E83 Half axle replacement

[JP-X3]

While replacing rotors and pads on January 1st (nice way to start the year!) I noticed my wife's 2004 X3 has a torn outer CV joint boot on the driver side (Left). I have been reading the boards and there is plenty information for the X5 but not much for the X3. I plan to do this the next weekend and will share the details.

My plan is to replace the entire half axle because there is a clunk when turning left plus some years ago I actually replaced the 4 boots on a 1993 Toyota Corolla and that was a lot of work, too much grease to deal with and at the end the joint had suffered some damage so no need to go down that road again.

I have recent experience replacing the struts and the rotors so I am very positive about this project!

[ngcreese]

Cool man! Will you be changing the a front or rear CV axle? I haven't been able to find a supplier for rear CV axles, aside from BMW. After my recent experience with wheel bearings and suspension... if your doing a front axle, rent a hub puller so you won't have issue with the dust shield that surrounds the back side of the front hubs. if you're doing a rear axle, a 2 or 3 jaw puller, that grips onto the hub, works well.

Looking forward to reading about your experience.

[JP-X3]

Originally Posted by ngcreese

Cool man! Will you be changing the a front or rear CV axle? I haven't been able to find a supplier for rear CV axles, aside from BMW. After my recent experience with wheel bearings and suspension... if your doing a front axle, rent a hub puller so you won't have issue with the dust shield that surrounds the back side of the front hubs. if you're doing a rear axle, a 2 or 3 jaw puller, that grips onto the hub, works well.

Looking forward to reading about your experience.

It is the left front axle. I got a Cardone A1 half axle from Rockauto.com
As of today I was able to remove the axle nut by spraying PB blaster, wait 4 hours then use a 8" extension lying on a jack stand and a breaker bar.
Rotor and caliper removed.
Control arm (tie rod) from the subframe side removed.

I am attempting to push the axle without removing the strut on the hub side. I have been trying to hammer it in with a brass rod (soft metal) it has only moved 2 mm (5/64") . I'll spray more PB blaster tonight and if it doesn't work tomorrow, I'll go to Autozone and borrow their hub removal tool.

To be contd'..

[ngcreese]

Hi man don't waste time and energy beating on the axle without the right tool. Rent the hub puller that looks like this. The shallow flange should bolt right onto your hub using three of your lugs, with or without removing your brake rotors. Screwing that center bolt in the middle should apply enough pressure to the axle to press it out. Don't bolt the flange onto the hub so it's super tight. Leave some play. This way, once the center bolt is applying pressure on the axle, you can hit the head of the bolt with a five pound mallet to wakeup the axle, if needed.

Also, you may need to release the 2 control arms to give you enough freedom to get the axle out.

[JP-X3]

I finished the job during the weekend. I followed Ngcreese suggestion and got the OEM tool from Autozone. Specifically the Item 27032: Flange Type Axle Puller Attachment which by itself was not sufficient to push the axle: I had to use the threaded rod and the nut of my craftsman 2 jaw gear puller to be able to push the axle.

I was able to pull the semi axle out by just removing the lower control arm or wish bone not the tie rod as I previously mentioned by mistake. I only had to remove one, the closest to the cabin =the proximal wish bone. No need to remove the hub from the strut.

Removing the semi axle from the front diff gearbox required the use of a 3 lbs sledge hammer and a cold chisel. In order to reach I had to remove the reinforcement plate. To insert the new one I just got it started on the female splines, rotated it to make sure they were grabbing and I used a 28' Harbor Freight pry bar to transmit the energy of the sledge hammer at two opposite sides. There are few points where you can use a chisel, see picture.

Installing the hub end splines was easy since I got a remanufactured semi axle so they were very clean. I had to clean the hub female splines with a brass brush and some pb blaster. After that I applied a coating of permatex anti-seize on the semi axle's splines. I pushed as far as I could and then I tapped the rear of the axle with a small ball pein hammer constantly rotating the hub.

