What grade oil for LSD?

[kingstonbe]

I have an '89 325i sport and want to replace the diff oil, simple enough job except the frickin manual and Bentley workshop manual don't specify the grade of oil for a limited slip diff. I understand that it could be a different grade than oil for a regular diff. I asked my local BMW dealer and they said that they put the same grade into everything, regardless of it being a regular diff or a lsd, i'm not convinced that this is the right thing to do so does anyone know better????[/b]

[A1BMW325iSport]

my dealer says they use special oil for the lsd diffs, i`m going down next week with a container, the parts guy is going to get some from their workshop for me

[Richy325iTouring]

There is different oil for lsd
sounds like your parts guy is a knob and duely needs a slap.

putting normal oil into them can ruien the clutch pack on them

[M3GTR]

DOT 5 is for the LSD. I just changed mine on the racer.

[A1BMW325iSport]

use BMW SAF-XLS Synthetic Oil

[kevin316i]

Think its now called Castrol SAF-XJ. Available from BMW dealers, but you need to bring a container as it is supplied to the main dealers in 25L drums. Its about EUR25 per litre.

Regular diff oil will ruin a LSD eventually.

[kingstonbe]

cheers fellow zoners, i thought as much, stupid bloody dealership anyway. Chances are that the monkeys don't haven't any of the right oil in stock if they're not using it, so i'm going to have to try and source it from elsewhere. Do you know if the Castrol SAF-XJ is available from outside of dealerships?

[bennyp]

use the duckhams as it was cheaper, as long as its got the suffix "LS" for their oils its fine.

i changed mine about month ago!

[A1BMW325iSport]

From Castrol Website.....

Castrol SAF-XJ is a full synthetic SAE 75W-140 final drive lubricant. Castrol SAF-XJ can be recommended for most passenger car final drives with or without limited slip differentials, where API GL5 lubricants are required. Castrol SAF-XJ is approved by BMW for use in rear axles fitted with limited slip differentials. It can be used in rear axles fitted with a sealed viscous differential.

[A1BMW325iSport]

Ԛ£11.80 per litre here.....

http://www.superformance.co.uk/parts/di ... 05.htm#oil

[M3Compact]

E30s use a ZF LSD unit as fitted in many other vehicles.

I've used Castrol B373 with these diffs for years without problems. (Ԛ£4 per litre.)

Castrol SAF-XJ is the modern fully synthetic equivalent. When these cars were new SAF-XJ wasn't available, I'm not sure what the BMW recommended oil was at the time, but it's likely to have been B373. (It certainly was with other manufacturers that used the ZF units.)

B373 should suffice if budget is tight imo.

[kingstonbe]

cheers guys, thanks for all the help, i'll be back to my sideways self in no time!

[Gromit]

Probably nothing wrong with Castrol, but all the people I know with Bmw LSD's swear by Mobil Gearlube VS500. This is also what I have in mine, bought 2 liters (own bottles) from my Bmw dealership.

[Taffy]

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/catalogue ... S1861/8730

Not for raod use mind you!