CV Boot - OEM?

[Mujahid]

Hi all, need some advice on CV boot repalcement.
Is the OEM that much better than aftermarket?
Any idea who manufacture's the OEM boot?
Any suggestion for After-Market boots (inner and outer).

How long should these boots last?
Looking forward to hear from some South African drivers.

take care and thanks

[Ricky Bobby]

GKN Loebro is the OE manufacturer, I used a pair of GKN Loebro boots in their box and saved 28 dollars compared to the OE Genuine BMW boots in a BMW box (40 dollars for Genuine vs. 12 dollars for GKN Loebro)

I would stick to GKN Loebro for inner and outer boots, although the inner boots do not fail as much as the outers, to be honest I would leave the inner boots be unless you have one leaking. They typically should last a few years or maybe 100k or so miles, but tend to fail much sooner depending on driving conditions, doing a lot of tight turn driving, and environmental conditions which break down the rubber on the boot.

In South Africa I would imagine age, heat, and mileage can be a factor. If your X5 is a 2005 and has original boots on the outer CV axle, I would replace preventatively to avoid them failing on you

[srmmmm]

I have OEM boots installed on rebuilt axles that were installed at 55,000 miles. The first owner of the vehicle did not pay attention to the boots and I discovered almost all the grease had leaked out of the two outer boots. There are now 188,000 miles on the inner boots and they still look to be in very good condition. The two outers lasted almost 100,000 miles before starting to leak. Probably a reasonable life considering the heat, ozone, and UV levels here in Texas.

I make sure to inspect them every 4500 miles when I have the tires rotated.

2002 X5 3.0 243,000 miles
2004 325i 108,000 miles

[Mujahid]

thanks gentlemen, some good feedback.
just inspected the inners, original and looking good. I replaced the outers about 2years ago. Big difference in quality.
dont know if i will get GKN Lobro here in SA. trying to source a Meyle boot.

[luvmy03E53]

My baby has finally started throwing grease from the left boot all over my beautiful 57's... YUCK!

I'm gonna be lazy here (F15 launch has burned me out), and ask if anyone can point me to a DIY for replacing the boots... pretty please?

[Ricky Bobby]

Gary Gary Gary, ask and you shall receive.

However, if you already are leaking grease, don't drive it much more. Dont' want to get grit into the axle and have to replace it with cheap Chinese one

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


26 pages to go through, but when I did mine (at the same time as my wheel bearings), all I did was the DIY on the front page of that thread. Disconnected the strut at the bottom and let the wheel carrier hang, remove caliper and maybe the rotor, then when you get the axle "pushed inwards" and out of the hub, you can swing it sideways and let it hang free. Then just find the sweet spot to smack with your hammer on the cv joint (I used a 3 lb mini sledge) and it will pop off. Disassemble, clean old grease and grit off EVERYTHING, and reassemble.

Get the $8.99 ear clamp pliers from Advance auto, you'll need them for new clamps. And get GKN Loebro boot kits from Pelican for 13 bucks apiece, they come with new axle nuts (6 pt though instead of normal 12 pt 36mm), you might have to get 2 new axle nuts from the dealer. Don't be ghetto and try reusing the nuts either lol.

The best part of the job is hammering on the hub to get the axle to pull back in the hub enough to start threading on the outer nut.

Its a messy and not fun job for sure, but there are plenty of threads to help you out!

[StephenVA]

Preventive replacement before CV joint failure. Good idea. Remove joint clean and re-grease. Follow the instructions for cv boot replacement and the process is not too bad.

[X5SND]

FWIW....Not sure if ECS still has them available for our rides, but stay away from Rein boot repair kits. Long story short (I included them as a last minute addition before my order shipped as they were the only ones ECS had on hand) one lasted about 2 months in the cold before it split, and the other kit I just tossed. Replaced them with the BMW branded kit and all has been well going on about a year now.

[ecproductions143]

I'm going to install one from Oriley's today