CV Boot life
 

What kind of life re you seeing from your front outer CV boots? Mine are good for 60K miles. Its only the outer boots as I'm sure the turning of the front wheels adds extra flexing stress. All of the others are original for 12 years and 185K miles. The first replacement was at the dealer and they would only replace the entire axle assembly for around $1500. Later I went to my mechanic and he would do it for about $350 each. The boot is only about a $20 part so the rest is labor. I can always tell when I need a boot when I see the dark grease being thrown on the insides of the wheels. Seems like they should last longer. By the way, mine is a California car, never sees freezing temperatures or salt.

I think both of mine (outer front boots) died before 60k miles, but I'd have to pull the file and check. CPO replaced them one at a time as they died one week apart -- each with it's own $50 deductible of course…

I would have to agree with the 60K mark for the life expectancy of the axle boot. I recall having the drivers boot tear open on me first. My e53 also is a California car, no extreme weather conditions or salt.

I have a torn inside boot on the passenger driver side since i bought it at 63k last november, at 76.8k now,, didnt feel like replacing it yet, was going to do boots but the whole cv axle assembly with installed boots is like $48 off rockauto, 1500$ for replacement is insane, cant believe people pay these prices and complain about maintainence cost, its like a 2hr job diy working at normal pace.

IMO a 60k life expectancy is about right. The front outer boots are the ones that do the most movement, and as such are subject to the highest wear.

You can save yourself the hassle of having to clean all the spattered grease off if you do periodic inspection of the boot...I prefer to change them prematurely to scraping blobs of grease off.

I'd rather replace a set of 30 dollar axle boots every 50-60k or so, preventatively, as opposed to letting boots rip, spew grease everywhere and risk compromising the joints, and having to go with cheap Chinese replacements which may or may not be up to the same quality as the OE axle.

I Actually get a different number than most here. So the 01 4.4 has been owned since 2002 and was bought as a CPO. Going through the records last week to try and find the warranty on a part that failed. Out of the 11 years I have owned it, I've replaced the boots every 2 years or so. The driver side has been replaced 5 times and the passenger side 4. The odd number is because the first time I changed it, I only did the drivers side. After that, I started replacing them in pairs. I get roughly 15K 20K out of them. Bought the OE boots twice and then started to buy the cheap ones from autohauzaz for $10 because I was replacing them so often. The very first time it happened, the dealer did goodwill and replaced them because it happened after 2 months of ownership. After it happened again, they tried to charge me and I saw the estimate and said "No". I've checked everything, had the X on the rack, etc to see if something was askew or if the boots were shot before I even put them on... but I guess the X just doesn't like em very much.

CV axle assembly with boots for $48? Please send me their contact info. You really should get the boot replaced before moisture and dirt ruin the CV joint, but for $48 dollars, who cares?

You most likely will, when they start producing vibes throughout the front end from lackluster build quality and nearly zero in quality control. Aftermarket items like axles and drive shafts are definitely NOT something I'd throw on my truck...

My 4.8is split them at 47K. left went first at 45K, six months later the right split at 47K.

20K life mentioned is short but I am sure driving style, hwy vs city turning vs temp/humidity all plays a part.

I like the posting above...inspect for cracking, any visable signs, replace with OE boots. 2 hr job.

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.

Good plan, you could always drop it off at an axle shop (your genuine axle after you replaced) to have them check the joint, bearings, etc and if they determine its still usable, re-boot it and keep it as a spare LOL!

If im up for the mess i may just do the boots to be honest lol, dven after driving so long, the grease that everything on the inside is coated in, is enough to provide a great barrier, id just probably need to clean it out real good, thats my main pet peeve is its a simple job but incredibly dirty even with gloves, papertowels etc, grease still gets everywhere.

definitely keep the OE axle, and if the CV is shot, you can replace just that portion, or have a driveline shop do a decent rebuild of it. then swap it back in when the boot goes bad on the axle again in 40k.

Yeah, that CV joint grease is something else. Sticks everywhere and is hard to clean off no matter what. It's jobs like this that make me want to find space in the garage for a big parts washer.

I have changed a clamp that was causing a leak but other than that all boots are original at 110,000 miles.

