Transfer Case is Toast
 

Well, I'm about to become an amateur transfer case technician. The thing needed a chain already (136,000 miles) but I've been gentle enough not to make it skip for a month or so. Today, after changing the back tires I realized the horrible road noise was actually the output shaft splines or the bearing perhaps. Either way the drive shaft can be twisted back and forth a bit without the output shaft moving. There is a clanking noise when I turn it also.

It sounds like a cash register opening which is appropriate since the parts are friggin' outrageous!

Yikes! Keep us updated on your progress! Good luck!

I feel for you - I am coming to the conclusion that 100 K+ X5s are becoming 'enthusiast-only' cars, or as my friend from Finland put it, "a hobby that is also a mode of transportation"

- sometimes!

Good way to put it. After I finished installing new rotors/pads and refinished calipers last week the wife told me "you LIKE doing that stuff", I responded "I LIKE knowing it's done RIGHT!".

sethhatfield, how did you know you needed a chain already?

Since you say that you did, just curious if you have already changed your TC oil . . . if so . . . was there any metal in it?

I just changed mine and it was clean. Just thinking proactively here. I'd rather change a stretching chain in the TC before adding other TC parts and $ to the list.

Do you have an X-drive transfer case or a pre-facelift NV125?


Year and engine of your X in your signature would help us if you need any assistance, I'm assuming you have a facelifted X because the Xdrive transfer cases and parts for it are quite a bit more expensive!

It is a NV-125. Here are some pics of my progress.

seth's iphone 11-09-13 072 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

seth's iphone 11-09-13 091 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Dig the custom cats. They only cost $175 installed.

You can see a close up of the forward drive shaft splines. Note that BMW thought the way too short drive shaft would be just fine on a 4500 lb SUV with 350 ft/lbs of torque.

sethhatfield - I assume you've then found the Cobra Transmission guys in South Florida. They sell all of the parts you need for the NV125 including magnetic drain and fill plugs that BMW didn't tell the OEM mfr to add. They also sell the extended spline parts.

When you put it together, fill it with Redline ATF (better) or MTL (best). Magnetic drain plugs from Cobra (better) or Dimple (best). Then it's smooth sailing from then on.

x2 listen to Gregory on this, thankfully Cobra Trans knows the NV125 well and can help you get it running again in good shape!

Glad you found those worn splines before you encountered a "no-go" situation. Mine was not pleasant and ruined a perfectly good day of bringing a new PWC home. They don't hold up well on the 3.0 engine either!

2002 X5 3.0 243,000 miles
2004 325i 108,000 miles

Here are some links to pics of the removal and disassembly. The aft bearing is noisy so it is on order from Cobra.
image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If it's not too much trouble a parts list and cost breakdown would be appreciated!

So far I've needed:

front shaft $600+
front rag joint $120
output shaft bearing $30
chain $80

I had to buy a 3 jaw puller, though I could have rented one from Autozone.

Which part did ya chuck at the airplane. :D

Thanks Seth. Good luck with the rest.

+1 on Cobra Trans. If you check e-bay they usually have rebuild kits at a discount.

Here is the latest. Assembled the case. You cannot do this without a three jaw puller in my opinion! An impact wrench is definitely necessary too.
transfer case 002 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
transfer case 001 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Nice work.

I have almost 40k on the CT chain replacement job I did in '11 on my (then new to me) '03, it's a solid part so far. That was after driving the X 500 miles home from buying it without a drop of oil in the tcase (unbeknownst to me). Mine needed only a chain and a lot of cleaning, the rest of that case is bulletproof.

I threw spacers on the front driveshaft at the same time (and lubricated the heck out of the splines) to help prevent that awful driveshaft wear.

Well I got it all put back together after a little setback. The new longer driveshaft is about a 1/4 inch too long to install if the transfer case is installed onto the transmission. I jacked with it for awhile and finally cut a 1/4 inch off the new shaft. It is still over an inch longer than the original and works fine.

I drove it around and flogged it pretty hard and the popping is gone!

There is still a whurring noise coming from somewhere up front. I have no idea where. It sounds like it could be coming from the front differential or something.

Bit of a tangent....Seth what kind of cat's are you using? No CEL's?

They are plain jane standard universal cats. No service engine lights. I'm very pleased with them. $175 total expense

Seth - what did you cut the end of the driveshaft with? That must have taken some time.

2002 X5 244,000 miles
2004 325i 109,000 miles

I used a big cutting wheel on a grinder. It took about 3 minutes maybe.

I ordered a rebuilt drivers side CV axle from Rockauto.com. I'm pretty certain it is worn out. The boot has been shredded for awhile and I had the wife move the steering wheel back and forth while I looked. It definitely moved around too much.

Rockauto doesn't have everything for these vehicles but what they do have comes right away. They already sent me a shipped confirmation after a couple of hours.

I hope you kept it cool with frequent water quenches. Any reddenning from the heat of the wheel would have softened the steel up nicely.

2002 X5 3.0 244,000 miles
2004 325i 109,000 miles

Good job. Thanks for the detailed posts!