[minitraveller]

Over the weekend, kept getting some vibrations especially on the highway, most noticeable (a low rumble) in the sound and vibrations in the shifter. Car is a 2006 325Xi wagon, MT, 86K miles. Sounds got louder on my way home, so I got off the highway to take local roads just in case.....good thing. Half way home, there’s a loud pop from under the car, and some clunking/thunking. Drove to the nearest sidewalk, just as the 4x4 warning lights came on. Parked and looked under the car, only to see that the drive shaft was broken! Yikes. Had it towed to a shop to be checked out. In the meantime, at the least I know I need a front driveshaft. Been reading all the posts here. BMW part is over $1000 just for that front shaft. Found others ranging from $100 on EBay, to $300 Cardone parts. Any opinion? Is it definitely get what you pay for with the EBay parts? If I have the shop do it, anything else to take care of while they’re in their? The two Giubos? Center Support Bearing? Transfer Case Mount? Thanks in advance for any advice.

[pelon222]

I have a front driveshaft I removed from my 08 328, let me know if you still need one

[nsjames]

there are no guibos or center bearings on the front driveshaft.
it takes an hour to replace. I just did mine.

I used an ebay shaft.
we'll see.

[minitraveller]

Originally Posted by nsjames

there are no guibos or center bearings on the front driveshaft.
it takes an hour to replace. I just did mine.

I used an ebay shaft.
we'll see.

Thanks. Yeah, I was wondering if it would be worth to do those, but since the rear shaft doesn't come out (and exhaust), I just skipped it. I ended up getting the front shaft from Driveshaft Specialists. Was $325 including shipping. Tempted by the Ebay ones, but figured just bite the bullet. Car was towed to a shop, so just had them put it in for me since they had it apart. Thanks!

[caldep]

My front drive shaft just went out as well. Thankfully got it to Indy before if fell out.
I've heard that the best ones are the BMW's and units sourced from drive shaft specialist.
My Indy is going to guarantee a Dorman.

2006 325xi touring (e91) also with manual transmission, 186K miles.

[I-4]

I replaced mine last year with an SKP (IF my notes are correct #"936310") that I bought off of Rock Auto. With new bolts sourced from Turner/ECS. No issues yet. Mine was making a clunk a low speeds when the trans downshifted. Rust dust around the transfer case, that u-joint was seized. BMW quoted me something over $1k when I was having the recalls done. Took me about an hour, the hardest part was getting a couple of the old bolts loose.

[MikeP335i]

This POS was in the car for 2 mos, I'm about 450 HP to the wheels and it let loose. Strange enough no warning light and drove on home after feeling a thump on the floor board. I wouldn't go cheap....

[caldep]

Mike
What kind of drive shaft did you go with? What is your planned replacement?

[MikeP335i]

I have a GKN on the way. I think that was a FEQ, I'll double check. Interesting to note, the inner cup stayed on, so no codes. The axle rode on the splash guard underneath the car, drove home on the beltway 5 miles, dropped my friend off and had no idea the axle broke. Hard to believe I didn't throw a code and lose power. My buddy who has been in the industry for years and runs a high end shop here in the area said he has never seen this. Pulling the car into the garage, all the bearings fell out and the axle came out. Lucky that didn't happen on the highway with someone behind me.

The only reason I replaced the axle in the first place was the axle started rusting and messed with the speed sensor. Bummer.

[nsjames]

ebay driveshaft will be replaced with a driveshaft specialties one tomorrow.

fixed the vibe, still makes noise.

[nsjames]

driveshaft specialties one fixed the issues.
would recommend.

I googled the part number on the box and it comes from another company, but $345 shipped is still the cheapest deal on that shaft. pelican was selling it for $440.

Showed up in two days.

[minitraveller]

Originally Posted by nsjames

driveshaft specialties one fixed the issues.
would recommend.

I googled the part number on the box and it comes from another company, but $345 shipped is still the cheapest deal on that shaft. pelican was selling it for $440.

Showed up in two days.

Interesting! I got mine from driveshaft specialists too, but had it shipped directly to my Indy, so never saw the box. When I spoke to the guys at driveshaft specialists, they told me they made all their own from German parts. So, interesting that the part number comes from another company.

[nsjames]

perhaps they also make it for others to resell?

part number on the box corss referenced to a powertrain something or other.

the front driveshafts are very much lower priced than all the others, so they may make all the others in house.
regardless, it's not shit, it was reasonably priced and it's serviceable.