axle shaft question

[e30m3ochoa]

Hello, im going to be replasing the rear axle shaft on my 89 325i and im not so sure what tools i would need tp do the job. Any help will be welcome.

[Cletonius]

You'll need a Bentley manual.




- A 30mm? socket for the axle nuts
- A 8mm? allen for the axle flange bolts
- axle puller/pusher (sometimes they get stuck)
- wheel bearings + backing plates (bearings sometimes break when removing the axles)
- wheel bearing press tool


Edit: and a Bentley manual

[oliver.r]

just did this and josh hit all the points

[oliver.r]

you will need to replace the nut and nut retainer also

[Cletonius]

Thanks Oliver :D

I reused axle nuts but obviously replaced the lockplates with new. IMO there's no compelling reason for new nuts unless the old ones are mangled.

[Earendil]

On the axle pusher/puller, if they get stuck, they are REALLY stuck. I tried to knock mine out with a sledge, gave up and bought a 3 hook puller (similar to this one). I then had to use a 3 foot breaker bar on the puller to turn it because it became so tight. Shortly after it gave I had news crews showing up to report on earthquake activity.

Hit it with as much PBblaster as possible, and start that days in advance.

[Todd Black 88]

If his car has spent all it's life in California, it should come out pretty easily. My M3 is a California car, with 210,000 miles on the original shafts, and I changed them this summer. Two swings on a 3 lb sledge and the both popped out.

[Earendil]

If his car has spent all it's life in California, it should come out pretty easily. My M3 is a California car, with 210,000 miles on the original shafts, and I changed them this summer. Two swings on a 3 lb sledge and the both popped out.

Perhaps, but I wouldn't place money on it :)
Mine was a NW car its entire life, though it had closer to 300K on the clock when I popped them out. Whose to say I wasn't the first one to do that though..