JXB Performance CSB, anyone try it?

[Freight]

My CSB has been growling at low speed load since I got my e28(couple of months). Coming home from Pennsylvania this weekend I was nearly home after 3 buttery smooth hours at 85mph, I pulled away from an up hill stop sign and the growl turned to a violent rattle that I could feel in the trans tunnel. Felt almost like it was banging the tunnel. Naturally it went away when I let off the gas, but the time has come to do the CSB asap. Looking around for pricing and option, I stumbled across this:

https://www.jxbperformance.com/products ... er-upgrade

It reuses the bearing, cutting away the rubber of the old CSB and sandwiching it between the two halves of the bushing like a piston connecting rod bearing/endcap. Seems like a really good design and doesn’t require pulling the shaft to install. It’s $250 from ECS tuning, but considering the price of a genuine oem CSB, the dubious quality of the aftermarket options from Febi/uro/meyle etc, and the amount of time saved installing…the price ain’t that bad.

Does anyone here have one, and how is it? Also, are there any other companies that produce a similar carrier?
 

[turbodan]

For that price you're most of the way to a new driveshaft. Chances are good that's what you really need here anyway. 

First thing to do is pull the driveshaft and inspect the u-joints. If they are smooth and silky through their entire range of motion, you can proceed to replace the CSB. I strongly suspect that they are binding, gritty and notchy. In that case, it's driveshaft time.

[Mike W.]

For that price you're most of the way to a new driveshaft. Chances are good that's what you really need here anyway. 

First thing to do is pull the driveshaft and inspect the u-joints. If they are smooth and silky through their entire range of motion, you can proceed to replace the CSB. I strongly suspect that they are binding, gritty and notchy. In that case, it's driveshaft time.

Dan took the words right out of my mouth. Better to fix the problem than try to mask it.

BMW driveshafts (U joints) don't typically fail by getting loose and sloppy, they fail by getting tight and notchy. Yeah, a stiffer center support isn't a bad thing, probably should have been from the factory, but that may be more of a symptom than the problem.

[austin8753]

absolute waste of money. make sure you have a good CSB, trans mounts and flex-disc, along with u-joints that articulate appropriately.

[Freight]

Well, that solves it!

should the u-joints be proper fucked, can they be rebuilt?  Alternatively, where does one get a new driveshaft from, other than the dealership?  Can’t imagine it’s sensible to pickup a used one off eBay. My diff mount was done in the last 10k miles, along with the subframe bushings. There was some driveshaft service work done about 60k ago - I need to look again but I believe it says the flex disk and “center mount”. They did this when the trans was replaced at the 100k mark, about 12 years ago. No idea why. Presumably that included the mounts. All the suspension, axles, bushings, etc have been kept up with according to the extensive records. Pretty much entirely refreshed in the last 10 years/40k miles.  

[turbodan]

The factory joints are staked in, not serviceable.

I'm running a PTI driveshaft in the turbo car, ordered through driveline service of Portland. There are a couple other options out there.

I did have to send the first shaft back due to excessive runout and a resultant vibration. Then the second shaft looked like they put it together mad, I had to pull the retaining clips out and work on it with a hammer and drift to get it serviceable. It's been great since though, no issues. Hopefully whoever was fucking these up atthe factory has been fired.

[Freight]

The factory joints are staked in, not serviceable.

I'm running a PTI driveshaft in the turbo car, ordered through driveline service of Portland. There are a couple other options out there.

I did have to send the first shaft back due to excessive runout and a resultant vibration. Then the second shaft looked like they put it together mad, I had to pull the retaining clips out and work on it with a hammer and drift to get it serviceable. It's been great since though, no issues. Hopefully whoever was fucking these up atthe factory has been fired.

Dually noted. Avoid them. I’m in NY right outside of NYC so maybe I can find someone local whose able to make one(or has a good one available).

Just for clarity - is it generally suggested to just bite the bullet and skip replacing the CSB, and to just buy a brand new DS?

I just called driveshaftspecialists out of Texas and they want 545 shipped for a brand new shaft with CSB. For that price, it hardly seems like replacing the CSB makes sense when it sounds like there’s a good chance the shaft will need ujoints Anyway?

[austin8753]

the Dorman driveshafts sold at multiple vendors, are manufactured here in USA by Powertrain Industries. if you are a patient, smart shopper, you can find a deal on them. that said, if your existing driveshaft is in good, serviceable condition, there's no reason you can't just change the CSB. more often than not, it's only the rubber isolator that fails, and generally due to age, but a worn driveshaft will prematurely kill a good center bearing. you'll have to determine if yours is going to be reusable.

i have ran dozens of the PTI driveshafts with great results. issues happen, and that really sucks, but hopefully they've got their issues sorted by now.

[Freight]

 

 

 

 

 

I just climbed under the car and it turns out, the driveshaft was replaced at some point as I see a zerk fitting on the front u joint. I yanked the drive shaft as hard as I could and had no play, but the Guibo is showing threads everywhere. the guibo is definitely toast, but it looks like I’m off the hook for needing a new drive shaft. I’ll replace the guibo and if that doesn’t solve the problem, I’ll pull the drive shaft and take it to a local shop that can check+rebuild it and replace the csb if needed


 

[austin8753]

that's cool that it's already been replaced. you might get lucky with just the flex disc. make sure the engine mounts are in good shape, too.

[Freight]

yeah, super lucky. The PO spent an insane amount of money maintaining the car over the past 20 years. I need to add it up but he spent something like 30k over the years on maintenance. Anything the shop(a very good bmw specialist) recommended, was done, along with anything he noticed needed remedying. The only reason I’ve run into some things needing attention, is due to the fact he drove the car like 1k a year for the last 5-6 years and at 85, he wasn’t driving it hard enough or long enough to notice issues. Still, there’s pretty much nothing under the car that needs attention at all, beside this driveline issue. If it hadn’t been a NYC car, it would be pristine aesthetically. Honestly the fact that it’s got a little rust and a bunch of door dings etc mean I’m able to daily it guilt free, despite it being as well sorted as someone’s Sunday only garage queen.

The mounts all look great. Motor mounts might be getting a little soft, cause the car vibrates a little when the idle is rough, but the tranny mounts looked healthy. 

[jimoreno]

I got their CSB cradle (I guess you can call it that) and got horrible NVH from around 45 up to 80 MPH. Bit the bullet and bought another CSB and replaced (haven't driven it yet as I'm working on re-installing the stock exhaust hanger by the transmission farther back since my long tube Stahl headers V bands end right on its original location). I replaced my driveshaft several years ago but I always had this vibration around 40 MP that went away around 50 so I thought trying this might cure that. I guess the BMW engineers knew what they were doing!

[Beils]

I replaced the 535is auto with a 5 speed manual.  The flex disk was replaced and a new, balanced drive shaft, and was installed along with a CSB.  It took 20 minutes of driving to warm up the new flex disk to rid the vibration from the CSB.  I do not know if the CSB was properly preloaded, and after only driving a couple hundred miles a year (max) because of the vibration, i decided to purchase the JXB solution.  It will be installed over the next few weeks, and I will report the findings.  It puts the other available CSB units to shame with its design and manufacture…If it works as designed, a new JXB will be going into the 4.5 V-8 Cayenne.