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Diffentials went, and changed atf

2K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  WDE46 
#1 ·
Hello all, I hope you are enjoying your bimmers. I am but now i have run into a few problems.

First my rear differential snapped and is out of comission. I changed it and swapped it with a differential from a 325i? Now it drives.

Second after i fixed tgat i decided to do a atf change, it was easy but tge oil pan gasket (which is metal) completey fell apart. For the life of me i cannot find this gasket at any stores. Perhaps i should go to the bmw dealer? The part number is GM 96020493.

So anyways i skipped the gasket (bad idea i know) but i needed to drive some where. At first the car drove smooth. Then all of a sudden i hear this loud whining grinding noise, im like **** i hope its not the atf job... Anyways when the car is in idle nothing. When i put it in drive or 1~4 gear it switches fast. But only when i drive does it make this loud noise. Could it be the atf job or the differential. I also didnt add gear oil to the differential should i?

Sent from my SPH-D710 Bimmer App
 
#4 ·
You need to go to the dealer (not in your BMW) and buy a gasket for your transmission immediately. Now you have to do the job twice because you'll have to drain again.

You need to fill your differential with oil. You better hope you didn't drive far on it. You might have just destroyed your new diff. That was not smart. All moving parts on cars need lubrication always. When in doubt, change the fluid out.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys for the fast replies, defiantly will be adding gear fluid, and its fine that I'll have to do the atf again isn't it better to flush it anyways?

And no I didn't get to drive to far thankfully :]. Now to add gear oil in the diffs, how do I go about doing that? Must I remove the entire peice again, but I remember seeing a screw where I would be able to unbolt it and add gear oil, is that accessable without removal of the diffs?
 
#11 ·
i don't think you are just new to the bimmer. you are new to DIY as well.

do you self a favor, get the car fixed at a shop before you spend more on a new transmission and differential again. if you don't know that there is oil required, you really shouldn't mess with it. how the heck did you manage to swap the differential yourself if you didn't know how to fill fluid is beyond me.

i hope you never do your brakes. if you do, remember to put new pads in there lol
 
#12 · (Edited)
Well...I didn't mean to say I forgot to add oil, I really ment that when there was fluid from when my step dad looked but he suggested to change the oil, but maybe I should have I'm thinking I should've added new fluids in it. Because at the time I thought it had enough, but it was an honest mistake because now theres a strange noise and It can only account to two things that I have done.

I mean you only learn from your mistakes, I'm not a gear head I just learned a few things from my step father watching him fix cars.
 
#13 ·
Well...I didn't mean to say I forgot to add oil, I really ment that when there was fluid from when my step dad looked but he suggested to change the oil, but maybe I should have I'm thinking I should've added new fluids in it. Because at the time I thought it had enough, but it was an honest mistake because now theres a strange noise and It can only account to two things that I have done.

I mean you only learn from your mistakes, I'm not a gear head I just learned a few things from my step father watching him fix cars.
Agreed. Some mistakes are more expensive than others though :rofl:
 
#15 ·
I'm more concerned about the transmission. If you didn't use a gasket, the fluid has probably already leaked to the level of the pan flange. That may explain your funny shifting issues.

The grinding you hear on the other hand is probably from an empty, or low, differential fluid level.
 
#21 ·
Fill the ATF with BMW fluid. I tried using Mobil One ATF once and car kept on popping out of the highest gear. 1/2 quart low on the ATF shouldn't be the culprit. Gasket and transmission filter change should be done. There is more ATF in the torque converter so changing the fluid twice isn't a bad thing.

As for the diff, just check for fluid level and use approved oil. Redline is a great choice but choose the right viscosity.

Good luck!
 
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