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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY E90 Rear Differential Oil Change



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      01-10-2014, 08:32 AM   #111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_c
So, I ordered a couple quarts of redline 75w-90 to do this. Car is a 335i with 94k on it. Its been dealer maintained and I have all service records from PO- was a little old lady.

I squeezed underneath the car very easily, and cracked open the fill plug with the breaker bar. Piece of cake.

However, I was startled to find that the fluid (presumably factory fill unless somehow the lady changed it..doubtful) looked like new.

I checked it and put it on paper, was a perfect honey color like new XO fluid. So im wondering....do I continue with the fluid change as most of the darkness and particles has gravitated to the bottom and I only saw the very top nice fluid?

Or do I return the red line fluid and assume that its still ok?
Did you drive around (warm up the oil) first? If so, leave it alone
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      01-10-2014, 10:02 AM   #112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ska325xi View Post
Did you drive around (warm up the oil) first? If so, leave it alone
Nah, the car was sitting for a few days when I checked the fluid.

Ill check it after driving around today and see if the fluid still looks good.
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      01-12-2014, 09:05 PM   #113
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_c View Post
Nah, the car was sitting for a few days when I checked the fluid.

Ill check it after driving around today and see if the fluid still looks good.
Changed it, glad that I did. The fluid looked pretty good in small amounts, but when it was in a larger container, it looked like somewhere between honey and maple syrup. Not bad at all for the amount of miles on it...very impressed with the fluid. Other cars I've changed look much darker and thicker.

Its only $30, and I know for sure the level is right and the fluid is new. By the way- its a piece of cake to do this without jacking the car up at all. Just get a fluid transfer pump from harbor freight.

I bought two quarts of the fluid and only used .3L or so - so if anyone wants to save a few bucks and buy the rest of my Redline fluid, PM me
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      01-13-2014, 06:51 PM   #114
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_c View Post
Its only $30, and I know for sure the level is right and the fluid is new. By the way- its a piece of cake to do this without jacking the car up at all. Just get a fluid transfer pump from harbor freight.
You didn't even need to jack it up to extract? Really?
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      01-13-2014, 07:32 PM   #115
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_c View Post
I bought two quarts of the fluid and only used .3L or so
Wait, what? It takes about 1.2 quarts. Are you sure you pumped in enough or was that just a typo?
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      01-28-2014, 01:33 PM   #116
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FYI, Torque spec supplied by me in the OP's original post is from the Bentley Manual.
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      01-28-2014, 03:18 PM   #117
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You didn't even need to jack it up to extract? Really?

Yep. I have the sport package as well. 245 lbs and 6'1 fit under there with no issues, much easier than leveling it
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      01-28-2014, 03:41 PM   #118
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mi_bimmer View Post
Wait, what? It takes about 1.2 quarts. Are you sure you pumped in enough or was that just a typo?
An unclear statement, only used .3 from the second bottle and minus spillage, have about half a bottle left in case any of you guys need it-

Total fluid fill was 1.2 L
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      01-28-2014, 03:51 PM   #119
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_c View Post
Yep. I have the sport package as well. 245 lbs and 6'1 fit under there with no issues, much easier than leveling it
yeah I looked under my car the day I read that comment and you're right. It's not far under there.
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      02-15-2014, 10:42 AM   #120
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Just changed my diff oil this morning (21,000 miles), really an easy procedure. Oddly though, it took about 1.2 qts of Redline 75w-90 to fill it, but I was only able to suck less than a qt out.
Has anyone else noticed that their diffs might have been under filled from the factory?
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      02-20-2014, 03:36 PM   #121
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Amsoil

I would replace this fluid every 50k with Amsoil and also put in a magnetic drain plug.
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      04-27-2014, 10:26 PM   #122
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Finally did this after several months of putting it off.

55,500 mi 328i sedan. Old stuff looks yucky, but I'm sure it's still fine. Whatever. Nice to know new RedLine stuff is in there now.


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      05-23-2014, 09:21 AM   #123
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Thanks Op!! Just did my E90 330i. Hardest and most time consuming was jacking up the car to be level and high enough. Used Redline 75W90. The stuff that came out was dark brown.
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      11-25-2014, 11:21 PM   #124
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Just finished the fluid change (39,9xx mi). Like some, I was able to squeeze under the car and complete the job. That bolt was on tight; definitely felt like I almost stripped the bolt when it finally got loose.

Changed out the oem fluid with Motul Gear 300. I was able to get a little more than 1L out. I felt like the hardest part was playing with the tubing to suck all of it out. Pumping the fluid in was easy enough.

