DVD drive replacement question

So, I have seen a lot of conflicting answers to this. My Xbox 360 had a noticeable drive issue. When you put a game in, the disc spins and the game plays. But the drive itself sounds tired and work out, makes a weird noise as if there’s an issue with the motor somewhere. I did try dismantling the drive, giving it a clean, replacing the band, oiling the components etc. And yet, it didn’t make much of a difference.

So, my next thought was to just replace the drive. However, I have read in multiple places that the drives are paired to the machines and that this is not possible? Yet, if iFixIt has a tutorial for drive replacement and there’s are a few videos on YouTube showing it can be done, as well as some showing that it can’t.

So, what is the truth of this? Can the drive be replaced? I don’t want to spend the money on a replacement drive without knowing for sure if it can be done.