Hi guys and girls,

This is my first post here and not one of joy!

So happily driving along the motorway and heard a loud thud. I initially thought I'd ran over a stray cone base (cones down the hard shoulder) or hit one of the UK's liberally littered pot holes!
After pulling off the motorway and checking the car over, turning the radio down and driving at town speeds I could hear a rotational flat tyre type noise. Got it to a local garage I used, they put it on the ramps and said the noise was coming from the diff, like I've chipped a tooth.
Apparently BMW won't repair it under warranty as I've not got BMW approved tyres on!
Someone has offered me a 20k diff off a 535i but I'm not sure it'll be compatible?
Any recommendations from where to purchase a 530d specific diff?

Hi Oliver...welcome to the Forum

I would definitely get a second opinion on the diagnosis as it could be driveshaft, wheel bearing, brakes or just about anything else in the area after contacting the debris but can't say I have ever heard of a differential being affected by contacting road debris.

Let us know how you get on with it

 

3 hours ago, Bimmer Owners Club said:

Hi Oliver...welcome to the Forum

I would definitely get a second opinion on the diagnosis as it could be driveshaft, wheel bearing, brakes or just about anything else in the area after contacting the debris but can't say I have ever heard of a differential being affected by contacting road debris.

Let us know how you get on with it

 

Thanks.

Sorry I didn’t explain properly. I didn’t actually hit anything, I just thought I had.

The garage I took it to is my local Subaru dealership. The reason being; their they only main dealer I trust after they built my forged engine in my previous STI. So I do trust their diagnosis regards it being the diff as they have plenty experience with diffs haha.

yeah I’ll keep you updated!

Morning Oliver

BMW diffs are a pain I had the rear diff on my X5 fail only to find there are no rebuild kits !! The only source is a new diff from BMW, I did some research and as the speed is monitored from the wheel sensors not gearbox I decided to change front and rear diffs together to ensure the ratio's were compatible. Cost of a new 3.9 diff from BMW £900 + VAT + fitting added up to a £2k quote. So brought 2, 3.7 diffs from a low mileage breaker £320 + VAT with the help of one of my sons (younger bendier and stronger) we swapped them out in a weekend while in there we changed the diff mounting bushes as well. The breaker (sorry Vehicle Recycler) gave me £80 for the front diff that was 2 years and about 20k ago when cruising on the motorway rpm is a little lower but day to day no noticeable difference.

I would check on www.realoem.com look at the way the diff mounts for both models if they look the same personally I would go for it, 

So dif has been removed and inspection plate opened to reveal... 

what next?  

Upgrade or keep standard?

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 2:56 PM, Bimmer Owners Club said:

what next?  

Upgrade or keep standard?

Sorry, didn't realise you'd replied.

 

The diff got replaced with a brand new diff from BMW under my RAC Warranty. They also replaced the driveshaft that had burred flat inside the diff.

 

Currently the car is standard but there is a knocking coming from the front when going slowly with a fair bit of lock on. So I'll be getting that sorted and then looking at sourcing some lowering springs/cheap coilovers and getting her lower.

Then I'll be looking for a front lip, changing the kidney grills to all black, changing the wing indicator surrounds to black and wrapping the chrome door handle black along with changing the 530d badge to a black example.

sounds like a good outcome so far

keep us updated with the mods and be good to see some pics of the build