What is FD Failure?
The design of the FD has a weakness that it makes is prone to failure. It seems that the design requires exceptionally careful assembly which might or might not be adhered do. Quite a few FDs have failed, although we do not know how many. Some say 4% and some say 10%, some quote much higher numbers. First the good news: If your FD fails, you will almost always notice in advance. That is, it is not a sudden failure where something “breaks”. It is almost always proceeded by changes in the colour of the oil in the FD (which should be changed every time you change the oil in the engine), and with increased play (horizontal and vertical) in the wheel. Every BMW with a driveshaft will have a failure if the tell tale signs of worn bearings aren’t observed and rectified. Failure at low mileage is unacceptable. Part of the problem is not having a manufacturer’s recommendation on when to replace the FD bearings, so folks ride and ride and ride till the bearing / bearings fail and voil, an FD fai
