2002 Flex-Discs / Giubos are faulty

[silasmoon]

Recently my official BMW 2002 flex-disc tore apart. It had about 15,000 miles on it. Admittedly 50% of that was aggressive driving. Recently another friend's 2002 had a flex-disc break-apart. I have spoken to two 2002-specific garages, one which races out of Sonoma Raceway, and has done so since the 1970s. Both have noted that the flex-discs nowadays are crap, and break apart constantly. Reviewing the forums there are several posts with flex discs breaking on our cars. I cannot believe that 70%+ of them are being installed incorrectly all across the world. 

Do we have any recourse to notifying BMW parts manufacturing for better quality control? Flex-discs are still produced for hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year, surely they can change manufacturers. Perhaps we can find a better after market manufacturer or an equivalent part for similar vehicle. I drive a 76' original 4 speed, with a slightly built out motor putting out ballpark 130 HP. 

Here is to hoping @BLUNT or some other parts buyers has the ear of BMW. 

Edited July 3, 2018 by silasmoon

[PaulTWinterton]

I'll have to inspect mine.   I know that alignment is critical for longevity.   Also the proper bolts and compression during install.  Previously I've destroyed disks by not following the rules.

 

Thanks for the heads up. 

[Doug Riparetti]

I got around 14,000-miles on my giubo. I just picked one up from BMW this morning, it was over $140. That kinda sucks.....

Edited July 4, 2018 by Doug Riparetti

[silasmoon]

The official part number from BMW is 26111106113, which cross-referenced looks to be a Meyle (German auto-parts manufacturer) part number. This particular flex-disc seems to also be used on 80's Vanagons. Blunt sells them for $30 a pop. Pelican Parts sells one made by MTC (aftermarket parts company based out of Livermore) for $20 a pop. Ireland sells one, which I believe is a Meyle, for $44 - this is based off the rubber casting marks in their image. BMW of course sells theirs for $95 list price. What is also interesting is that there is a company e-rubber.gr (Greek rubber manufacturer) that sell a flex-disc (and countless others) with what I believe are the same dimensions D=76/10 according to RealOEM. 

More sleuthing on the forum shows this post from 2015, where @Justin99 saw a huge crack in a brand new flex-disc. My guess is this wasn't a Meyle as neither side had the imprint markings. Here is what I believe to be the original flex-disc for a BMW made by Goetzi / Goetze (?). Note that it has both the BMW part number printed into the rubber, as well as 88.0502 which that Greek manufacturer lists as the replacement part number. I also found a few listings on eBay for NOS flex-discs which lists Febi as the manufacturer. While Febi Bilstein still exists, and makes BMW 2002 parts, they don't make the 8 holed flex-disc anymore. I went ahead and bought this NOS one off eBay for more research, although it was unbranded apparently. 

I went ahead and contacted the BMW classics group official email to see what they can do. 

 

[kbmb02]

Another data point:

 

For the past couple of years, I only buy flex disc / giubo from BMW. Each one of them has been branded “GOETZE” in the rubber stamping and likewise has a BMW logo. I have had premature failures with other brands, but in same cars / same installation / same conditions, the BMW units seem to last longer.

 

Also: I’m not sure where you found a “$95 list price” for part # 26111106113? The typical list price right now is about $185, with discount they can be purchased for $150 or so. Like this: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y94b5vz5

 

Your results may vary. -KB

 

 

[silasmoon]

I went from RealOEM and what my guy put on the receipt about a month ago. Is there any other manufacturer mark on them? It seems that there are a handful of makes out there, and it would do us well to narrow down who BMW is using / has used in the past, as well as which brands break apart. 

This forum has a history of helping manufacturers Q/C their products (looking at you URO). 

[silasmoon]

It would appear that this is the Goetze flexdisc you received. 

http://www.gromex.de/produkte/giubo-kupplungen/#gk88502

[TobyB]

It's been a problem for a while, now, even on e46's.

 

Welcome to the global economy.  

 

BMW mobile tradition is none of those 3 things, for many (most?) parts.

 

Meyle has been going downhill since the E46 was new.

 

But everyone's * making more money!  It's all good!

 

t

 

*everyone in the top 10%, which is all that matters, just look at the tweets

[bmw_e30]

parts now are hit or miss. been like this for a decade now as globalization and cost cutting have taken root

 

not everything from german parts companies are made in germany or even europe anymore. shit gets made all over and sometimes that meyle part is made by monkeys in turkey or rice farmers in china, its s crapshoot really.

 

be careful out there and inspect the parts. i only trust parts made in certain countries and from certain manufactures now

[silasmoon]

I work in electronics manufacturing for an extremely large company that's probably in your pocket right now, so I understand the effect globalization has had on production economies. I don't care where something is made, just that it is made well & ethically. As an aside, you're wrong to assume China doesn't know what they're doing. Some of the most advanced manufacturing is coming out of China. With the exception of a handful of European nations (Germany, Finland, Poland) most Western nations effectively shipped all their skilled blue-collar workers to the bread-line. But that's for beers around a long bar.

With that said, it's merely a question of quality control. BMW want's to sell a shit product, that's on them. I just want to find someone who will do it right. 

[2002Scoob]

Who's got an engineering degree and wants to come up with a U-Joint retrofit kit? 

 

Anyone?

[Simeon]

1 hour ago, 2002Scoob said:

Who's got an engineering degree and wants to come up with a U-Joint retrofit kit? 

 

Anyone?

 

Isn’t the problem not so much one of alignment (after all we all use that steel rod gauge when refitting, don’t we? ?)

 

I thought the guibo was more about absorbing driveline shocks and vibration. There have been pictures posted of ‘solid’ ones with a bunch of urethane bushes inserted into them. No doubt this approach is a solution to the short lived nature of rubber guibos but what it does to NVH or driveline shunt I couldn’t say. 

[2002Scoob]

Interesting... I guess there's some logic to the vibration absorption. Wonder if that's an inherent issue with having the 2 piece driveshaft, or a driveshaft balancing issue. 

 

Which gets me thinking... I'm familiar with the benefit of a lightweight DS with past cars, anybody go so far as to put alloy or carbon shafts in their 02? I almost pulled the trigger on a carbon one for my WRX before I took a job in Europe. Rotating mass reduction is definitely a thing!

[TobyB]

8 hours ago, silasmoon said:

 I don't care where something is made, just that it is made well & ethically

<snip>
With that said, it's merely a question of quality control. BMW want's to sell a shit product, that's on them. I just want to   find someone who will do it right. 

 

Well, go for it then.  Find someone.

 

Personally, I don't have the resources to browbeat 

a foreign company into providing what I specify.

BMW doesn't seem to, either, for their replacement parts chain...

 

...because all of the small manufacturing around here is gone.

 

t

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by TobyB

[andyleonard]

6 hours ago, Simeon said:

 

Isn’t the problem not so much one of alignment (after all we all use that steel rod gauge when refitting, don’t we? ?)

 

I thought the guibo was more about absorbing driveline shocks and vibration. There have been pictures posted of ‘solid’ ones with a bunch of urethane bushes inserted into them. No doubt this approach is a solution to the short lived nature of rubber guibos but what it does to NVH or driveline shunt I couldn’t say. 

 

Some time ago I converted a Maserati Mexico to a Chevy 327/700R4 and it ended up with  a solid driveshaft with only U-joints. The "CLANG" when you shifted into D was disconcerting. Drove just fine.