328 sport - gearbox/diff oil

[S3_Graham]

When should i be looking to do a flush/change?

Car is creeping towards 150,000 and i may well have been done, but there is no evidence in the service history of it having been done. Is this something i can do, or it a pain in the arse?

Also does anyone know which diff oil i should be using as its got the LSD??

[E30M3SE]

There is normally a label on the side of the g/box with the required fluid, normally ATF fluid, 'filled for life'.

LSD's usually filled with Castrol SAF-XJ by dealers, IIRC 1.7 litres.

[S3_Graham]

whilst looking i noticed the diff was leaking, lucky i checked. Dropped it off at my local indy for them to fix the leak and do the gearbox oil at the same time.

[griffter]

i thought these were part of the inspection 2 service?

[8Tech]

They should be but they never get done. Too difficult for the quick in and out the Stealers want and they frown on anything that gets their hands dirty too, like cars over 3 years old!

[S3_Graham]

i dont think they are part of the Insp II. i went to my local BM dealer and they said they didnt sell the LSD fluid as it was 'sealed for life' and therefore they didnt stock it.

Indy has had my car today, apparently the prop shaft seal AND the gasket on the fwd face of the diff were leaking, lucky i caught it when i did really!

Have asked him to do the gearbox oil at the same time as the old girl is on 147,000 miles now!

[pat_y]

E30M3SE said:

There is normally a label on the side of the g/box with the required fluid, normally ATF fluid, 'filled for life'.

LSD's usually filled with Castrol SAF-XJ by dealers, IIRC 1.7 litres.

Have just bought some of this from Opie, as nobody else (even my local dealership) had any. The spec you need is as above SAF-XJ 75W/140, 1.7litres is about right for my M3 diff so i would suspect the 328 with LSD is pretty much the same.

[S3_Graham]

its all done and ready to collect now, the garage even had trouble getting any fluid out of BMW. They apparently had to send one of their guys down to the dealership to decant some of the BMW service stock into a can!!

[E30M3SE]

S3_Graham said:

its all done and ready to collect now, the garage even had trouble getting any fluid out of BMW. They apparently had to send one of their guys down to the dealership to decant some of the BMW service stock into a can!!

That is what I was told by the parts manager at the local dealer, "bring a container", when I asked about SAF-XJ.