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Driveshaft came apart while pulling the diff

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    Driveshaft came apart while pulling the diff

    I was in the process of removing the diff from my ‘89 325i... as I pulled back on the diff, I didn’t realize the driveshaft was still attached (even though the 4 bolts were removed), so the rear half of the driveshaft came out of the car with the diff. It came out very easily, with little to no resistance.

    Do I just push it back down into the front half?

    Or do I have to align it in a particular manner?

    Don’t want to have driveshaft vibrations from putting it back together wrong.

    #2
    The front and rear u joints need to be in plane with each other, so yes, you will need to properly orientate it.

    The factory (usually) marks the two halves, with a white dot, on each side, respectively.
    '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

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      #3
      Argh. Ok. Thanks. Do I have to pull all of the exhaust and heat shielding to be able to see those marks....???

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        #4
        Unless you have x-ray vision, yes.

        You will need to take the driveshaft out of the car.
        '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

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          #5
          Originally posted by e30austin View Post
          Unless you have x-ray vision, yes.

          You will need to take the driveshaft out of the car.


          Dang it.

          I was really hoping to avoid that. What a pain in the ass.

          Thanks for the info!

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            #6
            If there are no white marks, how else can I align it properly?

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              #7
              Originally posted by mach schnell View Post
              If there are no white marks, how else can I align it properly?
              Look for any scratches or other type of indicator of alignment. Otherwise you're screwed.

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                #8
                Originally posted by roguetoaster View Post

                Look for any scratches or other type of indicator of alignment. Otherwise you're screwed.
                Have to take it to a driveshaft shop at that point?

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                  #9
                  Like Austin said, the u-joints just need to align with each other. They can only align 2 different ways. More than likely it won't vibrate in both position.

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                    #10
                    I got it back together. I found the white marks, and I think it’s together correctly. No vibration so far....

                    Thanks for all the help.

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