What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[CapeX5]

Originally Posted by Bdc101

Full disclosure: I have never had this problem on my 2003 X5. And therefore I have not done my research.



That being said, the picture you just posted doesn't look like it was caused by any spline problem to me. It looks like a bad weld joint. Unless I'm missing something and the parts in the picture are the replacement parts?

The pic I posted was after I cut off the spline in preparation for the new parts arrival. Look close at the splines, you can see the difference of how they are flat/gone on the end and more defined closer to the cut.See attached pic. Hopefully self explanatory

[Bdc101]

Ah, I see. Maybe I should put this on my list of things to fix before they strand me?

[sandbagger]

Wouldnt be a bad idea to pull the front driveshaft out and take a look at the splines and how much engagement you have

I didnt loose the ability to drive when mine stripped, but some people do

Also I would recommend getting the whole shaft and not just welding the spine stub on unless you are able to balance it also.

Originally Posted by Bdc101

Ah, I see. Maybe I should put this on my list of things to fix before they strand me?

[Bdc101]

Originally Posted by sandbagger

Wouldnt be a bad idea to pull the front driveshaft out and take a look at the splines and how much engagement you have

Indeed - do you have to remove the front diff to do this?

Originally Posted by sandbagger

Also I would recommend getting the whole shaft and not just welding the spine stub on unless you are able to balance it also.

Yep, I would agree with that as well.

[sandbagger]

Trying to remember, it was 100,000 miles ago
I think to get the short shaft out you dont, just pull the Guiblo out and you can slide the shaft forward enough to get the shaft out, at a min you should be able to get a good look at the splines to see if they are trashed. The splines on the TC side very rarely get hurt. To get the longer shaft in I didnt want to mess with the front diff as your talking pulling both 1/2shafts out. I pulled the rear drive shaft and backed the trans to TC bolts off so there were just a few threads holding them and slid the TC back.

Originally Posted by Bdc101

Indeed - do you have to remove the front diff to do this?

[CapeX5]

Originally Posted by sandbagger

Wouldnt be a bad idea to pull the front driveshaft out and take a look at the splines and how much engagement you have

I didnt loose the ability to drive when mine stripped, but some people do

Also I would recommend getting the whole shaft and not just welding the spine stub on unless you are able to balance it also.

The repair piece slides into the driveshaft approx 3" and is a very snug fit. As long as my welding is consistent and proper, I don't see a need to do a balance. Will follow up on this thread when complete. Hopefully doing it today.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by CapeX5

The repair piece slides into the driveshaft approx 3" and is a very snug fit. As long as my welding is consistent and proper, I don't see a need to do a balance. Will follow up on this thread when complete. Hopefully doing it today.

Lots and lots written up on this issue on this, and other forums. On earlier build X5s the splines would corrode, often because the AC condenser drain lines would drip on them at the TCase. Smarter e53 guys than me can tell you when BMW fixed this problem by moving the lines and going with a longer front drive shaft.

Even though my oe shaft looked good, I changed my splines out with the motor swap and was able to get over an addition 1/2” into the TCase without removing it from the transmission. There is tons of room to lever the driveshaft in with a pry bar and you can get even more in if you want to pull the tcase off. My x5 made it 150k on the original splines so I figured more is better, but didn’t need to pull the TCase.

My new splines are a really tight fit, so I was carefully to mock up and measure many times before pounding them into the shaft…they weren’t coming back out easily if I went too far. I couldn’t find a driveshaft shop to balance the shaft, or even weld the splines on, so a local welder did it. I don’t notice any balance issues at any speed.

Alternatively one could buy the longer OE shaft or get one from a pick and pull. I think route this would require the TCase to be unbolted to install tho.

[X5chemist]

SUVs don't have tailgates. At least not modern ones, old ones do.
SAVs do have tailgates! Pulled out my favorite quick wood cutting tool. The tailgate was used to make a quick light controller box. My neighbor put up lights to coordinate with mine. A two house music light show!

[Henn28]

Just got back from a week on the road with my E53. She was a monster and tore up 2000 miles to Iowa and back like a new car.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous at times after my belt-loosing/overheating experience on last year's hunting trip, but not a bit of drama this time. Lots of hwy miles with the cruise control pegged at 70 (more than that and I'm getting 14 mpg) and a lot of Iowa gravel roads looking for birds. I made the mistake of venturing into "dirt" roads twice while not paying attention, and quickly was reminded of the limitations of pre-x drive and non-limited slip diffs. Ice crust over mud got the traction control working overtime trying to control wheel spin, and the car but not very effectively. Fortunately, I was able to back out before I had to walk out. She did cross many a bean/corn field to pick up my hunting buddy after getting split up to get him back to his rig.

25 deg. temps and a little snow accentuated every rattle and squeak from the 20-year-old car. The most annoying one coming from the windshield. I had to put a new one in last year. I also kept an eye on the temps and am still baffled by the thermostat logic. More to follow on that.



***Update…Holy crap, she got me home and then the starter died in the grocery store parking lot! At least I hope it is the starter. I hear a single click from under the car when the key goes to the start position. I assume this is the solenoid working, but the motor has crapped out. No codes and a 20 year old starter has me hopeful it isn’t the EWS. I did try my second key with no luck. I’m happy she got me home and didn’t strand me in an Iowa Bean field at 25 deg. Oreillys has a starter so I’m going to pop that in today in the lot and cross my fingers.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by sandbagger

Trying to remember, it was 100,000 miles ago
I think to get the short shaft out you dont, just pull the Guiblo out and you can slide the shaft forward enough to get the shaft out, at a min you should be able to get a good look at the splines to see if they are trashed. The splines on the TC side very rarely get hurt. To get the longer shaft in I didnt want to mess with the front diff as your talking pulling both 1/2shafts out. I pulled the rear drive shaft and backed the trans to TC bolts off so there were just a few threads holding them and slid the TC back.

A prybar made pretty easy work of it for me. Your mileage may vary though. unbolt the driveshaft from the flex disk and that from the front diff, then work a prybar in and lever the driveshaft as far back as you can. The guibo and centering piece should drop right out once you have made enough room.

You can also take some measurements before and after said lever operation to get a sense of how much new spline you can work in, and still get the flex disk assembly back into place. This of course if you don't want to pull the transfer case off to get max new splines in.