bmw x5 e53 2005 CV boot vs Axle replacement cost vs difficulty

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by Attacking Mid

... It's important to use the right grease depending on the CV joint style. Rzeppa joints typically have 6 large balls and require a moly-infused high pressure grease. Tripod joints (typically used on the inner joints) require a much thinner grease - usually a polyurea grease. You can buy the specific greases from companies like GKN and some car manufacturers (Honda sells it). I ended up going to a John Deere implement dealer to find the polyurea grease in quantity at a reasonable price...

I bought the GKN boot kits (around $15 each, I'll guess). GKN is the OES for these parts. The kits come with a new boot, 2x 80g packets of grease (BTW, the spec from the Bentley is for 80g per joint, so the kits come with 2x as much grease as needed), c-clips (2 types, you need one), an axle nut, and the hose clamps. Same grease in the inner vs. outer boot kits.

Part numbers for the kits (2001 3.0i front axles, inner and outer): 31607507402, 31607565315. GKN-304206 is for one of the two.

So in that case, I figured GKN knew what grease was required and I just used what they supplied.

I know from my Honda, they originally specified two very different types of grease for inner vs. outer, but later released a new single grease that supersedes both of them. So maybe GKN has done this? It makes sense that they would be different - very different joint styles, one is near the brakes (hot) and flexes a lot (steering), the other is in-board near the transaxle or differential with pretty steady temperature and much less motion.

At the low price involved, I'm not worried about the type of grease.

I AM worried about avoiding an impossible step in the process, though. That's why I prefer the boots-only method.

Here's that 30-minute (not including reading time) thread, at my post, which is followed by some good discussion on options.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ml#post1135021

I'm not worried about getting the axle nut off, it's getting the axle end out of the hub without using a sledge hammer or the jaws of life. Plenty of stories on here about problems with that. Surely successful most of the time, like most things. But also, I hardly ever use a hammer on my suspension and bearings; I also seem to get a lot more mileage out of suspension components than most; correlated?

Taking a possibly longer path to avoid the land mines.

See this great thread, which contains this example along with a lot of other good info:

quote: "Got into my CV boot replacement project today. Got the axle nut off and can't get the splined shaft out of the hub. No amount of beating will budge it." And the only follow-up was a full retreat and re-assembly.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ml#post1150519

And yeah, if you're paying someone else to do this, you may not even have the option to have boots only replaced.

[Attacking Mid]

Interesting about the GKN grease. Out of curiousity, I went to the GKN website and they still show two distinct greases. I've attached the relevant page from their brochure. I wonder if the two grease packets just LOOKED the same, but were actually two different greases? The grease for the outer should have a grayish tint from the moly additive, while the inner grease shouldn't.

AM.

GKN Grease.pdf

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by Attacking Mid

Interesting about the GKN grease. Out of curiousity, I went to the GKN website and they still show two distinct greases. I've attached the relevant page from their brochure. I wonder if the two grease packets just LOOKED the same, but were actually two different greases? The grease for the outer should have a grayish tint from the moly additive, while the inner grease shouldn't.

AM.

Attachment 76356

Interesting PDF - thanks.

In the GKN boot kits, they were in 80g pouch/packet things. And they were as identical as I could tell, from checking for that while I had them. I can't remember if the pouches had part numbers on them, but if they did, I would have checked them against eachother. Also, I would have noticed if the grease was significantly different (e.g., as I have noticed for the in- vs. out-board Honda grease).

[andrewwynn]

I've had to remove half a dozen splines from hubs and we are in the Midwest but they've not been rusty. I've had a really hard time trying to get a spline back in the hub and almost bought the special axle pulling tool that threads into the axle spline and pulls it through effortlessly.

The trick that resolved the stuck axle was to remove the bolts holding the knuckle to the shock tower so it could wiggle and match the angle of the spline perfectly.

Did that very operation just last night when I replaced a front wheel bearing.

[andrewwynn]

Wow I thought you had to pull the rotor with the hub end out of the way. I will definitely be checking this method out. Its a "non issue" for me to pull the CV spline out especially since I just had it out 18 hours ago and I sprayed lube on before replacing. I usually remove the shock tower bolts to get the CV out I'll have to try the rear control arm method.

[wpoll]

This picture from dville shows the method...



From page 4 of "the thread"...

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...minutes-4.html

*edit* I should add, I didn't lever the joint apart - I used a soft metal drift to "tap" the CV joint inner, on the shoulder right where the axle seats, to "pop" the circlip free.. axle just slid out... I had a helper putting a pulling tension on the hub and I used the vice grips to secure the axle, so we didn't pull the inner CV apart.

[talljames]

40 pages took me a while. Some say that the factory axles and inner front CV’s are lifetime of the vehicle. I can’t remember if anyone has had one long enough to post a poor inner CV. I am up to 220,000 km and was told the inner boots are still good.

Many have had issues with getting the axle and circlip out of the outer CV for the short job. I remember seeing a you tube video where he had to destroy the old CV to find out why the circlip wasn’t moving. The point hinted was that the circlip slot did not have a good taper going into the slot which helps the compression of the circlip when pulling the shaft out. So, maybe some manufacturers dont provide a good enough taper. I am not sure what force would be required to shear the clip.

Anyway, apparently my 2005 X5 E53 4.4i sports model has two types of outer front CV’s boot kits based on the axle shape where the CV/boot goes on. Is there anyway I can tell first without jacking the car up and inspecting? I think I read in one of the pages about the date of car or shaft size but cant remember.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by talljames

… Anyway, apparently my 2005 X5 E53 4.4i sports model has two types of outer front CV’s boot kits based on the axle shape where the CV/boot goes on. Is there anyway I can tell first without jacking the car up and inspecting? I think I read in one of the pages about the date of car or shaft size but cant remember.

From memory the difference is axle diameter - 27mm vs 29mm and again from memory, the 27mm axles where only on early production cars (1999-2000ish).

Pretty sure that your LCI car will have 29mm axles.

I think I've seen variation is the tapered section of the axle where the boots small end fits too - again, not sure. Depending on who supplies the boot, you may not get much choice. I got a boot from a local supplier, who was unable to offer any choice (one boot fits all) and it did indeed fit my axle well.

[stevekat]

I recall buying an inexpensive rotary hammer from Harbor Freight, with a pointy bit, and that drove the splined axle from the hub forthwith.

[talljames]

Thanks, I’ll check the specs on the boots if they are listed. Bmw are quoting $190 AUD per kit here so pelican parts, ecs, fcp, etc. and shipping cost.