Driveshaft woes..

[Scarlet_Pimpernel]

Hey guys, lately I have been having vibration issues with my drive shaft on my '89 325is manual. I found a "good used" lol drive shaft. Upon further inspection i noticed the DS I bought has a threaded 3-hole flange for where the Flex disk/Guibo mounts to.

The DS on my car has regular bolt-thru style flange...

What other differences are there between these two? Also what is the reason for this? Did this come on a one year only car or something? Or is it modified by some one?

I did find both syles on Turner motorsports site. But they do not say why. They just offer both styles.

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-4969-driveshaft-e30-325iisic-manual-transmission-1988-1991-threaded-flange.aspx

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5042-driveshaft-e30-325iisic-manualtransmission-1988-1991-non-threaded-flange.aspx

Any info or help is appreciated. Thanks!
Pics of the Ds im talking about..

[Stanley Rockafella]

I believe the one you bought used is for the older e30 that had the eta engines.

Best bet is to have your current one rebuilt with replaceable joints. There are a few shops in Vancouver who do it and balance it on a high speed balancer (needed) for reasonable prices.

[SkiFree]

"replaceable joints" is driveshaft-shop code for "we don't have the tools to stake the oem u-joints anymore".

To do it right you want to have a shop who still can stake the joints in (only problem is that the staking tool hasn't been made for 15 years, most existing tools are worn out).

If someone is selling you a "replaceable joint" driveshaft just be sure it comes with a warranty. There is just a higher statistical chance that you will experience a premature failure (which I have seen on occasion).

[Stanley Rockafella]

what about ones with greaseable joints? aren't those held in with clips? (replaceable without staking in the new joints).

If you can replace them with the clip style and balance them, dont' you have a "serviceable" set of joints that can easily be replaced later on?

[jlevie]

If properly executed, I don't think it matters whether the u-joints are staked or retained with circlips. The quality of the work is more important. Those done by Drive Line Service of Portland have an excellent reputation.

[SkiFree]

If properly executed,

Exactly,

I have seen a number from Driveline Service of Portland that have failed due to bad positioning of the circlip groove allowing for u-joint play. I'm sure the issues stemmed from a "new guy at the time" or "friday after lunch" mistakes, as most have been ok.

Again, this is why I said you need to be sure of a warranty.

[Scarlet_Pimpernel]

Hey guys, just wanted to post an update and not leave anyone hanging. I ended putting this mystery ds in my car along with a new guibo, new csb and some rattle can action. Its been a few days now and its running and driving better than before! Thanks for all the input.