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      06-21-2022, 08:17 AM   #1
Ajowhan
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Differential oil change

Is the process to do differential oil change the same in m240i as in an m2?

Tried to find youtube video but most video on youtube are on m2..

Is it as simple as drain plug, suck oil out? Is there a separate fill plug or is it just one hole for fill and drain?

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      06-21-2022, 09:41 AM   #2
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There's only a fill hole, so the oil must be sucked-out via that hole. Then you can put fresh fluid in until it starts to flow out of the hole.

I watched the mechanic do this with my car the last time it was done. Believe it or not, he spent 20 minutes sucking-out the used fluid. Basically, once he'd gotten most of the fluid out, he then moved the tube he was using to get the fluid out around in a variety of ways to try and get the rest of it out. And he did get a fair amount more used fluid out of the diff using this method. He certainly had more patience than I would have had if I'd been doing it.

I wonder why there's no drain plug on our diffs.
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      06-21-2022, 12:05 PM   #3
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Although it isn’t for the faint of heart, you can fit a drain plug to a BMW diff, but it takes some machining. My Caterham uses the “small” BMW diff casing. I think the M235i and M240i use the “medium” one. Here is the operation to machine a flat and drill and tap a hole for a magnetic drain plug, there is just enough space to fit the drain plug and enough casing thickness for the thread:
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      06-22-2022, 08:01 AM   #4
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Thank you guys for the answer! Can always trust the forum to go above and beyond even on the answer
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      06-23-2022, 08:14 PM   #5
ggggbmw
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I found that sucking out any oil was the hard part. That stuff is THICK. (It stinks too, but not as bad as the ZF Lifeguard AT fluid.) I had a hard time using any of the 3 fluid suction tools I have and not getting leaks in the seals to maintain suction. However, I was using a home-built J tube made from 1/4" copper tubing, with a 3/16" ID. A bigger tube would probably help.
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      06-24-2022, 07:59 AM   #6
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I wonder if the new M240i's have a drain hole in the new M-Diff.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
There's only a fill hole, so the oil must be sucked-out via that hole. Then you can put fresh fluid in until it starts to flow out of the hole.

I watched the mechanic do this with my car the last time it was done. Believe it or not, he spent 20 minutes sucking-out the used fluid. Basically, once he'd gotten most of the fluid out, he then moved the tube he was using to get the fluid out around in a variety of ways to try and get the rest of it out. And he did get a fair amount more used fluid out of the diff using this method. He certainly had more patience than I would have had if I'd been doing it.

I wonder why there's no drain plug on our diffs.
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      06-28-2022, 01:55 PM   #7
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What about removing the rear plate, and reinstalling with a new gasket and some gasket cement? Then, filling, of course.
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      06-28-2022, 03:39 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggggbmw View Post
I found that sucking out any oil was the hard part. That stuff is THICK
Was that true with the fluid fully heated-up before starting to extract it?

FWIW, I generally drive my car for a minimum of an hour on back roads and highways before fluid changes and run the last third or quarter of an hour in lower than normal gears. That's to ensure higher RPMs and higher fluid temperatures.

I ask because I don't recall my diff fluid appearing at all thick when it was extracted by the mechanic at my shop. However, since I wasn't doing the extraction, I might well have missed that the thickness of the oil was greater than it appeared to be when flowing through the clear extraction tube and into the extractor body.

The diff fluid I'm running is Red Line 75W110 GL-5 Gear Oil.
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      06-29-2022, 12:00 PM   #9
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GL4 / GL5

Interesting that you can find users saying to only use GL5 and others GL4.
.
.
The OEM oil in my car was / is GL4.
.
Redline says GL-5 will work and protects better. My thoughts are that GL-5 is a better diff oil but could end up being corrosive if subjected to higher temps and that is why BMW went GL-4.
.
OEM fluid is stupid expensive.
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      06-29-2022, 12:49 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 123Britt View Post
Interesting that you can find users saying to only use GL5 and others GL4.
.
.
The OEM oil in my car was / is GL4.
.
Redline says GL-5 will work and protects better. My thoughts are that GL-5 is a better diff oil but could end up being corrosive if subjected to higher temps and that is why BMW went GL-4.
.
OEM fluid is stupid expensive.
GL4 vs GL5 is normally only a problem in manual transmissions with brass/bronze synchros. The GL5 high sulphur content can corrode those metals. In a diff, either GL4 or GL5 that meets the weight and additives requirements should be fine.
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      06-30-2022, 07:56 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
Was that true with the fluid fully heated-up before starting to extract it?
No, the diff fluid was not hot. Although, it was about 90F that day. (Amazing how much your hands sweat inside rubber gloves. It was dripping down my arms and I kept thinking I had leak somewhere.)

It's still a 75W oil, so the consistency of thin real maple syrup. And WAY thicker than the typical 0W30 motor oils we use today. As I said, my improvised J tube was probably just too small to easily pull the fluid out. I was just surprised at how difficult it was compared other fluids I usually suck out of the car or small engines.
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      09-15-2022, 01:35 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 123Britt View Post
Interesting that you can find users saying to only use GL5 and others GL4.
.
.
The OEM oil in my car was / is GL4.
.
Redline says GL-5 will work and protects better. My thoughts are that GL-5 is a better diff oil but could end up being corrosive if subjected to higher temps and that is why BMW went GL-4.
.
OEM fluid is stupid expensive.
dradernh and I both have diffs built by Diffsonline. Dan recommends 75W-110 GL-5 for helical diffs he builds, such as my Wavetrac. I'm unsure if the way he builds them or components he uses demand GL-5, but it's worth keeping in mind since I assume you're running an open diff.

Sidenote: for anyone who has a Diffsonline diff with the magnetic drain plug, which drain plug is it exactly? I found out on the break-in oil change that it's a 10mm hex, not 14mm like OEM, but I'm hoping to buy a backup plug and a couple o-rings online.
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      09-15-2022, 04:27 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpencerC_6MT View Post
Sidenote: for anyone who has a Diffsonline diff with the magnetic drain plug, which drain plug is it exactly? I found out on the break-in oil change that it's a 10mm hex, not 14mm like OEM, but I'm hoping to buy a backup plug and a couple o-rings online.
I've got the magnetic drain plug that Dan supplies, but since I don't do my own work I don't know anything more about it. Maybe give Dan a shout? He should be able to point you to another source or sell you one or two himself.

I had the shop show me the magnetic plug at the 1,200-mile oil change, and it had a modest layer of gray mud-looking material attached to it. So it is doing its job. I didn't look at the plug at the time of the second oil change; my guess is that there was either much less or no accumulation of the kind of material the plug attracted before the first oil change. I think I'll look at it again after the next oil change.
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      09-16-2022, 10:10 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nikijack View Post
What about removing the rear plate, and reinstalling with a new gasket and some gasket cement? Then, filling, of course.
Geeee, that would be too easy, when you can remove the thing, drain, clean, drill, tap, replace gasket and fill... Lol

Unless you're tracking the car with severe service, that is a lot more work than required... In my opinion of course.

I agree, open it up, let drain, remove cover, clean, inspect, replace gasket, refill and you're done!

Alternative Maintenance Schedule of 30k miles and replace with Redline 75W-90 and done!

Have a great day
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