The torque for the axle nut is 310 ft-lb per TIS, I used my 150 ft-lb torque meter then I switched to a 4 ft breaker bar and did a 1/4 turn and it felt really tight. Oh, this has to be done with the tire on and the X3 down. Then the X3 has to be raised again, tired removed and the axle nut staked.

So far it is holding great. Tomorrow I will test it at high speeds.

[ngcreese]

Nice 1!!

Glad to hear everything went well! I was a little concerned when you said you released the outer tierod to do this job. Ironically enough I left that one alone and disconnected the control arm and tension strut ( control arm at 45 degrees to steering knuckle).

Also, I'm glad you didn't have to release the suspension strut since unbolting it is not enough for it to release. You have to use something like a small punch to spread the clamp around the bottom of the strut. Then the steering knuckle can be wiggled free.

I bought the Harbor Freight slide hammer kit, which comes with the shallow flange like the one you used. These flanges seem to have a "standard" 5/8" thread on them. So I found a two piston caliper spreader that came with two long 5/8" bolts and use one with the slide hammer flange.

The good thing about this job is once you've don it, it isn't hard to do again.

BTW, Sears' MAX Axess universal kit is awesome for dealing with front end bolts that require an allen key to keep the thread shafts from spinning.

Again, congrats on getting that done!!

[cn90]

Question re 2004 X3 2.5i FRONT axle 36-mm nut...

- In my E39 (1998 528i) rear bearing, I simply remove the plastic cap on the wheel and have
the access to the 36-mm nut while the tire is on the ground for undoing the large 36-mm nut.

- For the E83 FRONT axle, we have to remove the front wheel to access the large 36-mm nut, is there anyway to leave the tire on the ground while removing the 36-mm nut? I ask this question bc of the great torque required to undo and to install a new nut.

- How do you guys remove the 36-mm nut w/o impact air tool?

[RocketyMan]

Originally Posted by cn90

Question re 2004 X3 2.5i FRONT axle 36-mm nut...

- In my E39 (1998 528i) rear bearing, I simply remove the plastic cap on the wheel and have
the access to the 36-mm nut while the tire is on the ground for undoing the large 36-mm nut.

- For the E83 FRONT axle, we have to remove the front wheel to access the large 36-mm nut, is there anyway to leave the tire on the ground while removing the 36-mm nut? I ask this question bc of the great torque required to undo and to install a new nut.

- How do you guys remove the 36-mm nut w/o impact air tool?

You can stick a nice hefty screwdriver into the outside-webbing of the brake rotor and have it interfere with the brake caliper. This is acceptable because the brake rotor has a long moment to take the circa 200 ft/lbs of torque from the nut. Undo the locking-peening of the nut and use some penetrating oil. Take your breaker bar and slowly loosen the nut.

Piece of cake.

[cn90]

Update on the 2004 X3 2.5i auto. Some important tricks...

1. Yes, you can remove the 36-mm axle nut with front on jack stands
and wheels off. All you need is a screwdriver inside the brake rotor against
the brake caliper. Make sure you get some help to hold the 36-mm socket
perfectly straight and square against the nut. You do NOT want to strip this
nut!

2. If the axle is stuck, use the hub puller tool to crank some pressure on the
axle. Autozone rents this for FREE (deposit $57 to rent, they will refund when
you bring the tool back).
Don't overdo it to avoid damage to the threads on the wheel hub.
Once you crank the hub puller tight (snug and maybe 180 or 360 degrees
more), then hammer the long bolt on the hub puller tool.
The axle will move inward.
I use a bit of grease on re-installation to make next removal easier.

3. When hammering the axle out of the front diff (or "support plate" on the
right side), rotate, then hammer (using a drift). Keep doing it until it comes
loose. I learned the "rotating" trick from Volvo forum. Once you rotate the
axle so that the C-clip's open end faces downward (by luck), it requires less
force for removal bc the C-clip falls into the groove.

This is the tool you want to rent for FREE: Powerbuilt 648608...

[RocketyMan]

Nice! there you go!