Very close to my 4.8is experience. First the drivers side at ~40k this Summer, then the passenger last month at ~44k.

Looks like its about 50k miles up here in Seattle area where we do get real weather and because of excuse like public safety or something they think they need to salt the roads. While swapping the big summer tires/wheels for the winter skinnys I discovered my RF outer boot is done. They were last replaced 90k.
Based on the responses here, I'll go ahead and schedule my next CV boot maintenance for 190k. Maybe Powerflex should make CV boots...

I'm not saying I would use a $48 axle assembly. I'm just amazed they exist. I only use OEM or high quality aftermarket parts on my X5

I buy parts from rockauto and advance auto all the time,

The people who are so thick headed with the BMW only parts lets pay a 500$ premium for them, is just beyond me, i agree for CERTAIN items but most wear items not really. These are the same people who will buy $300+ or whatever the cost BMW bags for air suspension, instead of $99 arnotts.

A lot of people need to realize whether you like it or not, so much stuff is made in china now, and most companies just slap a label on it with their premium name and you pay the extra $ for nothing.

Any and all aftermarket parts I've ever bought including cv's have did fine in all the cars, there are alot of good aftermarket brand names you just need to know what they are and where to find the best pricing.

Another prime example, spacers, people always say this and that about ebay ones, i ran ebay 20mm spacers on my Audi b5 a4 i sold 3 months back for over 1.5yr with no issues, and near the end drive it like you stole it doesnt even describe how much abuse i put on it in corners and throwing it around. Most of it is just common sense with parts.


Heres the link, Its for your 2001 4.4 as well, see the top 2 with the hearts? That means those are the most ordered and popular parts for that particular category aka (Cv halfshafts category)

2001 BMW X5 CV Half Shaft Assembly

How long your CV boots last depends on how you park. If you often park with your front wheels all cocked in any directions other than straight ahead, then expect to replace your CV boots more often. I have always make it a rule to park with the front wheels straight ahead, whenever possible, and never had to change any boots less than 80k miles or 7-8 years on all of my previous front-wheel drive cars (Hondas & Toyotas). I got about 85K miles (a bit over 8 years) out of my CV boots on the X.

Most popular just means more people order it because its so ridiculously cheap. Now if you could give us a review on these axles, that would help. Notice any vibration issues at any speed (slow to high) or extra noises? A slight imbalance in the shaft assembly, or some not so great bearings in the CV assembly will be noticed by many of the people on this forum, as I'm guessing most of us are more in-tune with the way our vehicles drive. That's the reason we drive these cars in the first place, else we'd all own Honda Civics and Chevy Suburbans.

I'm not sure the parking thing plays a major part. I don't think any of our cars ever get parked with the wheels turned for more than a couple hours per year.

But, looking back through my sevice history, it looks like only the R/F boot has ever been replaced, @81k, @91k, and now @141k. So, assuming the L/F is still original, its now up to 141k...

I'll be more then happy to write one up once i get around to replacing it. And are you getting at that im out of tune with my car? Lol.. Your right most people drive their bmws but have no knowledge of doing maintenance work yet are first to jump the gun.

Since people like spending tons of money for no reason, im not going to force my opinion or anything, go ahead, ill just keep maintaining mine which so far costs me about the same as a regular Japanese sedan, 1. because i diy, 2. i know how to shop around.

And no my ride isnt "compromised" guarantee you runs just as good as stock or better.

I would definitely love to buy $48 axles if they turn out as nice as stock, I just wouldn't want to be the guinea pig. So thank you for being first! Looking forward to your review.

I also try to be as cheap as possible and never buy anything from the dealer, but I have run into problems with cheap knockoffs and am somewhat leery of 'good' deals on major parts.

For cheap Chinese axles at 48 bucks a pop, you might get lucky and not have issues, but I'd rather preventatively replace my boots and repack with fresh grease every 40-50k miles in an afternoon at 30 bucks, then get rid of my Genuine Axles and replace with Chinese made, and unknown longevity in my opinion. Just driving it until the boots rip and then junking a good BMW axle just because "replacing the whole axle is only 50 bucks and easier than doing the boot" is not the way to go in my humble opinion.

If you're washing wheels, etc, or want to jack the car up a bit it takes 2 mins to see if you are starting to get tears in between the folds of the boots. If you have some tears in between the folds you're going to be replacing the boots soon.

I had the pleasure of doing my front wheel bearings this spring, and at 68k miles I had some cracks in between the folds. I looked at it this way, either:

A) They had been replaced once before in the car's ten year old life and the replacements were the ones that were showing cracks, OR

B) These were original 10 year old rubber CV boots


Instead of waiting for grease to make a mess on my spotless undercarriage I decided it best to replace them (GKN Loebro boot kits are 15 bucks apiece from Pelican) and hopefully either get another 10 years and 68k miles out of them, or at least get another 40k or so, if they were in fact the second set of boots on my X.


And I definitely didn't have to hold my breath hoping that the cheaper replacement axles made in CHEEN-A for pennies on the dollar (if you think about making the whole axle with materials, labor, etc, shipping it over in containers and selling to retailers, God the wholesale on a $50 axle has to be $25 or less, which means it probably costs $10 to make one in China! Blows your mind), when I was completed with the work.


My advice will always be to replace pre-emptively, using OEM quality boot kits and fresh grease each time, and your original axles will probably outlive your X5.

If you noticed your last boot set starting showing cracks at 45k, then you know you probably have a 40k maintenance interval for that part, its sort of like expansion tanks and Tsats in the M54 cooling system, more of an interval thing than just a "wait till it breaks" thing.

I will agree with what Ricky is saying, if you notice it, do the boots immediantly,

I let mine go to long which is why i am just going to replace the axle, i did a total of 6 boots on 3 different cars last year before i bought my X and redoing another axle once again now on the X wasnt on my bucket list. Im just going to replace it cause i dont want the mess plus ive driven on it for so long im sure its contaminated, maybe not, i'll keep it anyways in case lol.