[Aircooledrules]

I have a 2008 328XI 6-Speed Manual.

When I bought the car over 10,000 miles ago I thought it had a slight hesitation upon acceleration, like a misfire. I decided I would do the plugs & coilpacks when I replaced the valve cover gasket as it showed no codes.

After that didn’t fix it I was a little stumped so I took it to a general mechanic I know and after driving it and poking around he said it’s the driveshaft.

I hadn’t thought that until he mentioned it but once he planted that seed it now makes sense.

The engine revs smooth as butter when idle.

Upon acceleration the car shutters and going over railroad tracks or speed bumps there are clunks and I can feel a shift in the floor of the car ( as a passenger ).

I cannot pinpoint what it is but went ahead and purchased a used driveshaft.

Then I priced out nee guibos and Center bearings and realized this is going to cost me $1000 to replace this driveshaft but what if it’s not the problem ?

I would spend the money to solve the issue but it would be frustrating to spend the money and do the driveshaft to find out it’s something else.

Has anyone had sumilar experiences?

Thanks.

[jsunma]

You don't say how many miles total are on your car (only that you've had it for 10K of those). Likewise, do you know anything about the maintenance history on the car before you acquired it?

Plugs, coils, VCG are all maintenance items, and they'd need to get done eventually, so that's likely not money down the drain assuming you intend to keep the car.

The driveshaft itself should generally be good for at least 200K miles (ymmv), but then again, maybe your car has at least 200K miles...i d k. So that may have been an unnecessary investment. Plus, "used" is fine...but rebuilt would be better. Hopefully you didn't buy a driveshaft that's no better than the one that was already on your car.

If I were to guess, I'd say that your problem is the center bearing. And if that's shot, then the guibos may need replacement. Those are parts more prone to failure than the driveshaft itself.

Other parts to check (Check, don't replace until you do!) are your CV axles. But those wouldn't tend to cause vibrations such as what you describe. The center brearing though, you're describing classic failure symptoms of that.

[Aircooledrules]

Thanks for the reply.

The car has 248,000kms or about 155,000 miles.

The car is lowered with KW Coilovers.

I bought the car with front end damage from an auction and repaired it so I have zero history on it but the car appears to have been well looked after.

The interior is very nice, brakes were new, the KW V3s are expensive and present, sport seats were added.

The driveshaft wasn’t expensive ( $100 ) I bought it so that there would be less downtime and an easy in & out VS pulling mine out, servicing it and putting it back in.

I’ve had front axles in other cars cause vibrations which shook the car and could be felt through the steering wheel but this doesn’t do that.

It’s purely underneath the car. I think im
Going to go ahead and order the guibos and Center bearing and cross my fingers!

[Runnin'Rich]

I too have a sensation like you say in my 6MT xdrive e91. 250kkm
I would describe it as a jerking bucking sensation in 1st gear. It feels like shot engine mounts or lash in transmission or something.
Like if I lift off throttle and at the same time press the clutch pedal in first gear there is a thudding of something in the driveline.
Also when I shut down the engine with my foot off the clutch pedal there’s a slapping sound of something wobbling. People say this is normal but this never happened with my e36 5MT so I find it hard to believe. Unless it’s specific to AWD but I would be surprised if BMW ‘ok’d this behaviour from new.

I replaced the clutch and dual mass flywheel first, this seemed lessen the effect but still the noise on shut down with clutch pedal out persisted.
When I did the oil pan gasket I took out the front axle shafts and they had a tiny amount of play almost nothing so I replaced them too. This helped a tiny bit but I think was a waste of money.
I replaced engine and the transfer case mounts with no effect.
I’m now thinking maybe rear diff bushings?

I would recommend removing the front driveshaft from the car and then driving. Then you know if it’s a front or rear problem at least.

[finnbarl]

I'm having the exact same issue, 2008 335XI. It seemed like a misfire when I first bought it and now has significant lags and clunks on acceleration, almost like the power is slipping and then re-engaging. Mine is the 6 speed automatic though. I have the car in for a timing chain and turbos so I'll be code hunting when it returns.

[Aircooledrules]

Mine is also a E91.

Yes I feel that lashing when slowing down with clutch in, like an occasional bang.

The trouble with these symptoms are when looking online and googling it seems like it could be any and all components underneath the car so it’s difficult to narrow down.

I think pulling the front shaft to rule it out isn’t a bad idea. I will try that first.

[jsunma]

Transmission mounts is something no one has mentioned yet.

I have a 6MT E91, but RWD. I've never noticed that kind of "clunking" mentioned. Although I have replaced engine and transmission mounts as part of routine maintenance (240Kmiles now).

Just fwiw, for others finding this thread, usually a rebuilt driveshaft will include a new center-bearing (mine did). That not only saves the cost of buying a new center bearing later, but makes the replacement job easier, and also ensures that what with the work of removing and reinstalling the driveshaft you have a good as new driveshaft and center bearing. I paid about $300 for my rebuilt driveshaft and bearing a couple of years ago.

OP, since you say that your vibration and sound come from seemingly under the front seats, I'd still guess that it's a center bearing and maybe transmission mounts. Any chance you can just get the car up on a lift while someone accelerates and shifts? Seems like that would highlight the failure pretty quick.

[drawz]

Check *front* driveshaft on xi models (not the front axles). These don't last nearly as long as the rear driveshafts. U-joint fails and clunks when changing directions or starting from a stop. It's a ticking timebomb that you don't want to miss. You can remove it as a test.

Could also be transfer case on xi models. Start by changing the fluid. Transmission mount on the xi is actually the transfer case mount.