vibration dampener

[jeffw]

I bought a brand new drive shaft and it has a vibration dampener on the front end. I want to take a sawzall and cut it off cause my shifter rubs on it and i don't like that. Is there anything i need to worry about with doin that?

[87-325ic]

yeah. you dont need to sawzall that thing off.
it twists off the bolts a certain way, but i dont remember exactly.
i took mine off a while ago when i did my guibo/ csb and shifter stuff.

[Bimmerista]

Just make sure you don't screw up anything else and you're fine.

[jeffw]

this one isn't bolted on. I believe its welded on. I figure if i just cut about a half inch away from the drive shaft it should be fine

[newman]

Since you're clearly looking to have an unbalanced driveshaft by hacking it off with a fucking sawzall, I'd smash it with a sledgehammer a few times too, for good measure.

[jeffw]

lol its at the front connected to the tranny. its not gonna unbalance it.

[twothrees]

Since you're clearly looking to have an unbalanced driveshaft by hacking it off with a fucking sawzall, I'd smash it with a sledgehammer a few times too, for good measure.

That was funny, thank you.

[newman]

lol its at the front connected to the tranny. its not gonna unbalance it.

Oh good point. I always forget that E30s operate outside the laws of physics.

[nando]

Oh good point. I always forget that E30s operate outside the laws of physics.

it's actually very common to remove them. I think BMW was going for overkill in this case. Sort of like the pulse dampers in the early fuel systems that get removed because they leak and cause fires. Just not as deadly.

I don't know about using a sawzall on a driveshaft though..

[newman]

I'm not saying you can't remove it. You certainly can, and you probably wont notice it... if you do it right.

But:

A) Removing it with a sawzall is going to make it unbalanced
B) The degree that it's unbalanced is a function of deflection. Even though this is, in turn, a function of distance from an axial constraint, it's NOT going to alleviate a potential driveline shudder...

[vicrossi]

Does anyone know the correct way to remove the damper?

[36brua]

Does anyone know the correct way to remove the damper?

maybe this for damper on DS

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63951&highlight=driveshaft+dampener

[pbr87]

Why not just remove the driveshaft, take it to a driveshaft shop, and pay them like 60 or 70 bucks to remove it and balance your driveshaft afterwards?

[T Verdier]

Why not just remove the driveshaft, take it to a driveshaft shop, and pay them like 60 or 70 bucks to remove it and balance your driveshaft afterwards?

My mechanic sawed it off when he did my short shift kit.

[MR 325]

Why not pop out the studs, remove and dampener, and replace the studs along with washers about the same thickness as the dampener? That's what i usually do anyway.