The Blunderwagon - 89 325iX touring 3.1L stroker

[kronus]

The photos, as promised.

E30 inner race slid onto the E34 driveshaft -



E30 and E34 CVs, demonstrating height, diameter and bolt circle match. Both CVs are around 67mm tall from the face of the housing to the end of the metal shield.



You can see that the E30 CV steps down before it gets to the boot - my last worry is that the E34 CV may not clear the E30 subframe due to not having this step.

E34 CV after some time in the parts cleaner. This one has around 234k miles on it.









The cage has some wear. I'm planning to use the E30 CV's internals in the E34 housing unless someone tells me that's a super dumb bad idea.



Your daily bonus WTF - here's how I found the coil lead when I got the car.



Here's what was under it:





fucking guy.

[kronus]

So if I understand correctly, you just swap CV's and boots and you are ready to go? That's great news! Thank you for figuring this out. If mine of my uncle's decides to tear, I know what to do :)

yup! that is correct.

edit: it might be a good idea to make a dedicated post in the iX section.

I will do that once I've got the assembly verified. The last remaining variable is, does the E34 CV clear the E30 subframe?

man, I feel like I should just buy one while they're dirt cheap. There are so many parts I passed over before, that either went NLA or went up to astronomical prices..

do you also have a CV driveshaft?

[nando]

man, I feel like I should just buy one while they're dirt cheap. There are so many parts I passed over before, that either went NLA or went up to astronomical prices..

[D.Martijn]

I will upload photos later since I am on my phone, but, e34 driveshaft CV confirmed for being a 100% direct replacement. :)

OD matches (94mm), splines are identical, bolt circle is perfect. Ordering a replacement boot has never felt this good.

(to be clear the CV design itself is still different and the e34 boot will not mount onto the e30 CV, but the E34 CV will be a complete wholesale replacement onto my drive shaft)

So if I understand correctly, you just swap CV's and boots and you are ready to go? That's great news! Thank you for figuring this out. If mine of my uncle's decides to tear, I know what to do :)

edit: it might be a good idea to make a dedicated post in the iX section.

[kronus]

(to be clear the CV design itself is still different and the e34 boot will not mount onto the e30 CV, but the E34 CV will be a complete wholesale replacement onto my drive shaft)

[kronus]

I will upload photos later since I am on my phone, but, e34 driveshaft CV confirmed for being a 100% direct replacement. :)

OD matches (94mm), splines are identical, bolt circle is perfect. Ordering a replacement boot has never felt this good.

[D.Martijn]

I did some RealOEM sleuthing, which was pretty promising.

E30 touring ix driveshaft - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=26_0057
E34 driveshaft - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=26_0034

E34 bolts are M8, same as E30 ixt studs - good!
E30 CV gasket (#9) and E34 CV gasket (#16) are the same part # - good!

the last variable is the CV inner race - it has the same amount of splines, but will it fit? It's hard to imagine that BMW had several different variants of CV in the same year, but we already know they did.

The E34 CV joint shows LK=80mm (I think this is the diameter on which the bolt holes are located.
The E30 CV joint it not listed. Do you still have your driveshaft out of your ix?
Could you measure this dimension? if it's the same, that's even better if not.. :(

[kronus]

You might be on to something, the diameter that sits into the diff flange also needs to be correct though. Does the E34 use M8's or M10 studs? Because the E30 uses M8's.

I did some RealOEM sleuthing, which was pretty promising.

E30 touring ix driveshaft - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=26_0057
E34 driveshaft - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=26_0034

E34 bolts are M8, same as E30 ixt studs - good!
E30 CV gasket (#9) and E34 CV gasket (#16) are the same part # - good!

the last variable is the CV inner race - it has the same amount of splines, but will it fit? It's hard to imagine that BMW had several different variants of CV in the same year, but we already know they did.

[D.Martijn]

tell me about it :(


semi-fun fact, looks like the E34 driveshaft CV (https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/26111226881/) has at least a similar spline count (24). I'll be there tonight to pull the CV off the random E34 rear end behind our shop - it's not unpossible that it's a direct swap, and boots for the E34 CV are available - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/26111225015/

You might be on to something, the diameter that sits into the diff flange also needs to be correct though. Does the E34 use M8's or M10 studs? Because the E30 uses M8's.

[kronus]

Previous owners are the living worst. Cut, weld, paint, and swear a blood oath to find and hurt the person responsible for doing this to a Touring, preferably with said Touring.

tell me about it :(


semi-fun fact, looks like the E34 driveshaft CV (https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/26111226881/) has at least a similar spline count (24). I'll be there tonight to pull the CV off the random E34 rear end behind our shop - it's not unpossible that it's a direct swap, and boots for the E34 CV are available - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/26111225015/

[-J-]

Finally, the piece du resistance - my poor, mangled, abused shifter hole. I wish I knew the thought process of the person who did this, but I'm slightly afraid.



If it's not clear from the image, the hole has random bits cut out of it. The rear shifter mount is heavily "modified" to have two bolts hold it to a random place on the bottom of the trans tunnel. The bracketry normally there to receive the end of the shift platform is nowhere to be found. Sigh.

Previous owners are the living worst. Cut, weld, paint, and swear a blood oath to find and hurt the person responsible for doing this to a Touring, preferably with said Touring.

[kronus]

have you tried not eating? it sucks

[wworm]

my record for a getrag 260 r&r is 4 hours with a burrito break :)

lol I love that mexican food and/or beer is always a part of your wrenching schedule. Always need time for snacks

[kronus]

my record for a getrag 260 r&r is 4 hours with a burrito break :)

[jeenyus]

Pulling the transmission out of my IX wasn't the worst thing I've ever done. Honestly, it's getting it back in that is a big pain in the ass. Trying to fit the shifter through the transmission tunnel is a big pain in the ass. I can't even remember how i ended up getting it to work, but it's there.

If you have long extension with swivel and all that shit, you can manage to go-go-gadget a ratchet right to the top bolts.