Hi All,
Well... I drove my mother's touring a few weeks ago and today the local Euro shop confirmed that the whirring noise was, indeed, the rear diff. Being that it is a (factory) manual touring, my understanding is the the diff is specific to 525/528iT cars? Not having gone down the road of having a diff rebuilt before, can someone shed some light here? The shop confirmed that the fluid was at the proper level and the diff was not leaking fluid.
Thanks!
Wade
Supposedly the gear ratio is 323, by the parts film there could be a metal tag attached to the bolts on the back cover that will also say 323. I would just get a used one, call lkq and see what they have. In all the years of dealing with BMW's I have only had to replace a diff a handful of times. It looks like the 528 wagon had a diff ratio of 307 and the e39 sedan had a gear ratio of 315. So the diff seems to be used in the 525 wagon only.
Last edited by jclausen; 01-14-2019 at 09:35 AM.
I talked to another technician who advised it may be worth the $80-100 to change the diff fluid and use an additive but most likely a bearing was going bad in the diff. You are correct that only the manual 525 touring in the US had this diff. Word on the street is that the 523i sedan in Europe ran that diff so I may just end up buying one from a breaker over there.
Wade
I'm using a factory diff from a 1997 528i manual sedan in my 525iT. It is manual swapped.
I believe its the same combo as what was used in the manual touring from the factory. Used the ZF 5 speed from the 1997 528i sedan as well. Driveshaft also.
Well you don't HAVE to match the ratio exactly. Could always go taller. Not that the 525 is a torque monster begging for tall gears just saying its possible. Also can get any ratio you want from diffsonline. Not cheap but once overseas diff shipping is considered, a tidy clean warrantied item from them might look better than an unknown used box off a boat. Ideal is still prob that you find a used one here tho...
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
The 528 manual has taller gearing so it would work... but wouldn't have as much pickup as it does now.
Yeah... this car is really clean and has all it's service records so it would be replaced with the factory ratio. I was seeing $1,500 or so for a reman'd original ratio diff.
Wade
I have a 3,23 lsd i would be willing to sell. really clean and low miles. willing to ship
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