Re: <E-30> Differentials

["Justin Hughes" <ka1ult@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>My '91 318i (E-30 body, M42 engine) with 104K miles is now suffering from a
very
>noisy differential.  <snip>
>Anyone out there have a similar story, and can anyone recommend a source
for a
>good used diff?

My '83 320i (E21) also has a fairly noisy diff.  One cause of the problem
can be attributed to "pilot error."  If the diff fluid gets too low at some
point, the extra wear and tear roughens up the internal workings a bit, and
they start to howl.  Even when you fill it with something like Redline, you
can't undo the wear that's already happened, and the only way to make the
howl go away is to replace it.  Not to say that the problem's your fault -
this is just one possible cause of it in general, usually by people less
attentive to their cars than us. :)  Then again, with 212k miles on my car,
I suppose I should expect some issues like this, even if the diff's always
had enough fluid.  Guess it's time for me to transplant a LSD from a 320is -
that is, if all the 2002 owners haven't grabbed them all first!!! :)

    - Justin

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