Good day all!!

While I think the original design needs help, I will say that I have not seen a properly maintained OEM shaft with the good seal on the transfer case side fail... Granted, it could use a little more bite and as such I install washers on the guibo to extend the driveshaft into the transfer case that extra little bit... Moreover, I pulled a "modified extended" version from my transfer case shortly after purchase... This front drive shaft, that was made specifically to eliminate the failure of the OEM version, is the reason I only paid $3000 for the vehicle... It was chewed up beyond recognition... Slightly harder metal than aluminium as far as I could tell... The splines in the OEM transfer case were undamaged... I left the transfer case in the vehicle and installed my $50 driveshaft... OEM version with extending washer...

Additionally, I just had a custom driveshaft made by Carolina Driveline of Spartanburg to eliminate the transfer case in my 2001 RWD 6-speed 4.4L... It cost me all of $168 ready to install... So, I think I would shop around for something a little more reasonable, IF you absolutely had to go this route... Obviously, I'm not against customization... But..... Ummmmmmmmmm....

Cheers all!!!

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2001 E53 X5 4.4i (03-07-2001 build date) White exterior / hellbeige interior (6MT swap vehicle - Manny)
2002 E53 X5 4.6is (12-20-2001 build date) Imola Red exterior / M-texture interior (Red)
2003 E53 X5 4.4i (06-26-2003 build date) Silver exterior / Black interior (Silvester II)
2008 Mini Cooper S ragtop (04-17-2008 build date) Dark Silver exterior / Gray interior ( Topless)
BMWCCA member (#4745)