to a driveshaft shop.

Would a 325e driveshaft work in place of the original?
Would any other driveshaft work? This is just my winter beater so it doesn't need ot last 10 years.

The center support bearing is not all that difficult to change. BEFORE YOU EVEN touch the bearing MARK the two halves of the driveshaft so that they are oriented the same way they were on the car. The drive shafts are balanced and if you put them even 1 spline apart, it may vibrate.

To pull the bearing housing off, just use a big jaw puller, will help if you sprayed some WD40 on the bearing before hand.

The 325e driveshaft wont work, different length and different gearbox (input) flange size.

[AllGo'n'Show]

Sweet, thanks. Maybe I will keep this for winter if I can get it running good enough for cheap. Heard they are quite the fun little machine in the winter

[E34 530]

I'm in the same situation you are, need to change it on the 535is I just bought. Does yours make a huge clunking sound when you shift gears quickly or slam the gas down?

[AllGo'n'Show]

No I think mines worse or you have a mount that's gone not the center bearing, not sure though.

Mine sounds like it's spining around with the driveshaft and smashing up into the floorboards for every rotation.

You might just have a tranny or diff mount gone on yours if its when their are jolts.

[Turbo Ready]

Here are some pics of the e34 545i 5 speed driveshaft, e28 535i 5 speed driveshaft and e30 325is 5 speed driveshaft. They are all labeled, you can see the various differences between fitment and lengths.

http://www.turboready.com/Pictures/misc/Complete driveshafts.jpg

Center spline of all three driveshafts.

http://www.turboready.com/Pictures/misc/Driveshaftcenter .jpg

Input half (gearbox side) with flange.

http://www.turboready.com/Pictures/misc/Driveshaft%20input.jpg

Output half (differential side) showing output flange.

http://www.turboready.com/Pictures/misc/Driveshaft%20output.jpg

[AllGo'n'Show]

wow, great pics, thanks man! Hopefully the repair goes ok then, just need to find time to do it now :(