Rear Drive Spines

[splinelube]

Would appreciate some input about rear wheel drive splines. Have a /6 with 140,000 miles on it and it has been a dream to own/ride. The rear wheel splines are worn but I do not know of a way to determine if it is rebuild time. Spoke to a dealer servive manager and his reply was if they are not "knife edged" leave them alone. Is there a fairly objective way to determine at what point ther should be replaved/rebuilt? And which of the two fixes is less likely to result in problems. Have not looked into the cost factor of each as yet. Thanks.

[James.A]

Short answer............If it ain't broke don't fix it.
All the splined links have 2 wear surfaces, and if both are wearing equally, there is no reason to suspect a secondary cause.

Re-build or re-new.

Brand new parts are best, but obscenely expensive.
At 140K, Good used parts might take your bike to terminal mileage.

[flash412]

Is there a fairly objective way to determine at what point ther should be replaved/rebuilt? And which of the two fixes is less likely to result in problems. Have not looked into the cost factor of each as yet. Thanks.If they're 75% gone, then you might want to replace them before you take the bike on any long trips. There is (was?) a service somewhere (Michigan?) that takes your ring gear, machines off the worn splines, installs a new interference-fit spline ring (using heat) and welds the edge. They return it with a new drive ring and some rivets. You rivet the drive ring inside your wheel, preferably with HOT rivets. In the end you're good as new for a whole lot less than BMW wants to charge you for a new wheel and a new ring & pinion set.