Changed t-case chain on 2000 BMW X5 today

[Hokiefyd]

It was a big job, but went well. This is on my friend's 2000 X5. 150,000 miles or so. It took us about 4 hours to get the t-case out. Everything had to come down. Exhaust, rear driveshaft, center crossmember. Easy with a lift I bet...difficult with jack stands.

New chain went in in about 30 minutes, and it went back together in about 2 hours.

Likes: all of the bolts underneath are metric, and fairly easy to predict. Very little rust, though it is a southern vehicle.

Dislikes: BMW uses these rubber driveline isolators at the ends of the driveshafts instead of standard U-joint flanges. This forces you to loosen some, then get out, put the driveline in neutral, spin the shaft 180*, then get the rest. The isolators also wouldn't fall down once we had all the bolts out. There was still a "pilot hub" in the middle. So I'm not sure what was gained with that design. It was very difficult to generate enough play in the system to remove the driveshafts.

It was a NV125 transfer case, from New Process Gear. The t-case was very simple inside, and apparently uses simple Dexron III as lube (according to the BMW dealer anyway).

 

[The Critic]

Good work.

Now what's the status on the oil pressure problem?

 

[antonmnster]

Those are called Guibo discs. They help keep things smooooooth.

 

[CBR.worm]

Really smooth.

 

[andyd]

Yah, try running a BMW without one. I've seen them look like a ball of string . In order to shorten the shaft, there was a big collar with a nut on it. Backing it off allowed the pieces to slide on the splines. No clue how they did it on the X5

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: antonmnster
Those are called Guibo discs. They help keep things smooooooth.


This.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Now what's the status on the oil pressure problem?


I don't know. They plan to trade it in on a new Legacy when he gets off deployment in a year (he deploys in a few weeks). They hope it doesn't break while he's gone.

And they're "giubo" discs. My Maytag washer has one also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giubo

The more I think about it, the more I like the design, for this type of application where there is very little component movement. These likely save weight over a standard u-joint, and allow the components to move as much as their rubber mounts will allow. I don't like that they're rubber and rubber wears out. But I guess regular u-joints wear out eventually also.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Now what's the status on the oil pressure problem?


I don't know. They plan to trade it in on a new Legacy when he gets off deployment in a year (he deploys in a few weeks). They hope it doesn't break while he's gone.

And they're "giubo" discs. My Maytag washer has one also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giubo

The more I think about it, the more I like the design, for this type of application where there is very little component movement. These likely save weight over a standard u-joint, and allow the components to move as much as their rubber mounts will allow. I don't like that they're rubber and rubber wears out. But I guess regular u-joints wear out eventually also.


Bingo. FWIW, the one on my M5 is original and still in absolutely EXCELLENT shape. So it is 11 years old and riding behind 400HP, I'm going to say they hold up pretty darn well