CV Boot life

[Ricky Bobby]

Salt is definitely a factor as bc and Tiag have shown us. Hearing their stories firsthand I am a firm believer in the fact that anything with rubber bushings, boots, etc will degrade faster when exposed.

At 65k earlier this year (before replacing all) my front suspension was basically shot, cv boots were cracking, bushings on the suspension were dryed out and had tons of play. And i have very little mileage. But with ten years in the northeast, you could have a 5k a year garage queen but if its driven in winter you will have issues. Even if you are a good boy and go to the pay n spray and hose the undercarriage down, it still finds its way to penetrate anything with rubber in it.

Pat, just so you know you can buy a complete outer CV joint new from BMW which comes with the boot kit, its about $150 a side, but its quality. I know your X5 is your "sunday funday" car so it doesnt get driven much, but if you know its spewing grease, I would do the replacement of both sides sooner that later, in order to avoid rebuild costs and possible replacement of the outer joints. If there is a crack thats spewing grease, there is a chance that grit can get inside the joint and any marring on the bearings will ruin it.

If you have a power washer at your house, just get a bottle of simple green/brakcleen and spray wherever grease has spewed out, and power wash the shit out of the whole area with the wheel off, before doing the boot removal, will help greatly with cleanup, better than spending hours with a rag. GL man!

[bcredliner]

I replaced front and rear suspension including subframe bushings at around 95,000 miles which was a year and a half ago. It certainly tightened everything up but nothing was worn to the point it had to be replaced.

[Tomaz]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

Just had my first OE outer front CV boot fail at over 175k miles. These last for over 10 yrs/170k miles when NEVER exposed to sand/salt/magnesium chloride spread on ice/snow covered roads. I clean/rubber dress them every fall, and the X is garaged when road crews are out spreading crap.

175K !!! Rubber dress? Tell me more please.

[HPIA4v2]

Both the outer boots on then 12 yr ole X5 were gone. It has 95k miles.
IMHO, it's the age not just miles, and mine is always garage with mild summer.
Also, if you drive gently like not lock-to-lock on parking lot, sharp turn then gun it, the CV will last longer.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

175K !!! Rubber dress? Tell me more please.

I jackstand the truck, spray Maguires Tire cleaner on them, let soak, hose off, wipe clean dry while turning the road wheel and spray with Maguires Endurance tire/rubber dressing.

FYI to those who garage their X. ANY electric motor in the vehicle garage , fans, washer/driers, electric exhaust vents on gas hot water heaters, produce ozone that ATTACKS/DEGRADES every rubber item in the garage (CV boots, window/door/shaft seals, tires, vacuum/coolant hoses). Try to keep electric motors off while vehicle is garaged.

[Tomaz]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

I jackstand the truck, spray Maguires Tire cleaner on them, let soak, hose off, wipe clean dry while turning the road wheel and spray with Maguires Endurance tire/rubber dressing.

FYI to those who garage their X. ANY electric motor in the vehicle garage , fans, washer/driers, electric exhaust vents on gas hot water heaters, produce ozone that ATTACKS/DEGRADES every rubber item in the garage (CV boots, window/door/shaft seals, tires, vacuum/coolant hoses). Try to keep electric motors off while vehicle is garaged.

Thanks, great advice. I'm off to get some Maguires Endurance dressing. Never thought about the ozone but you are right about that.

[racingbmwm3]

Luckily ours is parked in a carport then. Keeps the rain/sun/frost off it, only downside is its cold in the morning. But that's why it has 4 heated seats in it

[4.8isX5]

@Ricky,

Thanks for the tip about getting the grease off (not to come off as a dick but im pretty well versed in that area of cleanin stuff lol)

And its no 2nd car no more, sold my A4 a month back, granted i work from home though :p.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by 4.8isX5

@Ricky,

Thanks for the tip about getting the grease off (not to come off as a dick but im pretty well versed in that area of cleanin stuff lol)

And its no 2nd car no more, sold my A4 a month back, granted i work from home though :p.

No offense taken man, I figured you would be, but any advice to help you work "smarter not harder" is what I try to help with, you'd be surprised at the amount of us on the forums who would sit around for an hour each corner spraying and wiping down grease with just rags lol!

But then again, you work from home so you do know how to work smarter not harder already LOL!

[ecproductions143]

Mine were changed at 40k in pairs. at 138k I'm doing the drivers side. I got a boot from O'rileys it was "Precision" has a 1 year warranty. It was $15 guess we'll see how long it last.