Replace both cv shafts? Oem or aftermarket?

[Professor]

05 4.4 124k
I have a bad driver side cv boot. It's cracked and all the grease is out. It's making a lot of cracking/ clunking noises on turns and acceleration under load.

Should I replace the boot or the whole half shaft? If I replace the whole, should I replace the other side at the same time??

Also, after markets are waaayyy cheaper than what Oem wants for each one. Any issues in using the after market over the Oem in this situation?? Thanks!!


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[TriX5]

Here is my 2c. Your cv joints seem to be bad as well. When I had a CVJ go bad I bought the CV joint from the dealer (getBMWparts.com) and the boot kit from Pelican parts, then reassembled. That way I keep it as orignal as possible and no surprises.

[slowlanemcvane]

Yep, definitely sounds like a bad CV joint. There's really no reason to replace both, unless you see that the CV boots are cracked on the other one as well, and if it appears to be without grease.

I've had good luck historically with aftermarket CV Shafts, but then again, I've never replaced one on my E53.

[Ricky Bobby]

you get what you pay for.

I agree with the above. The outer joint boot kits are 14 bucks apiece from Pelican, GKN Loebro brand which is OE, just not in BMW box. Get 2 kits one for each outer side, and you can buy a new outer joint from the dealer as TriX5 mentioned. I would do that. Don't go cheap and put in chinese junk just bc 1 of the 4 cv joints needs replacing up front.

[Professor]

I won't go cheapest or Chinese. However I thought I was "getting what I paid for" when i spent the money on the ultimate driving machine! Errr. So Oem part are constantly failing, I figure why not try a different manufacturer.


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[Ricky Bobby]

the oem part does not constantly fail, its your lack of maintenance regimen which caused the joint to fail.

you did not check up on the boot condition regularly at 124k miles, allowing one to rip and allowed grease and grit into the joint which made the joint fail (not the entire axle). Had the joint not been exposed to the elements of the road because of the boot ripping the joint would go many hundred thousand miles with occasional repacking of fresh grease.

Rubber bits degrade and our CV boots are no exception, per a BMW tech on this forum the inner joints barely ever crack, because they are a different rubber compound, more of a plastic if you will, and they are suscepted to less movement compared to the outer joints.

At 124k miles it would be a normal maintenance item to check the condition of the CV boots every few months, it takes 2 seconds to look at them from under the car.

And if you read a few of the CV boot threads on this forum the consensus is about every 40-50k miles or so you will need a set of fresh boots.

Prevenative maintenance is key and a defect in the design of the "ultimate driving machine" isn't at fault here. With the cars age and mileage for all of our vehicles on here an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Professor]

I understand what you are saying but what's the excuse for the door carriers, plastic actuator gear, expansion tank, ccv, my seat burning a hole into my jeans, etc. this is outside of the normal wear and tear I expect from any car. I've done the timing chain, valve gaskets, water pump, thermostat, brakes, tires, battery and have no problem with it since that's every car. I'm not even upset at the cv boot. That's more regular maintenance. It's the crap that u thought I was getting away from when I came over to the German side of cars.


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[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by Professor

I understand what you are saying but what's the excuse for the door carriers, plastic actuator gear, expansion tank, ccv, my seat burning a hole into my jeans, etc. this is outside of the normal wear and tear I expect from any car. I've done the timing chain, valve gaskets, water pump, thermostat, brakes, tires, battery and have no problem with it since that's every car. I'm not even upset at the cv boot. That's more regular maintenance. It's the crap that u thought I was getting away from when I came over to the German side of cars.

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door carriers = I've only replaced one but its really not that hard to do, if its a weak point so be it

plastic actuator gear = don't have ATC500 transfer case but perhaps more frequent fluid changes?

expansion tank/cooling system = known weak point on E39/E46 etc, be prepared to replace the parts every 5 years or 60k miles in my opinion

CCV = the 3.0 is the only engine people that should complain about it, the 4.4 and 4.8 guys have it easy peasy, yes it sucks but stop letting the wife drive the X 2 miles down the road in freezing weather and having condensate build up

My seat heat works just fine but I also make it a point not to sit on my knees continually on the front seats as I know there are heating elements beneath and it could be brittle.


How many years have you owned the X and how many miles? Please don't tell me you're a new owner and surprised at the maintenance with the age of the vehicle.

[Professor]

No not a new owner have had it since 2010 and put 40000 on it. I'm just saying it's not a race car and should be designed for realistic everyday use. It's in my garage when it's not being used and serviced as needed. I can't crawl under it every weekend. I don't know why people get so defensive over the BMW issues. If you are going to claim to be the best than they have to back it up.

I have had 2 other luxury SUVs/ cars that I bought with under 20k on them and drove them well over 100k without a hiccup. Just normal basic maintenance. I expected the same from BMW. That being said I still love the look of it. Every time I wash and detail it, I stand back and stare. It sucks me in again. I just rather drive it without the issues.


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[Gurjit]

aftermarket cv shaft
115$ plus tax
lifetime warranty, cut the boot and get a new one
easier than a boot kit