24V AWD Swap Knowledge Base

[Sebbe]

Does anyone know if the E30 outer ball joint will fit the E34? They look very similar and the locking nut is m14x1.5 on both cars. One of the outer ball joints on my 525ix is bad, and i really dont want to spend 300$ on a replacement control arm.

[Sebbe]

Thanks! After some gentle hammering it popped right off.

[Nisse Järnet]

No the outers just pulls of, but don't break anything :) On the inners you have to bend the locking thing around the whole CV. You will understand when you take the boot off.

[flyboyx]

the inner pulls off as i recall. it has those three little bearing wheels. i think i remember the outer having a circlip that goes the opposite way the e30's axle does?

[Nisse Järnet]

They just pull off

Yep, thats right!

[nomansland92]

They just pull off

[Sebbe]

Does anyone know if the 525ix outer cv joint just pulls off the axle, or if there is a c-clip or anything?

[nando]

Input is in the wrong place.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Does anyone happen to know if the internals of a e30 M3 rack fit in a ix rack? I'm sure no one does and I kind of doubt it would work. If it did, I know the cost vs benefit wouldn't equal out, but I've just been thinking about it recently.

Won't work - they are completely different.

Have you looked at the guts for each? Is the iX rack a different length or has the input in a different place than (I @$$ume) the E36 rack?

We know the housings and mounts are different, just wondering about the rack gear and pinion itself.

[Nisse Järnet]

Thanks, interesting !

[stonea]

the input shaft is further from the diff so it should clear just fine. It didn't clear the E34 diff in the E34 pan, but that's because the E34 diff is a couple inches further forward than the E30. The E34 diff wouldn't clear the E30 rack either, at least not without modifications to the oil pan or pushing the engine further back.

Maybe thats what I was thinking of. I need to read up on all of this stuff again.

[Sebbe]

it only worked on my pc, not my phone.
these links are better:
full german PDF: BMW_525ix_manual
translated word doc: 525ix_manual_translated

[Nisse Järnet]

Here is the manual as promised, only the german version. I will try to make a quick google translate version also. Ive only read some of it, but it seems the 525ix is a lot more sophisticated than i thought, the transfer case and rear differential is actually PWM controlled. Not on/off as i thought.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php...60416306367097

The download doesn't work very good, file is corrupted it says :S File size is wrong so it appears that it only downloads a tiny bit then stops :P I'll try later.

[Sebbe]

quick google translate version without pictures http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php...71304050979414

[nando]

the input shaft is further from the diff so it should clear just fine. It didn't clear the E34 diff in the E34 pan, but that's because the E34 diff is a couple inches further forward than the E30. The E34 diff wouldn't clear the E30 rack either, at least not without modifications to the oil pan or pushing the engine further back.