front of rear diff mounts worn.

[mitch23]

On a 325i e36 what exactly and where is the "front of rear diff mount bushings" located?, car is clunking badly in between gears, done a lot of other work to the car and got it back on the road this past Sunday, now this is all that is left and it will drive like new again, I have never had to work on or had any problems with a diff and unless I have had problems with something in the past and worked on it I am clueless but keen to learn on this one, cheers in advance.

[CblockM3]

Front diff bolt is on passenger side

[mitch23]

can this be done without too much trouble yourself, how much harder is this from doing rear wheel bearings for example, I got them done over this weekend, just want to make sure this is within my capabilities, any chance you could show me what I am working with with a diagram?, just sounds a little confused, "front of rear diff mount" but yet on the passenger side?, that had just blown my mind, to me the front is facing the front of the car and the rear is facing the rear of the car, in my head it is either the front or the rear, or both, how can it be at the front of the rear?

Also is the mount actually pressed into the diff or the diff carrier because if it is in the diff carrier I suppose I could just remove the diff carrier and drive to down to a shop to have them quickly press the old one out and the new one in leaving the diff jacked up in place?

[scooper]

take a look at this diagram:

http://2009.bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E36/Sedan/USA/325i-M50/LHD/M/1995/april/browse/rear_axle/rear_axle_carrier/

no.4 is the diff front bushing

no.14 are the rear bushings:
http://2009.bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E36/Sedan/USA/325i-M50/LHD/M/1995/april/browse/rear_axle/final_drive_cover_trigger_contact/

If you can do rear wheel bearing you can do the diff bushings. If you have a broken diff bolt, you'll have to extract it, drill it out. In all cases the diff needs to come out though you might be able to replace the rear ones with the diff kinda still perched on the subframe. An upgrade is a m14x1.5 bolt. You can get a diff bushing from RRT in Sterling, VA or AKG. RRT also offers the larger diff bolt.

[mitch23]

Well i might give the rears a go and do the front only if need be than, this is not my car, it is for a good friend of mind and trying to research as much as possible to make the job as smooth as possible, how far does it need to be dropped at the rear, will I still have to detach both axles and driveshaft and what not, also these bushings in the rear of the diff do need pressing in and out much like the wheel bearing in the rear? They are not just going to unbolt and rebolt up as easy as that I take it.

I have removed driveshafts, axles, exhuast before all that is no drama, the rear sway bar I just unbolt one sides link and that will come out.

What about the weight of the diff, if I do just remove it how heavy and awkward is it?, if I lower it with a normal jack with me on one side of it and a helper on the other I should be fine to slide it out yes?

[scooper]

if you're going to replace the rear diff bushings I would remove it completely. It's about 80 lbs. You can work it with a floor jack with a rubber pad little by little. Slide it out a little towards the passenger side. Don't forget to disconnect the sensor at the rear. 18mm sockets for diff bolts, E12 torx sockets for axles to diff, 13mm and 16mm/17mm for rear sway bar, 16mm/17mm for diff input flange. You can handle the diff yourself but best with a helper. Bushings need a press or a custom threaded tool.

[Smoky540i]

I'm not sure the diff is much more than 50 lbs. I just pulled mine out and lowered it onto my chest but maybe that wasn't too smart. Never had any problems. Did the same or similar with my manual transmission when I removed it.

[mitch23]

I bought a thick threaded rod for the wheel bearings so hopefully I can find the right size bits to press it out and back in myself, otherwise I have a friend with a 4 tone press I can run it down to, thanks for all the iinput, feeling pretty confident, hopefully I can pull it off in one big day.

[FranklyIDC]

I bought a thick threaded rod for the wheel bearings so hopefully I can find the right size bits to press it out and back in myself, otherwise I have a friend with a 4 tone press I can run it down to, thanks for all the iinput, feeling pretty confident, hopefully I can pull it off in one big day.

Well the bushing goes into the subframe itself so unless you're removing the whole subframe you won't be able to use the big press. If you do end up taking the subframe out, I'd consider doing the 4 subframe bushing as well.

But it is possible to do with hand tools and threaded rod. Diff is heavy so take your time.