driveshaft broke (interchangeability) Picture added

[bunty]

83 euro 635 5 speed with broken driveshaft


a pic is worth thousand words

i am goin to the yard to get a replacement

found a shaft from a euro car

but now the shaft shudders from 20-30mph

[mooseheadm5]

Depends on what transmission it has.

[bunty]

I think the euro 635 came with 265/5
I am confused theres not muchon the internet.

[mooseheadm5]

You are going to have to crawl under there and find out what is installed. The only trans you can identify without doing that is the 265/5 which has 1st gear in a dogleg pattern ( to the left and down)

[bunty]

Here are the cars at the yard that i can source the driveshaft from

633 csi 84\83
524td 85

[bunty]

You are going to have to crawl under there and find out what is installed. The only trans you can identify without doing that is the 265/5 which has 1st gear in a dogleg pattern ( to the left and down)

In that case i think its a 265/6

Its definatley not a dogleg

Did 633s come with 265/6

[a]

Take your old shaft with you for a stare and compare. You may be able to use parts from one of them . I drove the Borman 6 around for a while on its front shaft pieced to an 82 rear piece.

[ahab]

I researched on this for you and here's what i found. You Euro 635 has a 1532mm driveshaft and the 633 has a 1592mm driveshaft so it's unlikely that driveshaft will work. As a pointed out tho, only the front half is different so depending on where yours "broke", you may be in luck.

[Mike W.]

Take your old shaft with you for a stare and compare. You may be able to use parts from one of them . I drove the Borman 6 around for a while on its front shaft pieced to an 82 rear piece.

I did that for 130K. Regardless, break out the tape measure. I'm convinced you can mix and match front and rear halves regardless of what they say about being a balanced assembly. I would guess a euro 83 came with a 260/5, but that's only a guess and the tape measure knows for sure.

[bunty]

Thanks for the research bud. Btw
Just came back from yard grabbed a driveshaft from a 84 633
Auto trans




My euro broke the shaft near the diff am guessing the solder gave up.

So am goin to use the rear barrel from the 633 shaft.

[wkohler]

From what I can tell, they're balanced independently of each other, so as long as you line up the white dots, you should be good.

[pldlnr]

From what I can tell, they're balanced independently of each other, so as long as you line up the white dots, you should be good.

I agree and have had success mixing and matching fronts and rears. I believe this is due to the fact that the halves are balanced independently.

I also believe that all rear sections are identical. And you can use your front section with a replacement rear.

[wkohler]

All rear sections are indeed the same length.

Best,
wkohler

[bunty]

cool

btw guys am going to take the shafts to the driveshaft guy

should he informed about any particular procedures in removing the rear shaft or just bust out the u joints.

[mooseheadm5]

Interestingly enough, a car with a 3HP has a driveshaft that is darn near the same length as a 265 driveshaft. I have interchanged them before with no issues.

Your euro may have broken at the U joints because the grease dried up, the bearings failed, then the shaft got out of alignment and took itself apart.

[bunty]

btw guys the 633 auto shaft is shorter and completely diff
looks like a 4hp shaft my bad, well they didnt have a 3hp trans
there.

am goint to a drive shaft specialist to get it cut & weld.

[mooseheadm5]

Wow, never seen one break like that!

Yea, 3HP is only up to the end of 83 production. Can you not just use the rear section of the 4HP shaft with your front section?

Out of curiosity, does that diff turn?

[bunty]

diff is fine spins freely
this happened when i tackled a steep climb here in sf suburb
btw the driveline shops say no to touch bmw prop shafts.


* imp question

theres a 87 325i at the nearest yard nothing else comes close to it, i dont have a car so going to use bart.

does a 87 325 have a 3hp?

ALSO theres a guy near by with a dogleg 635 78'
hes got a shaft but not sure if its going to match.

you think the rear shaft might be th same.


doin more research while i suffer without a car.

[mooseheadm5]

E30 shafts have a different overall and rear length, so no go.

E12s, early E24s, late E24s, and E28s share the same wheelbases and bell housing to diff input flange lengths. You can use the 78 E24 driveshaft no problem provided that it actually has the 5 speed transmission with the dogleg shift pattern. Most 78s would have 4 speed manual transmissions.

If that dogleg is for sale for cheap, get it, too.

[dave533i]

ALSO theres a guy near by with a dogleg 635 78'
hes got a shaft but not sure if its going to match.
you think the rear shaft might be th same.
doin more research while i suffer without a car.

SF,CA is the perhaps best possible American city to be in without a car. You won't get much sympathy from those of us in the BARTless West.
During my recent '85 528e G265 manual transmission conversion I tried several drive shafts. The one from an '88 535i did not fit. I measured it at 151 cm. The 148 cm shaft from the '76 e12 did fit and that's what I am running. I plan on spending some money and getting the '88 shaft cut and balanced so I have one for next time. Good chance the '78 shaft will work for you. Measure them. You have a little wiggle room if the shaft is too short but not if it's too long.

[a]

Take your old shaft with you for a stare and compare. You may be able to use parts from one of them . I drove the Borman 6 around for a while on its front shaft pieced to an 82 rear piece.

I did that for 130K. Regardless, break out the tape measure. I'm convinced you can mix and match front and rear halves regardless of what they say about being a balanced assembly. I would guess a euro 83 came with a 260/5, but that's only a guess and the tape measure knows for sure.

Yah, just keep the U-joints in phase. I think the pieces are balanced before assembly.

[steve 87 535is]

Just throwing this out there... I have a shaft from a 3hp22 e23 car. I can measure the rear and compare to yours.