Center bearing and guibo on e39 540iA

ver328i

Well-known member
Hi Gents

What is involved with changing these parts out on a 540i? is it very pricey for those who have done it?

Asking because I drove one of these beasts earlier today and it had a distinct knock in the centre...definitely drive shaft play. Gives me good ground to make an offer but would like to know what im letting myself in for

Thanks:coolShake:
 

Nikhil

Honorary ///Member
car up in the air, remove exhaust, remove heat shields, unbolt prop from the diff and gearbox and center carrier drop down replace and refit in reverse. its simple enough if you have a pit to work in or a lift. :coolShake:
 

ver328i

Well-known member
Thanks guys. It definitely sounded and felt like a drive shaft issue. Past guibo and center bearing experiences with e36's and e30's was exactly the same. If its exactly the same job then it shouldn't be difficult to sort out.

Other problem is the wipers are not working. Fuse 1 is fine but couldnt really check anywhere else as i was pressed for time.

Other than that it seems to be a good car with roughly 200000ks...no books though.

Heard these can be quite tough on the wallet so im being a little cautious
 

ver328i

Well-known member
Money pit acquired :rollsmile:

what remains now is to fill it with IOU's :rollsmile:


Removed the propshaft and found that the guibo was recently replaced with a febi item but the OEM centre bearing, as expected was in two parts...the bearing and the bracket was completely separated and propshaft left moving around hitting the tunnel.

Searched all over for a replacement past weekend but no one has...masterparts just came through with a febi Centre bearing at R1060 and i reluctantly bought it as im anxious to properly drive the beast. Will fit it tonight....Also took the time to delete the scuba tanks while the exhaust was off:cartel:
 

ver328i

Well-known member
hahaha :sorry:

pics will follow gents. Way too busy working on her to even think about getting the cameraphone out....that and the fact that the car needs some love. really quite a few issues after better inspection...skirts are damaged as a result of missing jacking points(goodies under the car). One light is cloudy...almost completely yellow...the bumper is missing a fog light and the most annoying is the passenger door wont open - seems to be double locked or something (common on the e39 i believe) and no easy diy.

This car is certainly no e36 in terms of being "easy to work on"

:fencelook:
 

rodga

Well-known member
ver328i said:
hahaha :sorry:

pics will follow gents. Way too busy working on her to even think about getting the cameraphone out....that and the fact that the car needs some love. really quite a few issues after better inspection...skirts are damaged as a result of missing jacking points(goodies under the car). One light is cloudy...almost completely yellow...the bumper is missing a fog light and the most annoying is the passenger door wont open - seems to be double locked or something (common on the e39 i believe) and no easy diy.

This car is certainly no e36 in terms of being "easy to work on"

:fencelook:

Maybe a door actuator that failed?
just read a few threads a few weeks back, seems to be a common problem on the e39
 

ver328i

Well-known member
ChefDJ@TheFanatics said:
:thinking:


Double locked door? Never heard of it.

Let me know if any help is needed :blowheart:

The door acts as if its been locked with a key so no matter what you do, it does not open. Pull the inside door handle, the little knob goes up but the door stay locked. Unlock using the remote sees all other doors unlock accept the passenger door...same goes for when i manually unlock at the drivers side.

From what the google machine tells me, its a stuck actuator and to gain access, I will have to break the airbag cover:smashScreen:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e3...ow-open-passenger-door-stuck-double-lock.html
 

ver328i

Well-known member
on the bright side, I wont have to lie about not being able to take her for shopping..."would love to take you along babe, but my passenger door is stuck closed...see you later" :tiptoe:
 

Cape_Tonian

///Member
ver328i said:
Money pit acquired :rollsmile:

what remains now is to fill it with IOU's :rollsmile:


Removed the propshaft and found that the guibo was recently replaced with a febi item but the OEM centre bearing, as expected was in two parts...the bearing and the bracket was completely separated and propshaft left moving around hitting the tunnel.

Searched all over for a replacement past weekend but no one has...masterparts just came through with a febi Centre bearing at R1060 and i reluctantly bought it as im anxious to properly drive the beast. Will fit it tonight....Also took the time to delete the scuba tanks while the exhaust was off:cartel:

I've replaced 2 centre bearings on my E46 325i Touring before I realized that the propshaft itself needed some work on it.

Just now you replace that centre bearing and if your propshaft is not lekker, it might fark up that bearing too.

Best to have that prop checked, before fitting bearing, Sir.
 

rodga

Well-known member
ChefDJ@TheFanatics said:
rodga said:
...seems to be a common problem on the e39


Stop saying that! :cry:

quite an easy preventative fix I believe
early signs are door pins that get stuck/are slow to raise up when unlocking
So change them now if your exhibit these symptoms
 
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