Replacing driveshaft, subframe bushings, and related

[andrewmega]

Recently I've been getting the driveshaft u-joint clink, so I'm looking at replacing the driveshaft and maybe upgrading while at it. It's a street car that gets out a few times a week but I bring it to the track several times a year.

For the DS, it seems like the MFactory (YCW?) carbon is popular. It sounds like there aren't really any downsides to their carbon DS, but I still wonder if it's worth the $600 premium over the $900 OEM. The OEM DS also has the advantage of being offered by FCP Euro with their lifetime thing.
It looks like Turner has a remanufactured version with some changes to the U-joint as another option. Are there any good options aside from the MFactory, Turner, or OEM that I should consider?

Of course with the driveshaft coming out, I plan to have some transmission mounts and a new giubo on hand to swap in, along with fresh fluid. Are there mounts that improve on the OEM without adding a lot of NVH? Is there anything else I should look at while I'm in there? From my research, I think I'm leaning towards sticking with OEM mounts but am open to suggestions -- maybe I missed something!

I'm also considering changing my rear subframe bushings. This I probably wouldn't do myself, so cost plays a bigger part here. How many hours of labor should I expect a shop to charge for installing solid rear subframe bushings? If I have this done, I would just have them do the driveshaft swap and new diff bushings while they're at it which would certainly increase labor time a little bit. I want to do it, but maybe I should just take care of the driveshaft first and come back to these bushings at a later time...


Thanks for reading, I appreciate any insights and recommendations!

[Redd]

Zero downsides to MFactory CF DS and the rpms rise faster, but they're no longer in production so it's not an option.

[andrewmega]

I found these on a quick search, maybe left over stock or they started up again?
http://store.teammfactory.com/e9x-m3...on-driveshaft/
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ycw-engi...-trs-13e92m~y/

[Redd]

If they're indeed in stock you should grab one ASAP. Production ended a few months back due to legal issues between YCW and their CF tube supplier. YCW have been promising to spin up production of CF tubes in house but to date still no news.

[Redd]

The solid rear subframe bushings are also worth doing. They transform the car.

[roastbeef]

a couple things to note- like others have said, Mfactory has had issues with their supplier. NOT due to quality control, more like legal and distribution issues. they touched on this in one of their threads. no ETA on production resuming.

6mt or dct? my dct mounts looked brand new when i took the bridge off to install my carbon mfactory driveshaft. replacement would have been a waste of money. same with the guibo. if you feel compelled, use an oem guibo. the revshift is basically a solid guibo and will cause vibration and noise issues.

if you can, wait to do a driveshaft install when you have the sub/diff bushings replaced. it is literally 25 minutes of extra labor... removing a few heat shields, the transmission bridge (six easy bolts, if i remember correctly), and eight bolts to take the driveshaft off. easy stuff if you're already in there. you will save a lot in labor if you do them both at the same time.
i did my own carbon driveshaft install, but i paid for my sub/diff bushings.

[andrewmega]

Ah, should have mentioned in the post that it's a manual trans. I figure I'll have the trans mounts and giubo on hand and if I don't need them, I'll just eat the return shipping. Was leaning towards sticking with OEM for both, based on what I've been reading.

I'm going to ask a few shops what they'll charge to do the bushings. If the price is something I can take, I'll have them do the driveshaft at the same time because like you mentioned, it's barely anything more. Otherwise, I'll do the driveshaft myself now and save the bushings for later.

[roastbeef]

yea, nothing wrong with taking the transmission mounts off for a look, but i'd speculate they will be just fine.

oem driveshaft is an easy install/uninstall because it is two pieces. when i installed the one piece driveshaft, it was a huge pain in the ass because i had already had the solid diff/sub bushings and there was no play in the differential housing. it is possible, because i did it, but you're going to have a bad time. took me a solid day of work under the car (i took my time).
if you haven't already, research how to take the xpipe off and unclip the o2 sensors. it is tedious things like that which extend your time under the car. it was an easy job- nuts and bolts, but this car is layered like an onion.
bring lunch bags and a sharpie, and put all the nuts/fasteners from each heat shield in the bag and label them, then keep the bag with the heat shield. stuff like that will make your time under the car more efficient when reinstalling (there are five or six heat shields you will be taking off).
since you're planning on doing this yourself, i'm assuming you have a creeper. if you don't, now is the time to pick one up.

[andrewmega]

After talking with a few shops, I'm going to go ahead and have the rear subframe and diff bushings done along with the driveshaft. It's annoying when threads are left unresolved, so I'm going to come back to my original questions.

What options are there for driveshafts? Well it looks like MFactory/YCW makes the only truly good carbon fiber one. DSS, VAC, and others have enough complaints online about instability past 100mph that I don't even consider them an option.

With that said, it looks like the MFactory shafts are indeed not available. Once I put my order in, the status changed to back ordered with no expected date. I'm disappointed that I can't try it but I don't mind saving $700 by going with an OEM DS. That more than covers all the other parts I bought!

I grabbed an OEM flex disc in case I end up needing it, along with OEM trans mounts. The alternative giubos all seem to be much stiffer/solid, which won't fly for me since my car still sees the street. Not that many options to pick from anyway. For the trans mounts, basically the same thing -- you either go with OEM or you have a few choices of solid mounts.

For my rear subframe, I ordered the BimmerWorld solid aluminum mounts. Powerflex purples for my differential. I asked a few shops about labor and they all quoted around 12 hours. Not cheap but I just want to get it done and tying it with the driveshaft install really is the most efficient way. I don't want to install the driveshaft myself just to bring the car to a shop for bushings later and pay the same labor anyway. We'll knock it out in one go.

I appreciate your input, Redd and roastbeef. I really feel like I missed out not grabbing the MFactory DS when it was available!

[doogee]

When I was in the market for a new driveshaft I spoke to the owner of a rather large vendor that we all know but I will not mention.

I was told to stay away from those specific CF driveshafts. They were looking to sell it but ran into vibration issues when testing.

I went OEM.

[pbonsalb]

Drive Shaft Shop does away with the rubber guibo and very often vibrates. I have used 3 of their chromoly shafts on my 99M3 and all vibrate. I have read reports from those who have tried the one piece carbon fiber shaft for the E90M3 that also does away with the guibo and it vibrates.

I have the M Factory carbon fiber shaft on my 08M3. It retains the guibo, like the factory one piece carbon fiber shaft on the F80M3, and does not vibrate.

[rhyary]

got MFactory CF DS
~17 track days
no vibration. I don't even know its there.
This was a not to be missed item.

[Redd]

Yeah the MFactory CF DS is a gorgeous piece of kit. So glad I managed to snap one up used.