I just saw that Rockauto has cheap aftermarket axles for e39M5. They are only $40 per axle. Curious if anyone has bought them/tried them. I don't need axles now, but at some point the boots are going to dry rot and from my understanding there are no replacement boots. Therefore for $40/axle, this might be a good option. Thoughts?
I've never done that with my BMW's but I've had fair/bad luck with some Nissan's and Toyota's. They can be out of balance or have bad splines. You can still buy a new OEM boot CV boot repair kit BTW (Part number: 33211229217).
That's the boot closest to the diff. The exterior boot Part number is: 33211229220. I would also prefer changing only the boots and not the complete shaft, if it's time to do so, instead of installing a $40,- complete drive shaft* while an OE shaft goes for $ 500+ (see realoem) ... I admit, pricing of BMW parts is going crazy the last couple of years (feels like an encouragement to abandon our E39 M5's and trying to head us towards purchase of one of the newer M5 models ...), but there's still something like the quality of steel used and fabrication tolerances which are worth to consider ...
Worst moment of being confronted with this last topic would be when you're lying under your car, having problems to fit the spline in its flange. Tolerances on CV-joints are also pretty tight to prevent sloppy joints or even seizing joints at operational temperature.
During a replacement of the boots, it's good practice to fill the CV-joints with a fresh pack of grease (MoS2). Lifespan of the CV-joints would increase if we all would do this more frequently ...
If you are making preparations for this job, having available some spare Torx bolts M12x50 (33211227944) is useful, if one (or more) would break during removal. Penetrating oil applied on the threads of the Torx bolts, a couple of days before the start of the job, will do wonders here ...
On older E36's hex bolts were used in this location instead of Torx bolts on E39's. Further, on the E36 the reinforcement plates 33212283013 (partnumber for E39 M5) are used as locking plates: folded against the sides of the hex heads. Since Torx head bolts can hardly be locked with an underlying folded locking plate, locking the Torx bolts with Loctite in the diff output-flanges of the E39 M5 seems advisable. I didn't check TIS (Technisches Information System = BMW installation manual) yet, if this is part of the installation instructions ...
*) Did some search on the GSP NCV27504 drive shafts (Rockauto prices or OK, since their price doubled or tripled for the same product can be found in many locations) but nowhere information is presented about the country of origin.
no. got some for my vw. boots began leaking within a week
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