@applecran,

As I mentioned above, rmeuropean dot com has the INNER GKN Lobro for $12!

This job requires a lot of time/labor/blood/sweat.

Gather all the stuff before doing it, the CV boots are cheap. Better to gather all the stuff than wasting your time to redo it later. The INNER rarely goes bad, it lasts some 150K or more. However, you can argue that "since you are there", you may as well replace the INNER boot.

This is what I do with my Volvos at home (the axle is also made by GKN so similar setup), over the years, I have found that undoing the OUTER CV clip is a PITA, so I have resorted to undoing the INNER Tripod, which is 100x easier. In the process of doing so, I may as well replace the INNER boot "since I am there".

The OUTER is subjected to R turns, L turns, and up and down movement, usually cracks after 60K-80K.

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1998 E39 528i 5sp MT
2006 E53 X5 3.0 6sp MT