HELP top diff bolts

Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:49 pm

Had the diff all in situ ready to be bolted back in after leaving the car for about a month, front bolts go in fine, one of the rears go in fine but the other side is always going in slightly at an angle..

Tried with the jack all angles etc and is always the same, when tightening i can get them about 50% in then its just too tight to physically move.

Any advice? how tight should these suckers be to get in normally?

The threads are fine as i dropped the diff and bolts go in no problem, just seems that one of the subframe holes is always about 1mm out - regardless of which rear bolt i try.

Sat Jun 01, 2013 3:12 pm

Always seems to me that the beam needs to be 'loaded' to get all of the bolts in properly,the thing needs to be jiggled up and down with a jack to get it to settle properly before all four bolts will go home.

The bolts must be tight,go back every 6 months and check the blighters!

Sat Jun 01, 2013 4:01 pm

Yeah when I removed it one was missing! The car is only jacked up via the subframe at the moment so that could be my problem!

Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:44 pm

If it's your replacement bolt that is proving difficult,it is the correct pitch thread is'nt it?
BMW used a fine pitch M12 from memory,but there again,my memory is not quite as good as it was!
May also help you to get it all lined up right if you can get the backplate of the diff into it's bracket and loosely bolted up.

Sat Jun 01, 2013 9:30 pm

yeah ordered the right bmw bolt as they are a weird thread. i can get the bolt to screw in to either hole when the diff is down fine, and one or the other when its in place. have tried all possible angles of the diff including every other bolt in place, however im going to try stands on the sills tomorrow using the jack to move the whole frame about a bit, else its going to a mechanic