Front Propeller (Drive) Shaft warranty extension and Failure/Replacement Discussion

[josiahg52]

I received a letter from BMWNA today extending the warranty on the front propeller (drive) shaft in my 2011 X5 xDrive35d with an August 2011 build date to 10 years/120,000 miles as determined by (my) vehicles's original in-service date.

The letter is notice of a "limited warranty extension." (It) is not a notice of a Recall or Service Action.

The letter provides instructions to obtain reimbursement for repairs already performed as well.

It goes on to say that the integrity of their products is essential to BMW's success and their customers' trust. They are determined to exceed my expectations and hope that the warranty extension further enhances my ownership experience.

Anyone get anything similar? I couldn't find anything searching the internet or forum.

[jfoj]

Wonder what years and models they are covering with this Warranty Extension?

[josiahg52]

Don't know. The letter doesn't say. It just says my vehicle is covered by the Limited Warranty Extension.

With the mostly catastrophic failures that these driveshafts cam suffer and the recalls that exist in other countries, this Warranty Extension is a nice platitude but really kind of pointless. What it means is that BMW has done the math and it costs less to cover the relative few that do catastrophically fail, even with the massive additional cost associated with a failure, and the ones that fail the service bulletin inspection than it is to perform a wholesale recall on the part.

Either that means BMW is cheap, and of course they are in the car business to make lots of money, or the part, at least on certain X5s, is not that prone to failure. Also, the parts may differ between NA X5s and those in other parts of the world.

Interestingly, the letter says that vehicles operated outside the United States and Puerto Rico are not covered by the Limited Warranty Extension. Presumably because a recall already exists for those other vehicles not covered?

When I saw the letter, I thought it was for the airbags in my M5. Still haven't heard anything about those.

[split71]

I received the letter, 5/11 build date. I wrote this on Bimmerfest forums:

"From what I can see, the old driveshaft part # 26207597649 was used from 4/10-2/13. This is being replaced by part # 26208605866 which was used in production from 3/13. I'm using an X35d and RealOEM for reference."

Many documented failures some with major damage.

Good reading here: 2011 X5 Driveshaft fail - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

[bawareca]

Looks like most 2010-2011 X5s and the problem seems to be rust in the rear u-joint. It could be the mentioned AC drain leaking over the rear joint and the winter/humid climates accelerating the corrosion.
Now I wonder if I can find a used old style DS and just replace it. The old design will never fail without a long and heavy warning (worn guibo).

[josiahg52]

Originally Posted by bawareca

Looks like most 2010-2011 X5s and the problem seems to be rust in the rear u-joint. It could be the mentioned AC drain leaking over the rear joint and the winter/humid climates accelerating the corrosion.
Now I wonder if I can find a used old style DS and just replace it. The old design will never fail without a long and heavy warning (worn guibo).

So before approximately 2010 there was a guibo in the rear position and later it was replaced with a u-joint?

Anyone know what is different between the original part and the current production/replacement part?

[bawareca]

There is a diagram in the link in post #4. It should be fairly easy discoverable in realoem

[Ozer]

Mine had this recall done prior to me purchasing the vehicle 3 month ago, it states recall in the service receipt. I dont remember the date it was done but if anyone is interested i could look.

[bawareca]

I got seriously scared reading this threads, especially now that I have more than 700nm torque available on 2000 rpm. Did a careful inspection yesterday and mine looks Ok. There is some free play in the splines that connect to the transfer case, but it is the same on my parts car. The joint is very well covered from the bottom, but there is a drain above. It will not leak direct directly, but it will get some moisture from it. Or on mine 2012 drain could be moved a bit. That is the only reason I see for U-joint destruction, especially considering that there is no tq going thru the front DS permanently.

[Doug Huffman]

Originally Posted by bawareca

there is no tq going thru the front DS permanently.

When the torque to the front drive shaft comes on, does it come on softly or harshly, even after the lubricant is changed on the worn clutch plates without re-adaptation?

How many times can a boosted high torque motor be dumped, the clutch side-stepped, onto the drive line before something gives up?