Bought my first bmw about two months ago, noticed a dry grinding sound after three or four weeks, the noise has been diagnosed as the rear diff and after some research i have found out that this is a very common problem on the 1 and 3 series. My diff is being rebuilt this week under the warranty i received with my car, this being from a reputable dealer. My car has only covered 50000 miles and i am very surprised ar the diff failing at this mileage, will probably keep it for twelve months and get rid, not impressed at all

That's a shame. It looks like they are supposed to be lifetime sealed but it appears that they should have the oil changed fairly regularly. It also looks like M3 and hard driven manual versions suffer most.

diffs will fail if driven hard in a short amount of time. diffs can last approx from 10-300k.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune

As the guys have stated, it may of been driven hard by the first owner.

Keep us posted


Daz

Thanks for the comments guys, really like the car its a 320i touring, just a bit disappointed

I can only imagine the disappointment. I feel as though I should defend BMWs rep but... well... I don't like "New" cars, in which I consider 2007 new. If the diff goes in my '87, I just... pull it out and shuv another one in. Newer cars, there is alot of messing around and electronics to mess around with. Of course, I understand other views but, that's just me.

Ultimately, "We"... BMWOC wish you the best of luck and your story (Positive OR Negative) might help someone in the future so, sharing is caring. Keep us posted!!

Daz

Will do daz thanks

Steve

Got my car back today, had the bearings replaced in the diff and sounds good, really pleased with the car again

Top stuff dude!!

Daz

Hey, I just bought my 325 E46 last week but have noticed a similar sound when sat idling. I have also noticed what I was starting to think was a bearing sound when driving. Could this be a similar issue?

Dont know to be honest with you, the problem i've had was on the e91, don't know if it was common on the earlier models

Steve