Dorman or Powerttrain Industries - E30 Drive Shaft replacement

[95BMWIC]

Called a couple of drive line shops - explained what I had - BMW e30 - and I got a little pushback on whether they really could do it.. Both state they didn't see the replacement u-joint in their paper catalogs.. I stated I could locate it (but then i got wait time in shipping) and bring it in.. Since the ujoint was staked - both shops suggested "it might be best" that I get a new driveshaft.. depending on the inner lip whether they could get a circlip installed (or something) . THey'd both be happy to look to see what they could do - friendly enough, but I need this ol girl back up and running.

So basically for time constraints - I went with the Dorman through RockAuto ... $525 shipped - It has the aftermarket replacement u-joints and Looks / sounds like they come from the Reno NV factory - prolly the same Powertrain industries since Dorman owns 40% of that company. Don't have too much time in messing around with locating the best deal unfortunately.

[cory58]

A little late to the thread, but Drive Line Service of North Atlanta does a lot of BMW driveshafts. They used to advertise in Roundel.

I used to visit Atlanta regularly for business, so I took them my Touring driveshaft for rebuild. They turned it around in less than a day. I'm also fairly sure they'll ship driveshafts.

https://driveshaftrepair-norcross.com/

[roguetoaster]

So basically for time constraints - I went with the Dorman through RockAuto ... $525 shipped

Hopefully you won't get shafted...

[Panici]

Perhaps not relevant to OP, but might be useful for anyone with a ZF320 or 24v swapped car.

I bought a new/upgraded E36 shaft and swapped the CSB over.
Needed slight modification to fit the car, but it's nice to finally have a reliable driveshaft in there. This is the 5th one that's been in since 2014 for various reasons.


Post 480 of my build thread:

Installed an HDT Automotive (Corey Ellis) upgraded driveshaft w/1310 Spicer u-joints.

Swapped out the CSB to an E30 unit. Unfortunately the driveshaft will not fit a bearing cover on the front-facing half of the CSB, and I ordered the wrong cover for the rear half.
Since it sits above the exhaust heatshield I decided to run it without those cover plates.

Also had to grind down both of the u-joint edges for clearance to the rear subframe/chassis.

[Maybe Magpie]

People in this thread mention getting a quality CSB and I was considering the JXB one but the only result I found for that one on here was a guy with a 24v swap having issues with his due to three-bolt QC issues, has anyone here with an M20 tried out the JXB option? Or am I best off just replacing it with a Febi one whenever the driveshaft is out in the future when it comes time for a rebuild or replacement? I've got some vibration, nothing too bad and it's mostly from the exhaust I have but I'm trying to address common bearing/bushing wear spots and CSBs are one of them I thought of. My driveshaft is still in okay shape as far as I can tell, but someday I plan to manual swap, yank the diff and rebuild it + give it extended studs and given I'd be needing a manual driveshaft anyway, seems an ideal time.

[moatilliatta]

I tried JXB CSB on my S50 E30. I have powertrain IND driveshaft which... has some run out... I noticed this by installing the JBX CSB... Bad vibration.. It could work with a good condition factory shaft that has better tolerances. Id use OEM / Genuine center support bearing.

I did love the direct engagement feel with the JXB. Just would vibrate everything to death if left in there.