Axle Replacement DIY Procedure
 

Does anyone know of a DIY article that deals with the replacement of the entire front axle assembly?

I have a 2001 X5 4.4 with about 96K miles. Both of my front cv boots died a long time ago. I was already hearing the clicking noise so I knew I would have to replace the entire axle. To answer the question that many have asked, the axles joints are very strong and will last in excess of 30K miles even after you hear the first click. I would not suggest you drive in this condition though.

Anyway, I've stopped driving the X5 and have ordered a whole bunch of Front end stuff to replace and install this weekend or over several weekends. I'm going to do the brakes, rotors, sway bars, control arms and both axles. Everything is fairly easy to do except the axles.

Any inforomation is much appreciated. BTW, I have read the DIY for the CV boot replacement which covers a lot. It seems that a few more steps and you could probably replace the whole axle following those instructions

MT

it would be the same as the boot replacement. except you'll just pull the half shafts out and put in the new (or reman) ones. no messy grease!

How long does a dealer take to get this done?

Thanks FAst
 

That's what I figured. It's still a helluva job for one person to do. I plan to just take my time and leave it in the garage until I'm finished. I expect to run into some problems particularly when it come to removing the axle shaft.

After the stealer charged me $1500.00 for an alternator replacement a few years ago, I started doing all of my repairs. This site has been gold and one of the reasons I have held on to the X5 this long.

I still love the way it drives, but I hear the transmissions start failing around 100K. Hmm.. Do I sell it or Keep it????

HI, I need oem parts...
 

Hi man, Please give me the number parts of the boots for repair my X5...

Nuts, my CV boot is ripped too, this post is so helpful, while I don't have the clicking noise yet, what is the correct phraseology one must say to have the dealer cover the boot? I might go with a DIY, thanks!

Bump, Bump, Bump, with all the deep snow this winter, just a friendly reminder to take a quick look under your truck to ensure you haven't ripped your CV boots. If so, then another 2K miles or so, you'll be replacing the half-shaft. If you replace the boot before the CV joint is damaged, you'll save a bunch of money. Do a search for DIY CV joint boot replacement and tell us all how much money you've saved!!! :thumbup:

Dealer replaced my left outer cv boot under factory warr.:thumbup: 06' @ 48k miles

When I went in to get my engine looked at, they also told me both outer CV's are bad.

qty----- part number -------------description------------- price ----total
2 -------BM31-60-507-402 -------Repair kit booter outer --88.79 ---177.58
2 -------BM33-41-1-133-785 -----E31 hub nutm27x1.5 ----22.66 ---45.32

labor hours - 6

Labor = 810
Parts = 222.90
misc = 29.95

Total - 1062.85

So......I guess repair rather than replacement is an option. Cant I just repair the boots myself with something similar to what ever repair kit they are using? The parts are cheap really. The labor is just stupid.

This is not of immediate concern to me yet. First I need an working engine.

This is insane. I just replaced the whole axle with a brand new unit in about 3 hours for $110. If you can do it, by all means do it. If not, buy your parts ~$200 for 2 brand new axles and have an indy do it for probably $300 in labor. $1k+ for boots is truly ridiculous.