Cellasto

Under the Cellasto brand, BASF develops, produces and distributes components from microcellular polyurethane elastomers that enhance driving comfort in the form of spring aids, coil spring isolators, and top mounts.

Cellasto is not only more robust and durable, it also has superior physical properties when it comes to isolating vibrations from whatever source: Cellasto minimizes noise from the engine, vibrating chassis and rumbling shock absorbers and reduces strut vibrations. The microcellular polyurethane foam saves space and weight due to its excellent volume compressibility.

BMW's partnership with Cellasto

The cardan drive shaft has always had a distinct advantage over the chain drive when it comes to maintenance. But it also had some disadvantages. For nstance, the way the gear hammer behaved in the shaft and the impact noises during gear changes had a noticeable influence on drive dynamics and general travelling comfort.

The previous cardan shaft drive was manufactured by the company Willi Elbe Gelenkwellen GmbH and had a rubber absorber. And it was this, in particular, that was targeted for detailed improvement. To keep the changeover costs low, any improvements had to use the limited installation space of the old cardan drive shafts. So BMW and ELASTOGRAN hit on the idea of using Cellasto® as a solution and considered whether it would offer advantages over rubber. The goal was to suppress impact noises during gear changes and improve gear hammer behaviour to eliminate the “constant bucking”, a better pass-through when accelerating, a highly serviceable life span as well as the conservation of upstream and downstream components. In other words, this would be a whole catalogue of demands, for which there was already a very clear and conclusive answer: Cellasto.
Cellasto gives a more comfortable ride.

Firstly, the intermediate shaft between the universal joints was completely redesigned. An internal shaft now rests on an outer one – both have long teeth, which similarly grasp like a cogwheel into one another. Between these, there are striated Cellasto components, which are manufactured directly by ELASTOGRAN. A certain torque twisting angle, characteristic of the cardan drive shaft, is closed down by 112/2009 Elastogran PUR the flexible and absorbing characteristics of these components. The Cellasto components help to drastically reduce the gear hammer reactions and help suppress the noise during gear changes. In addition, between the inner and outer shaft, absorption is carried out by synthetic panels, which also suppress annoying gear change noises.