Catastrophic Driveshaft failure out of warranty - 2013 model
 

Hey all. Purpose of this post is to let all know that the driveshaft pn ending in 866 that replaced the "defective" driveshaft can also fail and in our case catastrophically - happened w/o warning at 80 mph going over a slight change of grade (an overpass). The u joint went through cover panel behind left front wheel, melted right through it and then hit the fuel emissions line. Thank God, car did not catch fire or blow up. I was not aware of driveshaft issue and neither was my local shop nor two different Master Techs who are long done with being at the dealer. This part was installed in post April manufacture date 2013 E70s and is not covered by the recall/extended warranty on these vehicles. As the car could have caught fire and my daughter potentially killed I didn't take no when dealer said couldn't help as out of warranty. BMW repaired the vehicle at their cost - well over $30,000.

Notice the u-joint - no, I didn't put it in plasti-dip - was red hot and instantly went right though the panel. The white inside the hole is the fuel emissions line. The open motor pic is of the oil pan. Metal instantly went through the motor. i pushed for a new turbo as well as they were going to bolt old one back on and agreed with me that it should also be replaced.

Catastrophic Driveshaft failure out of warranty - 2013 model
 

What a story. Was the driveshaft replaced due to a recall or something initially and the replacement grenaded? Which engine?

I had a customer who struck something like a parking curb came broke his front propeller (drive shaft) and it acts like a steel baseball bat smacking into everything it can. In his case was the transmission: dented the crap out of the pan, put a hole in the pan and broke off a couple of the bolt holes in the transmission case.

We found a shop that thinks outside the box was able to put a new oil pan onto the broken transmission case using through bolts past the broken off flange.

Good job standing your ground and getting BMW to fix the car.

I have the front driveshaft on our 166,000 2010 35d during trans replacement. Will inspect U-joint. How many miles were on your X5?

Edit: Looks like the diesel front driveshaft on the M57 diesels does not use a U-joint. One less thing to worry about.

Attachment 80148

No, the models that became coming off the assembly line in May 2013 and after got the driveshaft that BMW was using to replace the "defective" driveshaft. Only 107k. Here in Northeast, bit of snow and salt on roads. I had just had about 4k of work and overdue work done a month prior by my indie, rear airbags, plugs, reprograming, valve cover etc. They test drove vehicle, all was fine. Did begin making a slight noise when slowing down to a stop which seemed revolution based with the wheels. If I had any idea that was something that could have caused such, I wouldn't have waited for it to get worse. Was thinking a CV on its way.

So, let's all who see this know its a critical part that should be inspected annually and probably just replaced every 50 to 75k.

Catastrophic Driveshaft failure out of warranty - 2013 model
 

We just bought e70 with according to realoem, the u-joint vs. guibo, so I will definitely be keeping an eye on that part, especially considering 50i and the stupendous torque that goes through that joint.

You answered my next Q which was did you have any symptoms leading up to the self destruct? Wow at 80 that must have been terrifying!

Which motor or did I miss?

3.0L motor. Yes, was very traumatic for her and now that much more uncfortable driving a 24 y.o. VW Cabrio after seeing that happen with the X5. Not sure I wrote this in the thread, but the smoke from 8 quarts of oil hitting hot surfaces including the exhaust was equally traumatic. We didn't know what actually happened till two weeks later as car was towed to indy shop in that area and owner came down with COVID so was out of comission and he couldn't tell from above just want had happened.

BTW, kudos to BMW NA and BMW of Norwood. BMW could have made it a big PIA and protracted fight. I know how to complain, how to write and how to position such. In this case, the top three people in the US all got an overnight letter at the same time. And, it included the fact that our daughter who is an aspiring photographer and appears in Rolling Stone monthly could have been killed. Yes, I think they were able to connect the dots on that and a few other things in the nature of what I expected. They had 10 days to reply, my reply came via a phone call in less than two hours.

There hasn't been an active recall for the 13' models, but if the driveshafts were installed up to May 13', did they ever include the 13' model in a recall for these?

Now....will OP also report this to NHTSA, where his report will lead to the greater good? Or did BMW calculate right and once hie is personally taken care of, he falls silent?


Impressive pictures for sure....

Hey Crusty. You'll have to wait to find out won't you? Thanks for the appreciation for getting this out there for starters. Not.