That's exactly what I have done. Sitting on a shelf in my garage.

never get the cv joints rebuilt always get new, the rebuild destroys the case hardening the the cv balls run on, and so life expectancy is reduced, its a poor mans cure.

110K may be the record. Did you spray the boots with silicon or do anything else to extend their life? The warm climate must help?

Just had my first OE outer front CV boot fail at over 175k miles. These last for over 10 yrs/170k miles when NEVER exposed to sand/salt/magnesium chloride spread on ice/snow covered roads. I clean/rubber dress them every fall, and the X is garaged when road crews are out spreading crap.

No, only thing I do is have the undercarriage sprayed at the carwash. It may be the climate. It has spent it's life here, always garaged, never out when the roads are bad.

Salt is definitely a factor as bc and Tiag have shown us. Hearing their stories firsthand I am a firm believer in the fact that anything with rubber bushings, boots, etc will degrade faster when exposed.

At 65k earlier this year (before replacing all) my front suspension was basically shot, cv boots were cracking, bushings on the suspension were dryed out and had tons of play. And i have very little mileage. But with ten years in the northeast, you could have a 5k a year garage queen but if its driven in winter you will have issues. Even if you are a good boy and go to the pay n spray and hose the undercarriage down, it still finds its way to penetrate anything with rubber in it.

Pat, just so you know you can buy a complete outer CV joint new from BMW which comes with the boot kit, its about $150 a side, but its quality. I know your X5 is your "sunday funday" car so it doesnt get driven much, but if you know its spewing grease, I would do the replacement of both sides sooner that later, in order to avoid rebuild costs and possible replacement of the outer joints. If there is a crack thats spewing grease, there is a chance that grit can get inside the joint and any marring on the bearings will ruin it.

If you have a power washer at your house, just get a bottle of simple green/brakcleen and spray wherever grease has spewed out, and power wash the shit out of the whole area with the wheel off, before doing the boot removal, will help greatly with cleanup, better than spending hours with a rag. GL man!

I replaced front and rear suspension including subframe bushings at around 95,000 miles which was a year and a half ago. It certainly tightened everything up but nothing was worn to the point it had to be replaced.

175K !!! Rubber dress? Tell me more please.

Both the outer boots on then 12 yr ole X5 were gone. It has 95k miles.
IMHO, it's the age not just miles, and mine is always garage with mild summer.
Also, if you drive gently like not lock-to-lock on parking lot, sharp turn then gun it, the CV will last longer.

I jackstand the truck, spray Maguires Tire cleaner on them, let soak, hose off, wipe clean dry while turning the road wheel and spray with Maguires Endurance tire/rubber dressing.

FYI to those who garage their X. ANY electric motor in the vehicle garage , fans, washer/driers, electric exhaust vents on gas hot water heaters, produce ozone that ATTACKS/DEGRADES every rubber item in the garage (CV boots, window/door/shaft seals, tires, vacuum/coolant hoses). Try to keep electric motors off while vehicle is garaged.

Thanks, great advice. I'm off to get some Maguires Endurance dressing. Never thought about the ozone but you are right about that.

Luckily ours is parked in a carport then. Keeps the rain/sun/frost off it, only downside is its cold in the morning. But that's why it has 4 heated seats in it :)

@Ricky,

Thanks for the tip about getting the grease off (not to come off as a dick but im pretty well versed in that area of cleanin stuff lol)

And its no 2nd car no more, sold my A4 a month back, granted i work from home though :p.

No offense taken man, I figured you would be, but any advice to help you work "smarter not harder" is what I try to help with, you'd be surprised at the amount of us on the forums who would sit around for an hour each corner spraying and wiping down grease with just rags lol!

But then again, you work from home so you do know how to work smarter not harder already LOL!

Mine were changed at 40k in pairs. at 138k I'm doing the drivers side. I got a boot from O'rileys it was "Precision" has a 1 year warranty. It was $15 guess we'll see how long it last.

Front outer axle boot - both (Left and Right)

1st - Jan 2011 @ 50k miles
2nd - Mar 2015 @ 90k miles

I did mine at around 30k and again at around 45k.

First time around I used a brand I dont remember that was softer and more rubbery though. At 45k I used FEBI which is a bit stiffer and feels almost like plastic, but still very pliable. I think these are much better.