CSB discovery

[Jon325i]

The center support bearing on my '91 has been failing so a replacement was inevitable. A friend of mine had a complete driveshaft from an '87 325is which I figured would be a simple no-brainer swap. Wrong. It turns out the CSB in the older E30 is slightly larger in diameter (when comparing the outer surfaces of the bearing casing) and the bracket with the slotted mounting holes on the '87 car is wider than the one on my '91 by roughly a 1/4". What this all ultimately means is that the larger CSB simply won't fit in the confines of the floor tunnel and the holes on the mounting bracket do not line up properly. Below is a side-by-side comparison I snapped with my cell phone (the '87 on the left, the '91 on the right).



Just something to be mindful of the next time you find yourself in a similar situation.

[fliplap]

Yep, CSBs after 8/87 are different.

I started in on changing my guibo yesterday only to discover the center support rubber is absolutely destroyed. Time to put in another order over at pelicanparts. They need a frequent shopper program for me at this point!