BMW X5 E70 - DRIVE SHAFT FAILURE

[Cher]

Hi All

Please can I ask for your help.  I am taking this issue further and starting to talk to a news producer.  In order for this to gain momentum, I need more stories on my facebook page to show others affected by this failure.  I have a good story to tell but it wont mean anything if I cant back it up with others who have been affected. Power in  numbers as they say!

Can you let me know if you are in??  If you prefer to stay nameless, would you give me permission to post your story with the "name" you have on this profile?  (as this is already a public page, I assume this to be the same as putting on FB)

Please let me know!  BMW can not get away with this!

C

[Watto1976]

Cher, I have just had a catastrophic propshaft failure on my X5 E70. We nearly had a very bad accident. I am going to post on this as a new topic but I am interested in how you have got on as I am looking at a big repair cost and my looked after 53,000 mile car which had always been serviced by BMW should not have failed like this.
Many thanks.
Watto

[Samuel]

I installed a custom spacer that pushes the shaft's splines deeper into the transfer case, which reduces the play and the risk of the shaft failing. Added pics as files.
Email me if you're interested: samuel.soencer@gmail.com

[X5Sport]

The shaft failure was caused by a badly placed drain that dumped water on the joint and caused the joint to fail. It’s nothing to do with how far it’s pushed in, but about corrosion causing premature UJ failure.

Cars with this issue were recalled and many had prop shaft replacements fitted.

[Samuel]

The drain could indeed be one of the main factors causing the shaft to fail, but I believe the play in the transfer case also plays a significant role. I’ve consulted multiple shops about the play in the transfer case, and none of them considered it normal. I experienced vibrations while driving and accelerating, so I replaced the shaft with a new one, but the vibrations persisted to some extent. I decided to try a spacer, which significantly reduced the play and vibrations, and now it feels much safer to drive.

[Leslie]

The earlier e53 had an issue with not much engsgement on the splines which then tended to strip I seen to remember possibly less an issud on the e70 .