[phozy888]

So I decided to change the diff oil today. About 900ml came out but 1.3ltrs in! Either there under filled from factory or its burning away.

Damn it does feel a lot smoother. A must do for all !

[windymissile]

Did you do it over a ramp or did you have the back end up on a Jack?

WM

[OGM2LCI]

Originally Posted by phozy888

So I decided to change the diff oil today. About 900ml came out but 1.3ltrs in! Either there under filled from factory or its burning away.

Damn it does feel a lot smoother. A must do for all !

Did you use original BMW diff oil or something after market like Royal Purple?

What model did you do this on and was it fairly difficult to do? Think my gearbox needs doing and will probably do the diff along with it

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by windymissile

Did you do it over a ramp or did you have the back end up on a Jack?

WM

Hi,

I did this on my drive and didnt need to jack the car up. There was enough room to undo the bolt and pump the fluid out

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by James-B93

Did you use original BMW diff oil or something after market like Royal Purple?

What model did you do this on and was it fairly difficult to do? Think my gearbox needs doing and will probably do the diff along with it

I have a E90 330D and it was really easy to do - must have only taken me 20 mins or so. I used this : fuchs titan sintopoid 75w-90

[elbutio]

What size and type of socket did you use. I did this on my old e90 but can't remember? Need to check my e91 soon

[OGM2LCI]

Originally Posted by phozy888

I have a E90 330D and it was really easy to do - must have only taken me 20 mins or so. I used this : fuchs titan sintopoid 75w-90

Okay thank you, I take it there's a filling point on the top of the diff? Did you use a fluid syringe?

[phozy888]

all the stuff I purchased from ebay this is what you need :

14mm
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3512154906...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1610866870...84.m1436.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3608842560...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

to double check the correct oil for car :

http://fuchs-eu.lubricantadvisor.com....aspx?Lang=eng

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by James-B93

Okay thank you, I take it there's a filling point on the top of the diff? Did you use a fluid syringe?

just follow this :

[OGM2LCI]

Brill thanks for your help mate, I'm gonna look at getting this done and eventually get my gearbox done as well

[hobo mofo]

Originally Posted by phozy888

So I decided to change the diff oil today. About 900ml came out but 1.3ltrs in! Either there under filled from factory or its burning away.

Damn it does feel a lot smoother. A must do for all !

Another DIY job for my list

[Phil325i]

By having the car jacked up as shown in the video you will in fact slightly overfill the diff. Strictly speaking, car should be level.

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

By having the car jacked up as shown in the video you will in fact slightly overfill the diff. Strictly speaking, car should be level.

Yes, car should be level. I actually used my phone with one of those spirit level apps. Before all of this, I calibrated the app with the car on a ramp to ensure it was level. I placed the phone where the driverside door sill is and this was then stored on the phone so I knew how much to adjust the cars height on my driveway in order to be at its correct level.

hope im making sense here

[gaza01]

did this as well and used the fuchs stuff... very simple diy and much simpler with a ramp

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

Then I guess it is okay to jack it up as long as you know how much fluid it is supposed to take. You could always jack it from the front too, to encourage the draining process.

I've not had mine done but when BMW changed the pinion they topped it off. I would like to do this though but my independent suggested I wait until I hit 80k at least or 100k. What is the consensus on how often it should be done?

I did mine @130k the oil that came out was pretty good actually. Not black or smelling burnt or anything. Darkish Honey golden colour it was.

Its so easy to do might aswell do it now for peace of mind. least its done

[hobo mofo]

Does anyone know how much diff oil should be used? I bought a litre of catrol diff oil and plan to drain a litre and then put the new litre in.

Also is there a washer that needs replacing?

[phozy888]

Originally Posted by hobo mofo

Does anyone know how much diff oil should be used? I bought a litre of catrol diff oil and plan to drain a litre and then put the new litre in.

Also is there a washer that needs replacing?

1.3lt went into mine so I guess its that amount. If you take the 1 ltr out and put the new one in and if it aint over flowing out which means its low.

I guess you can put some of the old stuff back in if its looks good. Otherwise you'd need to buy another litre

[AdamN52]

Originally Posted by hobo mofo

Does anyone know how much diff oil should be used? I bought a litre of catrol diff oil and plan to drain a litre and then put the new litre in.

Also is there a washer that needs replacing?

No washer.

The rear diff holds 1.0L of 75W-90
The front diff (if you have awd) holds 1.2L of 75W-90

Make sure the vehicle is level or else you will over/underfill.
Ideally it should be drained by loosening the cover plate to get all of the fluid out, but you can use a fluid pump to suck out as much as you can instead.

Fill it until the fluid just starts coming out the fill hole. My front and rear used less then 2.0L combined.
I imagine some old fluid remained since I did not remove the covers to drain them.

[hobo mofo]

Thanks for the info guys.

[E60525d]

Thinking of doing this on mine. Will you feel any difference once done?

[Rustymage]

I'm not sure I felt any difference but I wasn't really looking for any. The car was on 71k miles.

I got mine done for piece of mind on a new car (to me).

I spoke with BMW and they say it takes 1ltr when not dry. The Haynes says 1.3 dry. I got mine done at a garage so not sure if mine leaked out of the fill hole when level; they've done hundreds of diff oil changes so I can guess they know what they're doing.

They did order a new fill plug and associated bits so they didn't mess around

It only cost me £50; about £20 of that was fluid, £5 on plug and £25 labour (~30 mins).

[Calluhan]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...1105836&page=5

Just a link to my project thread as I always think a few pics help. I certainly got more than a litre into my diff and as its a tapered screw cap there is no need to buy another as long as yours comes out cleanly. As you can see the car was level. Be careful you are comparing like for like folks, at least one poster is referring to an x drive car and I'm not sure if the rear diff is the same?