The initial drive and turns felt oddly smooth (I didnt think I would actually notice anything). I'll give an update after a week or two of more driving.

FYI - Not like this is a UOA, but the color of the oem fluid was honey brown (on the darker side).

**Update** Car feels ever so slightly smoother. We will see how much a trans fluid change affects the car. In other news, the oem fluid finally settled in the crystal gyser bottle I put it in.

The fluid appears to be 3 part. At the top, regular translucent oil (brown in color). In the middle, the fluid appears as a opaque milkshake with a honey brown tinge. Lastly, at the bottom, there looks to be some sediment. The color is whiteish green (looks like mold + wet paper).

Last edited by inrev`; 12-10-2014 at 06:06 PM..
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      12-10-2014, 04:49 PM   #125
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Changed oil today at 48k miles, it looked it good condition. Only thing was I had a hard time doing it with the car on the ground so I reversed it onto my rhino ramps and after 10 minutes of pumping/rearranging the hose I only got about .75-.80 quart out into an old engine oil bottle. I put in almost all of the Royal Purple so hopefully nothing bad happens with the extra .2 quart-ish.
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      01-01-2015, 07:23 PM   #126
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I did mine with 65K miles. I just parked it at the end of the driveway and did it.
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      02-03-2015, 03:40 PM   #127
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Did mine today. Had a Wavetrac LSD installed 75k miles ago. Thought at 166k it's a good time to change it. Attaching pics. You'll see old versus new oil. I used a transfer pump to remove old fluid. Then used a condiment squirt bottle to fill with new oil. Worked out great!
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Last edited by dbjb; 02-03-2015 at 03:50 PM..
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      05-07-2015, 03:19 AM   #128
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xDrive models -- frame in the way

Has anyone done this on a 3 series with awd? I have a e91 328xi and theres a huge A-Shaped frame which is blocking my access to the fill/drain bolt on the rear diff.

It looks relatively easy to remove (3 bolts), but I have no idea what the torque specs are or what it's even called for that matter.

Will post pics if needed.
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      06-15-2015, 12:51 PM   #129
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I purchased a (Fluid Transfer Pump) from ECS and was hoping that someone could explain what I've seen said in a few places. I can't recall if I saw something like this in here, but would appreciate information all the same.

Basically, I've seen it said that you can put the new Diff Oil into the Fluid Transfer Pump and just go to town pumping it into the diff, with no mention of anything else (i.e., extracting the previously used oil). Is the concept here that I should be pumping the new oil in at the lowest point I can get to in the diff and trying to displace the old fluid into leaking out? I don't see how it would be extracting fluid directly with the pump, or am I missing something?

Seems like displacement of the old oil wouldn't be the most optimal way to change it, aside from it being easy, as wouldn't there be a ton of contamination to the new oil? Hoping I missed something, don't really want to buy any more tools atm. Thanks!
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      07-06-2015, 04:25 PM   #130
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neoexodus View Post
I purchased a (Fluid Transfer Pump) from ECS and was hoping that someone could explain what I've seen said in a few places. I can't recall if I saw something like this in here, but would appreciate information all the same.

Basically, I've seen it said that you can put the new Diff Oil into the Fluid Transfer Pump and just go to town pumping it into the diff, with no mention of anything else (i.e., extracting the previously used oil). Is the concept here that I should be pumping the new oil in at the lowest point I can get to in the diff and trying to displace the old fluid into leaking out? I don't see how it would be extracting fluid directly with the pump, or am I missing something?

Seems like displacement of the old oil wouldn't be the most optimal way to change it, aside from it being easy, as wouldn't there be a ton of contamination to the new oil? Hoping I missed something, don't really want to buy any more tools atm. Thanks!
You definitely want to pump out the old oil first. Just switch the in/out hoses and pump out as much of the old fluid as you can. Then pump in the new fluid until it just starts to trickle out of the drain hole, that's when you know the differential case is full.
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      07-09-2015, 10:44 AM   #131
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Personally, I would say any daily driver trying to get 200,000 miles out of their e90 should change out all the fluids every 50k. Also, a walnut blasting or old school cleaning using gun wire brushes and Seafoam intake cleaner as you solvent instead of brake cleaner or carb cleaner every 30k is probably smart too.
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      07-19-2015, 09:01 AM   #132
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Since the drain and fill plugs come with an o-ring built in, should these be replaced when doing the fluid dran-and-fill? And are the drain and fill plugs identical? Thanks.
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