help,325 autobox

[delboy8000]

hi guys,just noticed on motorway tonight that the engine was sounding a bit noisy in top gear,at 80mph the revs were at 3,000,not sure but maybe its not going into final drive?any ideas?also very noisy and vibes when slowing down?

[mrLEE30]

Is it in sport or 123 setting as this setting does not go into top/overdrive?

mrlee

[delboy8000]

hi mrlee,its in economy setting,about 45mph its vibrating thru steering and noisy,just started yesterday,any ideas?cheers

[mrLEE30]

There is no such thing unfortunately as a good vibration! but some are easily fixable. If its vibration thru your steering wheel i would check the obvious things first 1. tyre pressures 2. tyre balance (or try swapping fronts to back diagnally .. (it wont fix a wobbly wheel but will make the vribration feel different), then jack the car securily on stands, take off thew front wheel and check for play in steering arms and control arms.

now if you are still convinced it is your auto box then it could be anything, from prop centre bearing, prop cross bearing, or the bad one i.e internal gearbox bearings. but ... vibration fromm these sources USUALLY manifest themselves as a droning noise and can be ''FELT' through the propshaft tunnel inside the car, but as i said its more of a noise and high speed vibration. so start logically, run your car for five mins in park/neutral then shift with brake on into all gears, then turn off the engine and check the autobox fluid level (bentley or haines explains better), check for the colour it should be reddish and not brown/and or smell burnt.

i think mine (325 87 sport auto) does about 3000rpm and 120-130k/ph so similar rev range, easy way to check is to drive through the gears in 123, using first second and third, then go into sport, then into E and see if it shifts gear. Let me know what happens but gearbox problems difficult to diagnose!

mrlee

[delboy8000]

thanks a lot mate,wil try out what u said,is it easy to change the fluid,i think mine is brownish?guy who had it b4 hadnt done much,not had car long.

[mrLEE30]

changing fluid is easy if you have all the right bits!! basically you have to remove the fluid catch pan underneath your box (spanners) and the feed pipe (spanners), but you will need some torx drivers to remove the filter. if you are going to do it (i do mine every 9-12months but we run in 50degree heat!) change the filter too. A filter kit should come with a rubber gasket, and is not expensive.

best way to solve noise problems though in my opinion is to not worry about it and turn up the stereo!!!

let me know how you get on

mrlee

[delboy8000]

thanx again mate but checked the ront wheels today(shook them)and there was definite excess play,could be wheel bearings,anyway kwkfit hav quoted me bout 125 each!i take it its a bastard job???

[mrLEE30]

unlikkely to be wheel bearings, more likely steering joints , or control arm bushings. Wheel bearing will sound like a rumble especially bad when turning at speed (i.e. chenging lanes on a motorway). good news is changing them is easy, you may have to buy some tools as the nut is a biggie (30-32mm) but even buying an entire tool set, axle stands will not cost 250quid!! get a second opinion as to where the play is coming from (local garage), then get down Halfords and buy a Bentley (or from Amazon.com) or if you cant find that a Haines Manual. Read up and decide if you are up for the job. most stuff like this is quite easy and you will save loads of cash in the long run. If unsure start another thread on wheel bearing change (or do a zone search and read up) i changed my bearings on my 318 on my drive, took a bit of messing but all good in the end. bearings are about 50quid or go direct to FAG or SKF and they will sell you the same bearing for half the BMW price (its the same thing in a different box)

good luck

and see it went from a gearbox to a simple wheel bearing!!

mrlee

[delboy8000]

thanks yet again mrlee!! im taking it into a local garage 4 a free check,let u know mate.