Need new axles - quick question

[Ricky Bobby]

jgold, when he says "both axles are shot", what does that mean?

Because I'll be honest, unless the boot is split, grease is spewed everywhere, and the CV joint is clicking, I think your mechanic is full of shit.

If the boots have cracks but haven't split yet, just pay your indy to reboot the outer joints with GKN boot kits for $20 a side, then you will actually keep your Genuine, high quality GKN axles going for another 100k miles.

My .02, but yes I agree with most above, I don't screw with Chinese axles considering the tolerances and weight of our E53's

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

jgold, when he says "both axles are shot", what does that mean?

Because I'll be honest, unless the boot is split, grease is spewed everywhere, and the CV joint is clicking, I think your mechanic is full of shit.

If the boots have cracks but haven't split yet, just pay your indy to reboot the outer joints with GKN boot kits for $20 a side, then you will actually keep your Genuine, high quality GKN axles going for another 100k miles.

My .02, but yes I agree with most above, I don't screw with Chinese axles considering the tolerances and weight of our E53's

Both are shot - as in boots ripped, and the passenger side is already clicking. Not loud enough to hear inside the car, but when the windows are down and I'm going under a bridge I can hear it.

I assumed (wrong so, I suppose) that with the X being a relatively low production car, and not that old, that most of the reman axles would be OEM rebuilds. I'll re-think this. If I didnt have a family driving trip to toronto next month, I'd just let them ride until A) I have more money and B) they get really bad

[axgordon]

I have a consistently good experience with "A1-Cordone" rebuild parts.
I installed both rebuild axles back in 2010 with no issues. Today, 75k miles later, they still looks and perform great. Got them from NAPA store.
Also, replaced steering racks on both of my X5s using "A1-Cordon" rebuild units from Partsgeek.com. No issues 40k miles later. The reason I replaced them - really tired of heavy steering, so I retrofitted units with servotronic option. Relatively simple mod making day and night difference in driving experience.

[civdiv99]

Originally Posted by axgordon

I have a consistently good experience with "A1-Cordone" rebuild parts.
I installed both rebuild axles back in 2010 with no issues. Today, 75k miles later, they still looks and perform great. Got them from NAPA store.
Also, replaced steering racks on both of my X5s using "A1-Cordon" rebuild units from Partsgeek.com. No issues 40k miles later. The reason I replaced them - really tired of heavy steering, so I retrofitted units with servotronic option. Relatively simple mod making day and night difference in driving experience.

I'm on $55 Cardone axles (Rockauto) and it's an easy swap, and have been working great for years.