[EwenMac]

hi all
new to the forum, ive just recently purchased an 2007 E92 323i , ive previously owned an 2005 X5 and a 1999 E46

the new to me car is a project vehicle and as such i managed to buy it at around half the going price here in Australia.

im fairly mechanically capable, but as with most thing there is still a learning curve to deal with, so hopefully you can deal with some questions that may seem like old news to many of you.

this car is typical of i guess any 17 year old car in that the last owners probably got sick of the maintenance and moved on.

the interior is in very good condition the exterior however has faded paint on the hood and roof, I'm presently running through the mechanics

there was no service history, so im starting from scratch.

two issues that are annoying is that the diff is very noisey and a previous owner added a rear muffler delete pipe so the exhaust is way to noise for me.

im about to now go and add some additive in the diff, mostly not as a cure but to see if it changes anything so as to determine if in fact that is the sauce of the noise.

muffler! ill get a replacement from a wrecker and get it welded in.

also has the standard oil leaks, looks like rocker cover at this point.

one thing in my favour is my son-in-law has same age but the E90 335i and he's been all over it, so can add some insight.

if you have got this far thanks for reading

[Pauly Wauly]

Welcome to the forum! Very nice car

You might want to post this thread in the Australian sub-forum, too.
https://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

[Three_thirty_I]

Welcome to the forum, very nice car, same awesome wheels that I now have on my E90. The diff will most likely need to be replaced, I seem to recall the diff typically used on the 323i were known to become noisy, especially at higher mileage. Definitely a good idea to get a good used rear box and have it welded on, mine has a used box that was gutted, but still has the exhaust flap active, so it's actually not that much noisier under normal conditions, only gains a bit more of a deep note when accelerating hard, and has loads more burble on the overrun compared to the stock rear box. This all came with the car, as well as the original unmolested rear box, but I have grown to like it as it is. All in all, it's a nice project car and will definitely give you plenty of smiles and the odd grey hair, but it's worth it!!

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

hi all
new to the forum, ive just recently purchased an 2007 E92 323i , ive previously owned an 2005 X5 and a 1999 E46

the new to me car is a project vehicle and as such i managed to buy it at around half the going price here in Australia.

im fairly mechanically capable, but as with most thing there is still a learning curve to deal with, so hopefully you can deal with some questions that may seem like old news to many of you.

this car is typical of i guess any 17 year old car in that the last owners probably got sick of the maintenance and moved on.

the interior is in very good condition the exterior however has faded paint on the hood and roof, I'm presently running through the mechanics

there was no service history, so im starting from scratch.

two issues that are annoying is that the diff is very noisey and a previous owner added a rear muffler delete pipe so the exhaust is way to noise for me.

im about to now go and add some additive in the diff, mostly not as a cure but to see if it changes anything so as to determine if in fact that is the sauce of the noise.

muffler! ill get a replacement from a wrecker and get it welded in.

also has the standard oil leaks, looks like rocker cover at this point.

one thing in my favour is my son-in-law has same age but the E90 335i and he's been all over it, so can add some insight.

if you have got this far thanks for reading

Good looking ride there! What is the interior like?

Valve/rocker cover, oil filter housing gasket and Mickey Mouse flange, then maybe oil pan/sump gasket are the problem areas. Replace all the fluids which is pretty easy minus the trans: engine oil (use a flush if you think it might have been a long interval), transmission, coolant, brake, diff. At that point you'll have a good baseline for other possible issues, but those will be more specific to the car. All of the above are pretty doable by a home mechanic. Oil pan gasket would be the toughest of the lot.

Cosmetically I like dark side markers on darker cars like yours, something like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B863NB92

Enjoy, it will hopefully be a good one!

[Efthreeoh]

Diff noise in these are tricky. Even a good diff makes a racket when you free spin it, they click like mad. I'm just suggesting you get the muffler replaced first and then evaluate the diff. The exhaust could be resonating some and adding in a noise frequency that sounds like diff noise.

Or maybe it is the driveshaft joints or center bearing. Good thing is, if the diff is going bad, just wait until it blows up completely. It takes just about an hour and a half to replace if the corrosion level on the bolts is low.

Welcome to the forum. We've tackled every E90 problem known to mankind here. 🤣🤣🤣

[EwenMac]

ok so made some progress over the week end, ive removed the diff and the prop shaft, one of the uni joints ( the rear one) is totally stuffed, i can't remember when i last saw one so bad, i opened the diff up and the ring and pinion to my untrained eye doesn't look bad, the spider gears however are shot , pit marks and case hardening crewed up,

so ive sent some enquires out r/e rebuilding my diff or alternatively getting a low mileage one from the wreckers, the prop shaft i hope to get from the wreckers, what idiot thought it was a good idea to make replacing uni joints so impossible.

yes ive seen a guy do it on YT but i haven't seen how its possible to get the joint in perfectly so as to not have vibrations.

so hopefully this week i might get some answers

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

ok so made some progress over the week end, ive removed the diff and the prop shaft, one of the uni joints ( the rear one) is totally stuffed, i can't remember when i last saw one so bad, i opened the diff up and the ring and pinion to my untrained eye doesn't look bad, the spider gears however are shot , pit marks and case hardening crewed up,

so ive sent some enquires out r/e rebuilding my diff or alternatively getting a low mileage one from the wreckers, the prop shaft i hope to get from the wreckers, what idiot thought it was a good idea to make replacing uni joints so impossible.

yes ive seen a guy do it on YT but i haven't seen how its possible to get the joint in perfectly so as to not have vibrations.

so hopefully this week i might get some answers

That's good progress! Yes, BMW want you to replace the entire prop shaft. A proper engineering firm should be able to modify then to have removable/replaceable uni joints - I know someone that had this done on their X3's front prop shaft. If all else fails, a good used one and diff if it can't be rebuilt would be a good option. Keep us posted!

