You were happy with the quality of the FEQ axle though right?

I just read about a lot of horror stories about FEQ, EMPI, Cardone axles, basically anything CV related in China lol

Umm... those are made in China? Yikes!

Well we have probably 10k on it... so far, so good.... or in Chinese.. hen hao

yeah those brands above the new versions are all made in Cheeeeeeena.

Makes me leery, but the prices arent bad. Then again, Raxles built in the USA from new components are 250 apiece per side. I used them on my VW with great results

Even more interesting is you have a 4.8is so I guess your truck will be the testament to them lasting since you have so much more powah!

And we beat it like a bad dog :thumbup:

You can sort of find out what is involved from this Youtube video. Check all eight videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcZOhW21s2k

I brought my X5 to my mechanic and they just changed the boots since the joints weren't clicking.

Quick update - I got the tires, alignment, and balancing checked. It turns out the noise I was hearing was due to cupping on part of the tire tread, not a bad bearing. The mechanic I spoke to said that they rarely see X5's with bad bearings (except for with very high mileage) and those rolling noises are tire issues 70% of the time.

so the balancing and alignment helped make the noise and vibes go away? if so, I am hoping that is what happens to mine when it got balanced!

they didnt have to replace tires did they?

No, the tire noise won't go away until I replace them - the issue is with the tread on part of the tire. They said the cupping wasn't bad enough to cause any major problems other than the noise. They're winter tires anyway (my X5 used to live in MI), so I'm just going to keep driving on them until it warms up and then replace them with summer tires.

Either way, it beats the hell out of replacing the wheel bearings, so it's good news to me.

well shit i have new Toyo all seasons on my X so i'm guessing they arent cupped already. glad your issue is fixed for now, i'll update when i get my car balanced and aligned

Car is a beaut. Congrats. Yep, you have some suspension work to get done ASAP. I'm not going to add anything new on that issue, everyone has covered it pretty well. If you do want PDC though, I believe there is a retrofit fit kit available. I'd get it ASAP ify you are interested since BMW is ending production on a lot of such things since the car is no longer being made.