E30 differential oil
Printed From: Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum
Category: Technical & Model Specific Forums
Forum Name: BMW 3 Series
Forum Discription: This forum will deal with any issues on the BMW 3 Series (E21, E30, E36, E46, E90, E91 & E92)
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=4101
Printed Date: 29-April-2024 at 20:43
Topic: E30 differential oil
Posted By: Alex
Subject: E30 differential oil
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 15:04
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Hello Does anyone know where I can get hold of the SAE 90 hypoid gear oil required for my 325i diff? My local independant specialist will sell it to me for £12.50/ltr +VAT, which is rather steep. Aparrently you can only buy it in bulk. Thanks! |
Replies:
Posted By: daddy cool
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 16:15
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have you tried halfords ? if its available to bmw its gna be available to everyone ! ------------- e30 2.7 cab e30 325i e30 325 sport e30 318 touring e28 m5 e28 m535 e34 m5 e39 540 e36 318ti (green) e36 318ti (mauve) |
Posted By: Alex
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 17:56
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Tried Halfords - they don't sell the right stuff. They do sell the correct gearbox oil though. The dealers buy it from Castrol in bulk - it's called FXO or something. ------------- Alex Shirley 
1990 E30 325i |
Posted By: alanw15
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 18:42
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you have to buy the diff oil either from the Dealers or specialist ------------- BMW 325I SE 1988 |
Posted By: senna65
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 21:31
| ive got a 325i sport, how often does the dif oil need changing?? |
Posted By: Alex
Date Posted: 17-November-2003 at 22:20
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My manual doesn't cover Sports or M3s, but if they're like all the rest of the range it should be changed every Inspection II. This means probably every 2 or 3 years. ------------- Alex Shirley
1990 E30 325i |
Posted By: Mark R
Date Posted: 18-November-2003 at 08:36
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Ask your friendly BMW Dealer if he will sell you the required amount over the counter, some will, some wont...
Your right, they do buy it in bulk, i'm not too sure what the alternative is if they don't want to sell it to you  ------------- Mark Roberts 
E30 318iS Wessex Region Secretary E30 Registrar & committee member Someone left a note on my windscreen. It read 'Parking Fine' that was nice |
Posted By: Caesar Bob
Date Posted: 20-November-2003 at 14:25
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I got the oil for my diff thro a mate of my dad's that owns a Motorfactors. It was Valvoline SAE90 and came in litre bottles. It wasn't for the lsd tho. ------------- E30 318iS Ist seitlich das neue nachschickt! |
Posted By: chris_btw
Date Posted: 21-November-2003 at 12:19
| Halfords do Castrol Syntrax Universal 75w-90 which is fine for E30 diffs as long as theyre not LSD's. But id say go to your BMW dealer and they will sell it to you by the litre, i got it for my E36 325i, its called Castrol SAF-XJ(replaced the old SAF-XO) and is now used in all BMW's, old and new. Its a 75W-140 and suitable for LSD's, £24.68 inc VAT for 2 litres. |
Posted By: Alex
Date Posted: 22-November-2003 at 21:14
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Thanks for all the replies. I've decided that, due to the cost of buying the oil and the difficulty of pouring it into the hole (which is even worse for the gearbox oil, which I also want to change) I might as well get the specialist to do it for me this time. It's only the same cost as a tank and a half of fuel. ------------- Alex Shirley
1990 E30 325i |
Posted By: Caesar Bob
Date Posted: 25-November-2003 at 13:57
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Changing the gearbox and diff oil is a piece of pi$$ as long as you've bought a length of plastic tubing. With the gearbox you need ~1.5-2ft of 0.5in diameter clear plastic tubing (get it from B&Q). Open the bonnet and run the tube down the o/s of the engine and then just stuff it in the filler hole. Same principle for the diff only you need much less tubing. hth ------------- E30 318iS Ist seitlich das neue nachschickt! |
Posted By: b318isp
Date Posted: 25-November-2003 at 14:00
| The tube comes with the oil! It should be available in every highsteet motor factors! |
Posted By: Caesar Bob
Date Posted: 26-November-2003 at 10:24
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Brendan, i've never seen a 2ft length of pipe coming free with a litre bottle of oil. ------------- E30 318iS Ist seitlich das neue nachschickt! |
Posted By: b318isp
Date Posted: 26-November-2003 at 11:24
| Who needs 2 feet? There is plenty of space around the diff filler - you do have to crawl underneath! |
Posted By: Caesar Bob
Date Posted: 26-November-2003 at 11:51
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You need the 2ft for the gearbox tho. It a b*gger of a job if you just try to fit the bottle filler into the fill plug hole. ------------- E30 318iS Ist seitlich das neue nachschickt! |