[EwenMac]

wow this is turning into a major disaster, ive finally found a second hand prop shaft, but cannot get a second hand diff, not sure i even want one, seems in Australia 323i,s weren't that popular in the E90 series, and so availability is nonexistent.

ive rung around trying to find a diff specialist to do a rebuild , but they either don't respond or don't seem inclined to get involved, i watched a guy on YT do a rebuild and for my untrained eye it didn't seem like a huge undertaking , that is as long as one had a hydraulic press available ( which i do , My son-in-law has one)

cant even get any clarity on exactly what parts i need, and while the ring and pinion look ok to me, i don't know, definitely the spider gears are worn
i believe i have a type 168 ,7 bolts in the diff cover, but then i see some with longer input shaft snouts,

grrrrrrrrrr

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

wow this is turning into a major disaster, ive finally found a second hand prop shaft, but cannot get a second hand diff, not sure i even want one, seems in Australia 323i,s weren't that popular in the E90 series, and so availability is nonexistent.

ive rung around trying to find a diff specialist to do a rebuild , but they either don't respond or don't seem inclined to get involved, i watched a guy on YT do a rebuild and for my untrained eye it didn't seem like a huge undertaking , that is as long as one had a hydraulic press available ( which i do , My son-in-law has one)

cant even get any clarity on exactly what parts i need, and while the ring and pinion look ok to me, i don't know, definitely the spider gears are worn
i believe i have a type 168 ,7 bolts in the diff cover, but then i see some with longer input shaft snouts,

grrrrrrrrrr

Do you think you can run the diff you have while you try to source either rebuild parts or maybe a whole replacement? I imagine shipping will be ridiculous, but sometimes you get lucky...

[EwenMac]

Ok so I got lucky and found a diff (I was on the verge of ordering one from china)

Two hour drive away, but we can visit our daughter on the way,

The diff is cheap enough that I’m willing to take the risk, and yes to have the car moving again is the target.

One way or another the new diff might be ok, or it may allow me the time to rebuild my original diff, I have a friend that as it turns out in his past life (retired now) he was a specialist mechanic, when things were more simple, and between the two of us I reckon we can get the job done

So I pick up the diff tomorrow install it early next week and see what happens

[EwenMac]

And bonus my new used prop shaft turned up and it’s perfect, so looks like the plan is coming together.
Ordered the slide cover for the consul between the rear seats, and also new hood and trunk badges.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

And bonus my new used prop shaft turned up and it’s perfect, so looks like the plan is coming together.
Ordered the slide cover for the consul between the rear seats, and also new hood and trunk badges.

I'm presuming you're going to do the rear subframe mounts while everything is already dropped out?

[EwenMac]

Good point I hadn’t thought of that, are you recommending diff to frame or frame to body, or both

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

Good point I hadn’t thought of that, are you recommending diff to frame or frame to body, or both

Oh yes, definitely all of the above! They are most likely worn & cracked, and are quite a pain to to do, but while you have the diff and prop dropped, you're really most of the way there.
Do the transmission mounts as well!

[EwenMac]

I hear what you are saying, but I’m so keen to get this car back on the ground I’ve decided mounts can wait, however I did give them a visual and they looked ok, tis car has only down the equivalent of 130000 miles, and our climate in Australia is not to harsh on suspension parts, everything comes apart easily and absolutely no rust.

All that Sid however I managed to find a see diff to suit and bought it on spec, it was seriously cheap, installed it all and happy me no noisey it’s all perfect.

Next week muffler and wheel alignment

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

I hear what you are saying, but I’m so keen to get this car back on the ground I’ve decided mounts can wait, however I did give them a visual and they looked ok, tis car has only down the equivalent of 130000 miles, and our climate in Australia is not to harsh on suspension parts, everything comes apart easily and absolutely no rust.

All that Sid however I managed to find a see diff to suit and bought it on spec, it was seriously cheap, installed it all and happy me no noisey it’s all perfect.

Next week muffler and wheel alignment

Totally something you can put off!
Mine need to be done, and I am quite successfully ignoring them!

[EwenMac]

Can I ask, what the general procedure for when the car is not in use, why I ask is that typical with my other cars I leave them unlocked windows closed in the garage

However I noticed with this car as I’m laying under it working, doors closes windows up and unlocked I can hear whet I think is the fuel pump randomly turning on, pressurising the system I imagine

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by EwenMac

Can I ask, what the general procedure for when the car is not in use, why I ask is that typical with my other cars I leave them unlocked windows closed in the garage

However I noticed with this car as I’m laying under it working, doors closes windows up and unlocked I can hear whet I think is the fuel pump randomly turning on, pressurising the system I imagine

It should only pressuring the pump occasionally while the electronics are still going into full sleep more, and that various based on whether the car has Comfort Access or just the normal rechargeable key fob, but once the electronics are asleep and nothing wakes it, it shouldn't do that until you wake it. I have always alternated between my car and other vehicle, and at times might use my other vehicle more, so I do have a Ctek battery charger which I will use to keep the battery properly charged every now and again, and I park the car with it locked (alarm set). For the record though, parked locked or unlocked doesn't make a difference to mine as far as battery state - in each of my vehicles I have the Ctek CTX Battery Sense which allows me to remotely monitor the batteries, so I have compared it a few times. It's the moment you wake the system that it takes a little knock each time.