RE: Tranny and Diff Oil recommendations?

["Fadeev, Alex" <alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Martin Stanczak [mailto:martin@domain.elided] wrote:
> 
> I have changed the diff oil in my E36 during my previous 
> Inspection II to Castrol Syntec 75W90 oil. Since then I 
> have noticed that there is a very slight whine from the 
> rear diff when coasting. The car has only 55K miles on
> it so I think the diff should still be in perfect condition.  

Martin,
I can think of two possibilities:
- - you used a LSD rear diff fluid in your non-LSD ti
- - Castrol, just like RedLine, are noisier (less viscous) than stock fluid. 

> With another Inspection II coming up this summer, I am 
> wondering if I should use a different brand of diff oil,
> or maybe just use the BMW oil from the dealer?

I would recommend RedLine 75W90 or 75W90NS if your don't have a LSD. That's
what I have in both the E36 M3 and E30 325i (with LSD). M3 is perfectly
quiet but the 325i's rear diff has started whining at around 100K miles. 
I bet BMW fluid will be the most expensive but also the quietest.

> My other question is about the manual tranny oil. My service 
> manual says it should be changed every other Inspection II, 
> therefore it is due for a change this time around.  Any 
> recommendations?  

RedLine MTL or D4ATF. 
Read more at www.redlineoil.com

> I have used Mobil1 75W90 in my previous car, however I had to
> drain it because I could not shift gears once the temperature
> dropped significantly below freezing.  

RedLine is fantastic at keeping your transmission usable on those cold
winter morning in NE.

> I know BMW recommends Dexron II Automatic Trans Fluid for their
> manual transmissions, would it be wise to go with a brand name
> synthetic Auto Tranny Fluid or just stick with the dealer oil
> which is especially pricey here ($20/qt)?  

Nothing wrong with dealer oil. But if you want to shift with finger tips on
cold winter morning I would highly recommend RedLine D4ATF.

good luck,
alex f

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