New Aftermarket or Used OE?
 

I have a bad CV joint (front left) on my 3.0i. I found a salvage yard in CO that can get me a used one from him for $85 shipped. He said it was in gread condidtion. Or I can get one made by EMPI from Amazon :D for $77. What would you guys recommend?
Thank you.

Is this the one you are talking about?


Diagram #1

Click HERE for Left side ( driver ) Output shaft.


&

You will need the Collar nut.
http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/19230_x600.jpg







Thanks and I hope I helped.



Joe

No, I may have named the wrong part. It is the front axle. The inner CV is torn and is making noise when coasting.

Are you referring to the front drive shaft?

I'm not sure why nobody in this thread knows what a CV joint or front axle is?

Anyway, I replaced my front left axle due to a torn outer CV joint boot. I used the $45 Cardone brand from rockauto.com. Came out to $65 shipped. It's been about 12k miles and 7 months, so far so good.

I'd never replace a normal wear item like an axle with a junkyard part, especially when it's more expensive then a new aftermarket part. Who's to say it's OEM, and not a high mileage aftermarket part that's on it's last leg?

Obviously new OEM is preferred, but for $65 vs $500+, I couldn't justify it.

As above, don't buy a part second hand that's subject to wear. If you wanted a new guard or door, then a breaker is a good bet.

Looks like the Cardone CV gets a good recommendation from jgood!

Remember that BMW makes engine blocks and presses steel plates into body panels, almost all other bits are made by smaller parts manufacturers in Europe and other places who also make parts for other manufacturers. For a 5 yr+ old vehicle out of factory warranty, there is very little reason to pay the main dealers price for the BMW cardboard box wrapped around the lowest price bidder this year for BMW CV joints for X5's.

So, buy an OEM part or a high quality part from a reputable OEM manufacturer and you should be well served.

Thank you all for the responses. I will for sure get the new part. Now I just need to find the time do replace it myself. Hopefully it won't be too tough. Wish me luck.

^^^Great price. Good luck on your project:thumbup: