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^Thanks for the detailed response, and yes I have the center support bearing disconnected. But I still can't get even an inch of room between the driveshaft and the piece sticking out of the differential. There's not enough play front to rear for me to push the driveshaft (towards front of the vehicle) to have room. And I can't move the driveshaft diagonally either (toward front of the car but also downward to either side) because the exhaust is there.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to try lowering and/or disconnecting part of the exhaust. Hopefully that gives me enough room. I really do not want to have to also disconnect the front flex disc to get more freedom of movement.
Yeah, hopefully removing the exhaust will get you the space you need.
...and if it doesn't, you're probably going to have to remove the front flex disc, too.
Annoying but not the end of the world. Hopefully this fixes your issue.
...and if it doesn't, you're probably going to have to remove the front flex disc, too.
Annoying but not the end of the world. Hopefully this fixes your issue.
Got it off! Was able to disconnect then droop the exhaust.
Question though, do I need to transfer the raised bearings on the old flex disc to the new one? Because these don't look similar enough to me.
Or are they raised enough? Because it fits pretty snug. Perhaps a design revision?
EDIT: I called FCP Euro and they said it should be good to go, no parts swap needed.
Last edited by WolfpackC63; 11-21-2022 at 01:09 PM.
Got it off! Was able to disconnect then droop the exhaust.
Question though, do I need to transfer the raised bearings on the old flex disc to the new one? Because these don't look similar enough to me.
Or are they raised enough? Because it fits pretty snug. Perhaps a design revision?
EDIT: I called FCP Euro and they said it should be good to go, no parts swap needed.
Weird. Both of mine (old one and new one) looked like your new one. It looks like your original was thinner, and maybe had those tall raised parts to take up the gap.
Also noticed the big ring around the flange on your driveshaft, which appears to be what was gouging the bejesus out of your exhaust. My driveshaft doesn't have that. I wonder what these differences are all about. And I wonder if you could remove that ring without upsetting the balance. Removing that might fix the problem by itself.
Last edited by AMGSIXTHREE; 11-21-2022 at 05:09 PM.
Yeah, x2 on what AMGSIXTHREE said. I would use the new one as is. It looks like they just beefed up the flexy bit. Torque to spec though, (whatever that is).
Just noticed that the passenger side of your y-pipe sits quite a bit higher than the driver side in this photo.
Is that how it normally sits? Or was it just cockeyed when you took the picture?
That's super odd. Yes it is that ring/cover that is hitting the exhaust. I wonder what it's true purpose is, maybe as a heat shield of sorts for the guibo. My car is a 2012, what's yours?
Also it's just the angle of the photo and/or when I propped up the loose exhaust section it might be pushing up on half of the exhaust section, making it cockeyed.
Last edited by WolfpackC63; 11-22-2022 at 09:47 AM.
That's super odd. Yes it is that ring/cover that is hitting the exhaust. I wonder what it's true purpose is, maybe as a heat shield of sorts for the guibo. My car is a 2012, what's yours?
Also it's just the angle of the photo and/or when I propped up the loose exhaust section it might be pushing up on half of the exhaust section, making it cockeyed.
Mine is a 2009.
The fact that the flex disc was thinner on yours is weird. Not sure why they would do that. With BMW, usually the non-M cars get the thinner giubo.
I don't know enough about these cars yet to know the changes that have been made to individual parts over the years. Maybe someone else with a facelift car can chime in re: the ring on the driveshaft.
Drove the car after putting everything back together, annnnnnnd have a driveshaft vibration.
I didn't mark the shaft & LSD when I took this apart. Reexamining it again also shows no marks from the factory. So I unbolted everything again, rotated the driveshaft 180 degrees, and bolted them back together. Vibration seems gone. Nice and smooth at 90 mph. Anyone else ever have that issue?
Drove the car after putting everything back together, annnnnnnd have a driveshaft vibration.
I didn't mark the shaft & LSD when I took this apart. Reexamining it again also shows no marks from the factory. So I unbolted everything again, rotated the driveshaft 180 degrees, and bolted them back together. Vibration seems gone. Nice and smooth at 90 mph. Anyone else ever have that issue?
Interesting. Might it have been cocked a little when you first bolted it up?
Some drivelines are balanced as an assembly, but I don't think this is one of them. I've personally only had that issue with Fords.
it is always best practice to align the driveshaft with the differential when taking apart and putting back together, but our cars do not need this done.
Yup, if I'm ever in a similar situation again (this car or others) I'll mark them beforehand. Whether stated to do or not, not making this mistake again.
Now to get my climate control module fixed, lol. Already swapped units. Still doesn't work
Yup, if I'm ever in a similar situation again (this car or others) I'll mark them beforehand. Whether stated to do or not, not making this mistake again.
Now to get my climate control module fixed, lol. Already swapped units. Still doesn't work
Is the exhaust clearance issue fixed??
Or do you have go be on the track for it to happen?
11-20-2022, 11:42 PM
