Tetonfiber

I will attach photos of the 2009 535i to my next post tomorrow. Strange as this is; my 2006, 530 XI Touring has the original OEM/BMW CV drive shafts and the car has 242,000 miles to date with zero CV-boot issues. This car has been to Wyoming twice and most of the miles were Interstate travel. GKN is replacing these under warranty.

Tetonfiber

Update: My mechanic will replace the inner boot/Passenger side this week and compare the half-shaft to another new shaft for length verification. He is not able to obtain rubber inner boots, however, he did procure rubber outer boots for the left and the right. Mechanic is taking ownership of the problem and working to find the proper solution.

Current state is the inner boots are extended and the bellows identically resemble those that are pictured in this thread. I am convinced the root-cause of this CV-Boot issue is a GKN engineering problem. There are now two documented situations on 5series.net with identical CV problems. In contrast my other 2006-e61 has 242,000 miles with the original CV-drive shafts/CV-Boots. Secondly, my old 97 Camry had 417,000 miles with the original CV-Boots and had taken nine round trips to Wyoming. (FYI, sold Camry for $1 and car now has 439,000 miles with no CV boot tears) Zero CV-Boot tears in both those vehicles, however, this 2009 535i X-Drive cannot make it 1,450 miles before the GKN inner & outer boots tear and leak.

mp333

Keep us posted. Thx

Tetonfiber

This is my inside CV boot on the passenger side after only 1500 miles. BMW dealer took this photo of the GKN CV Drive line.

mp333

Mine looked pretty similar. So did you go with a genuine BMW one?

Tetonfiber

I have not replaced the boot yet. May 11th I drop at my mechanic so he can begin to investigate. I told the shop owner I do not want a band aid repair, I want the proper parts and proper repair.


I have three quick questions if you do not mind helping.
1. My first GKN shafts were in stalled August 2018. The second set were installed August 2019 under warranty. Now 1,500 miles later the second set has the tear.

2. What year did you buy your CV Shafts? Trying to correlate the lot numbers/production dates of these inferior CV Shafts.
a. hopefully there is a correlation to determine the root cause.
b. Also the end of one of the shafts does not appear to have a factory shaft end. Instead it is misformed and and has a groove cut across the end and looks to have been ground off by a grinder at the factory.
3. Did your GKN half-shafts measure to the proper factory specified length? This was mentioned on another thread.

I am very disappointed with GKN and can't understand how this quality issue was overlooked. Thank you.

mp333

I installed first one on 5//17. Lasted about 8k miles. Second one was replaced on 4/19.
I did not compare or measure the shafts. If the shafts were shorter or longer it would affect the alignment. The car drives straight with even tire wear.

Let me know what ends up happening.
GL

Tetonfiber

The independent shop replaced the entire half-shaft-CV drive line under warranty. The GKN distributor charged and GKN for the new OEM CV-Shaft from another manufacturer. Now my car has an European OEM mfr. on the passenger wide and an OEM-GKN CV drive line on the drivers side. The boots on the passenger side look totally different and are rubber. The GKN CV-boots are the plastic material that has failed twice before.

My independent BMW shop will warranty both sides for another year. For now I will drive this car every chance I get to determine if the CV boots will last. My feeling is that the new manufacturer CV will work and the GKN will fail. The first 650 mile round trip drive is next week, and I will provide updates as they occur.

seanjordan20

Thanks for the update

mp333

Keep us posted. thx