Can't wait to do a CV boot in the AM!

[Tim W.]

What is the quote....."I love the smell of grease in the morning".........

$9.95 for the kit at Carquest

[Naz24]

Originally Posted by Tim W.

What is the quote....."I love the smell of grease in the morning".........

$9.95 for the kit at Carquest

How difficult is this? Now that I'm not under CPO anymore, I'd rather not pay even an Indy to do this.

[JayX5]

Good luck!! I recently changed both boots for $450. Which is an awesome deal btw! Couple of reputable shops here in Chicago wanted $350 per axle!

[TriX5]

Naz,

On my 03 I replaced both sides, then the left side again and then had to take the right side out again to change the CVJ.

Rent an air compressor for the central nut and an angle impact would help as well as a regular impact wrench. Get the tool to push the axel out of the hub, they're cheap on the Internet. Last two times I did not disconnect the hub from the strut. Only undo the bottom parts from the chassis. Some here do it the other way around and only disconnect the strut. Either way seems to work. The hub carrier is quite heave and a bit unwieldy so I prefer to leave it pn the strut.

Getting the CVJ off the axle is a bit tricky, first time took me an hour, the last one 10 min. I made a tool for it which allows me to put pressure with a crow bar and then hitting the CVJ with a soft hammer will pop it off the axle.

The instructions on the "how to" section are very good but even so it is a messy job and I think on a scale of 10 it is an 8 when you go at it the first time. Make sure you can take your time and don't rush. Each time it goes quicker but the first one is a steep learning curve.

I just did my waterpump and having the how-to from this board is immensely valuable. Once you have done your CV boots you'll feel very comfortable that you can tackle it any time. :-)

The boots I would do at about 70 k miles pre-emptively (if the X is your only car), they seem to fail before 90k in most cases. It is definitively not something you want to face for the first time when you are in a rush or when you desperately need the vehicle......

[Tim W.]

Here is the DIY
http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...mw-x5-e53.html

Luckily I have a friend that has a shop and I will do ti there

[amacman]

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...0-minutes.html

you may want to try this one

the diy in your post is great for understanding the way to dismantle everything but you can take shortcuts if you read my diy . just be sure to read hayaku`s diy also .