E39 525i Driveshaft Issue

[tom_t]

I have been experiencing a spinning rubbing sound coming from the rear center of my 2003 525i Wagon when accelerating between 0-10mph, and having lurked through many posts it seemed the center support or flex disk might be the culprit. Having dropped the exhaust and heatshields down, I found the transmission mounts, flex disk and center support all seem to be in good shape. There is an area of wear on the shaft behind the U-joint (attached image 1), and dropping the driveshaft out revealed wear to the surface of the tunnel directly above (attached image 2). Any ideas what the cause of this could be? Thanks.

[hans_e39_530i]

I would not exclude the differential mounts from a check. The reaction to the wheel torque tends to rotate the differential on the opposite direction, making the differential coupling to the shaft "look up" under acceleration. This could cause your driveshaft to rub against the tunnel...

Hans