Could anyone confirm (or deny) that there is a bolt holding the drive shaft at the wheel end? Car is a 53 plate Cooper.

Hi ya

no bolt but just a big nut in the centre of the wheel hub and it must be replaced with a new one when it is removed

hope this helps

Thanks, I had the wheel bearing replaced on wife's car last week and after reversing with full lock, the drive shaft popped out on the wheel they had done the bearing on! Surely this can't happen if it was put back together properly?
Drive shaft came out at the wheel end BTW.

hi ya

thats not good have a attached a pic for you to look at
a thing to becareful off is it might have damaged the ABS sensor when it came out or the wheel hub , so if you have any abs or tire pressure monitor warning or ASC or DSC problems start there at the sensor

the nut is torqued to 134 ft lbs and it then is locked in place with a punch in to the grove

its item number 9 but you will have to double check as they may be different between models and years

RealOEM.com BMW R53 Cooper S Front Spring strut/Carrier/Wheel bearing (http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=RE32&mospid=48020&btnr=31_0679&hg=31&fg=10)

hope this helps

Many thanks for that info. Garage say it was just a 'coincidence' !! I'm refusing to pay the £380 for a complete new drive shaft:) Got the car back and the bill is 'set to one side' whatever that means until the service manager has made some phone calls. Was supposed to call me Monday to sort it out but nothing from them as yet. He reckons there was a bit of play in the CV joint but surely the whole drive shaft wouldn't pop out? I reckon they didn't put it back right?

Hi ya
if the nut was on and torqued up 134 ft lbs that is pritty tight and locked properly it should not have come off. Thats even if the nut was fitted.
Even if there was play in the cv joint its a splind shaft That fits in to the wheel hub. It would make no difference. I think he is taking the liberty of BS ing you
If I was you I would want the shaft changed for free and anything else that was damaged the shafts are about £190 ish for the right and £170 ish for the left for oem from bmw.
I would be also looking for some compensation to
I would keep all this info written down. Times dates ect Incase you have to complane to mini uk.

Whole dive shaft was replaced:) Just making sure that there would have been 'something' that would have made sure it couldn't just pop out. Looks like they made a 'mistake' :)

Can't see how the driveshaft has come completely out of the hub as there isn't that much lateral movement,once all the suspension is bolted back into position..

My thoughts exactly:) Still no phone call so I am assuming they made a mistake when they reassembled it all !! I won't be going back there again:)

There is a groove in the end of the shaft. Once the new nut is torqued up you hit the lip of the nut and punch it into the groove so the nut can't come off.

If the shaft popped out they either reused the nut, didn't punch the flange, didn't torque it up correctly, or completely forgot to put a nut on.

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/img/hub-nut-large.jpg
The nut in question on a Mini

http://www.discovery2.co.uk/images/fronthub/hub17.jpg
A random nut showing the flange tapped into the groove (upper right of the shaft)

Whatever happened to the good ol' split pins? I thought they replaced crushing the flange as its harder for a split pin to come out...

Or is this a cost saving exercise by BMW?

There is a groove in the end of the shaft. Once the new nut is torqued up you hit the lip of the nut and punch it into the groove so the nut can't come off.

If the shaft popped out they either reused the nut, didn't punch the flange, didn't torque it up correctly, or completely forgot to put a nut on.

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/img/hub-nut-large.jpg
The nut in question on a Mini

http://www.discovery2.co.uk/images/fronthub/hub17.jpg
A random nut showing the flange tapped into the groove (upper right of the shaft)

Excuse my ignorance but are you saying that nut goes on the end of the driveshaft itself?

Excuse my ignorance but are you saying that nut goes on the end of the driveshaft itself?


Hi ya

yes the nut fits on the end of the drive shaft.

The drive shaft is inserted into the wheel hub from the inner side ( from gear box end to wheel hub)
there are splines on the shaft and also in the hub and that is how the drive is transmitted to the wheel. The nut when tightened pulls the shaft in and locates it into the wheel hub.
If you removed the center cap on the wheel or removed the wheel its self you would see a big nut in what looks like the center of the brake disc that's the one for the drive shaft to wheel hub

When you replace the wheel bearings you replace the hub it's self as an assembly you have to remove the big nut to be able to remove the hub from the drive shaft

Hope this helps