Rebuilt Driveshafts?

[bmwman91]

Since I am overhauling my suspension, wheel bearings, swapping in a Quaife diff (teehee) and various other items this winter***, I am also thinking about putting in a fresh driveshaft. The one that is in there has 230K miles and has seen a hell of a lot of abuse, and when I had it out a couple of years ago the U-joints felt a little "notchy". There was no play, but they did not rotate as smoothly as I would think a nice new one would.

Anyway...a new driveshaft is on the order of $800-1000, assuming there are actually any in stock in the US still. Reputable-seeming places like Turner Motorsport and Bimmerworld rebuilt ones for ~$500. These are machined and modified to use replaceable U-joints since the OEM ones are not serviceable. Online research has confused me...some people say that it is fine, and others insist that a rebuilt E30 driveshaft is garbage. Has anyone here bought a rebuilt one from Turner or Bimmerworld and put a few years of hard use on it?

I would certainly prefer not to drop $1000 on a new one if a $500 rebuild is just as good, but I will do what I need to for this rebuild since the goal is buttery smooth operation!






***Yes I know that there is no such thing as winter in the CA Bay Area. People here lose their shit when the weather report says that things will drop below 40 degrees lol.

[TobyB]

Driveline Service of Portland has built 4 driveshafts for me for various BMWs over the years,
and all have been modified for replaceable u- joints.
All have lasted many years, (one for 15+ so far)
several at driveline speeds of up to 8000 rpm.

My experience.

Also, as long as they are not seriously binding, I have used notchy ones
with no ill effects.
But I know what you mean...

t

[BMWManiac]

There is a driveshaft replacement shop in Texas that I purchased this year....it was like $480 shipped and I sent them my core for $80 refundable charge....so around $400 all said and done!

[bmwman91]

Thanks for the input folks. I ended up going with a rebuilt one from Turner Motorsport since they have always been good to me over the 12 years that I have bought stuff from them. When I get it I'll take some photos of the machining that is done around the U-joints. They outsource the work to Beyer Driveline in Chandler, AZ (just FYI). Beyer seems to be well regarded for their work.