Ashley wrote:I have a slight wurring form the rear of my 320 which i thought may be slightly binding brakes.
After reading a buying guide in BMWCar i understand its likely to be the diff.
It says that a noisy diff is quite common and not necessarily anthing to worry about straight away
What are your thoughts / experience on this.
Does anybody know the rough costs of a overhall for the diff? or places you'd recommend doing the job. Im in kent.
Thanks guys, i'm starting to get to grips and up to speed with my car now
Ash
I had the same, and got a £45 one which had done 74k - half what my original had done. That's been perfect for 15k now and the diff oil always comes out yellow, thick and clear still.
You can get good second-hand ones - just watch out for ones that grate when you turn them by hand, and it's a good idea to check the oil that comes out of them. I almost bought one but then checked the oil, and it came out full of slivers, very thin, and stank horrendously (unfortunately I managed to dribble it over my best jeans, and they're still unwearable because of the smell, doesn't come out!).
Long-term, I'm planning to buy an LSD and get it rebuilt, but that's probably a £500 job in total, so not worth it if you're only using the car as a daily driver.
Sorry, this post is getting quite long... but don't spend £250 on rebuilding it if you're not sure its the diff too! I swapped mine out, and though it took a lot of the slack out of the drivetrain, the noise was still there. It was actually the wheel bearing in the hub that was dying on me. So it might be better to get it up on lifts and get a mechanic to tell you which it is, if you're not sure.
