Ok, early B7Turbo owners:
Another mystery here.
I had asked earlier about the driveshaft flex disc, noting that there was an Alpina part number for this. Initial inspection of my car showed a machined solid disc in there instead. I assumed that somebody had made this up at some point when they couldn't get (or didn't know how to get) the Alpina part I was going to just get the BMW part, and see what the difference was and, presumably, make it fit.
Well, I go to take the driveshaft out today and realize - no center bearing! The driveshaft is completely different from stock. The back half of the driveshaft has been extended so that the universal/slip joint that should be in the middle of the car at the center bearing is right at the back of the trans, and the center bearing is gone. Additionally, at the back where the 4-bolt driveshaft flange should just bolt to the 4-bolt diff flange, there is another machined spacer, threaded and tapped so that driveshaft and diff flanges bolt to it. The solid spacer at the front is the same way - it is tapped so that everything bolts to it instead of through bolting to one another.
Now I begin to see why there's a special Alpina part number for the flex disc (hardyscheibe). God only knows what it looks like.
Could you folks take a look and see if, for starters, your cars even have a center bearing?
This question would only apply to early B7 cars (and possibly B7S's). Later B7Turbo/1 cars appear from the parts catalog to have a standard driveshaft with center bearing.
Mike
Another mystery here.
I had asked earlier about the driveshaft flex disc, noting that there was an Alpina part number for this. Initial inspection of my car showed a machined solid disc in there instead. I assumed that somebody had made this up at some point when they couldn't get (or didn't know how to get) the Alpina part I was going to just get the BMW part, and see what the difference was and, presumably, make it fit.
Well, I go to take the driveshaft out today and realize - no center bearing! The driveshaft is completely different from stock. The back half of the driveshaft has been extended so that the universal/slip joint that should be in the middle of the car at the center bearing is right at the back of the trans, and the center bearing is gone. Additionally, at the back where the 4-bolt driveshaft flange should just bolt to the 4-bolt diff flange, there is another machined spacer, threaded and tapped so that driveshaft and diff flanges bolt to it. The solid spacer at the front is the same way - it is tapped so that everything bolts to it instead of through bolting to one another.
Now I begin to see why there's a special Alpina part number for the flex disc (hardyscheibe). God only knows what it looks like.
Could you folks take a look and see if, for starters, your cars even have a center bearing?
This question would only apply to early B7 cars (and possibly B7S's). Later B7Turbo/1 cars appear from the parts catalog to have a standard driveshaft with center bearing.
Mike
