2006 325xi front diff

Arpy303 · 11-08-2012, 10:21 AM

I just got back from my dealer and was told the pinion gear in my front diff is going out. I took it in for a whining sound and after two days that was the consensus. The dealership wants to stick me with almost $2700 to fix it. I was told I have to replace the whole unit at a cost of almost 1800 for just the diff. Is this close? Or should I be looking other places too? I won't be coming into money enough to fix it for a while so I'm looking at all my options. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

pifane · 11-12-2012, 06:28 PM

What was the maintenence schedule?

Fahrer · 11-26-2012, 11:06 AM

How many miles do you have on your car? Was this diagnosis from the BMW dealer in Boulder? I have the same model and mine is whining too at 72K miles. These front differentials require no fluid change nor any other routine maintenance as far as what the driver's manual and the Bentley manual say, so I don't think there has been any negligence as far as changing fluids, etc.

Fahrer · 11-27-2012, 10:59 PM

Arpy303,
Any update yet on this situation?

Arpy303 · 12-06-2012, 09:34 AM

So, my car has 120k miles on it now. I took it to two other places to get opinions/ quotes. One of the other two places, the tech absolutely insisted it was my transfer case. I went ahead and trusted his instincts and fixed the t-case. He was correct, and my problem has been solved. He said that the winning sound is very indicative of a diff gear or t-case gear dying, but it was the hard shifts and the microphones he attached to my car showed the t-case making a ruckus. A little long winded but if you are hearing a faint whining sound when the pedal is being depressed with hard shifts check the T-case.

Fahrer · 12-06-2012, 10:17 AM

Arpy303,
Thanks for your reply. Sorry to learn that you had this problem, but glad that you got it resolved in a satisfactory way. My car is not shifting hard (other than that obnoxious clutch deactivator that BMW installs), but does "rumble" in the front. If the noise does not go away with a set of new tires, I am going to see if there is a problem such as yours. If I may ask, can you tell about how much this fix cost you?
Thanks.

Arpy303 · 12-06-2012, 02:32 PM

I'm amazed I still have all my appendages to be honest. A new transfer case ran $2500 itself plus labor. I was out the door for right at about $3000, ($3145 with tax). The front diff was quoted at $2500 out the door. So I ran a little more with the transfer case.

I wish you luck on your repairs and hope it is the tires. My noise went on for probably 4 months and 2000 miles before it was bad enough to get checked out. It was just a noise at first and had no hard shifting until the last 2 weeks before getting fixed, I was almost scared to move my car. It deteriorated fast when the gears started to shift hard. Hope that gives you some help.

Arpy303 · 12-06-2012, 02:34 PM

To your question in your first response; yes, it was the BMW (Gebhart) in Boulder. I am not sure if you live here in CO but I ended up going to The German Car Shoppe in Littleton.

Fahrer · 12-06-2012, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arpy303

To your question in your first response; yes, it was the BMW (Gebhart) in Boulder. I am not sure if you live here in CO but I ended up going to The German Car Shoppe in Littleton.

Thanks for the additional information. That is a chunk of change for the repair.
I live in Fort Collins, not far from Boulder, and bought my 325xi used in Boulder. I will go to a trusted indie shop here if I need repair such as yours.

Fahrer · 12-19-2012, 03:59 PM

Whining problem solved, not mechanical! I just changed out the old Pirelli tires for a new set of Continental Extreme Contact DWSs and all of the whining noise from the front end of my car is gone. Sounds and drives like a new car. We had a snow dump last night and the 325xi now carves through the snow like our Subaru. Dodged the $$$ problem this time.

11-08-2012, 10:21 AM	#1
Arpy303 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 4 My Ride: 06 325xi	2006 325xi front diff I just got back from my dealer and was told the pinion gear in my front diff is going out. I took it in for a whining sound and after two days that was the consensus. The dealership wants to stick me with almost $2700 to fix it. I was told I have to replace the whole unit at a cost of almost 1800 for just the diff. Is this close? Or should I be looking other places too? I won't be coming into money enough to fix it for a while so I'm looking at all my options. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

11-26-2012, 11:06 AM	#3
Fahrer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 6 My Ride: 2006 325xi	How many miles do you have on your car? Was this diagnosis from the BMW dealer in Boulder? I have the same model and mine is whining too at 72K miles. These front differentials require no fluid change nor any other routine maintenance as far as what the driver's manual and the Bentley manual say, so I don't think there has been any negligence as far as changing fluids, etc. Last edited by Fahrer; 11-26-2012 at 11:08 AM.

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11-12-2012, 06:28 PM	#2
pifane Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Province of Quebec, Canada Posts: 126 My Ride: Many	What was the maintenence schedule?

11-27-2012, 10:59 PM	#4
Fahrer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 6 My Ride: 2006 325xi	Arpy303, Any update yet on this situation?

12-06-2012, 09:34 AM	#5
Arpy303 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 4 My Ride: 06 325xi	So, my car has 120k miles on it now. I took it to two other places to get opinions/ quotes. One of the other two places, the tech absolutely insisted it was my transfer case. I went ahead and trusted his instincts and fixed the t-case. He was correct, and my problem has been solved. He said that the winning sound is very indicative of a diff gear or t-case gear dying, but it was the hard shifts and the microphones he attached to my car showed the t-case making a ruckus. A little long winded but if you are hearing a faint whining sound when the pedal is being depressed with hard shifts check the T-case.

12-06-2012, 10:17 AM	#6
Fahrer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 6 My Ride: 2006 325xi	Arpy303, Thanks for your reply. Sorry to learn that you had this problem, but glad that you got it resolved in a satisfactory way. My car is not shifting hard (other than that obnoxious clutch deactivator that BMW installs), but does "rumble" in the front. If the noise does not go away with a set of new tires, I am going to see if there is a problem such as yours. If I may ask, can you tell about how much this fix cost you? Thanks.

12-06-2012, 02:32 PM	#7
Arpy303 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 4 My Ride: 06 325xi	I'm amazed I still have all my appendages to be honest. A new transfer case ran $2500 itself plus labor. I was out the door for right at about $3000, ($3145 with tax). The front diff was quoted at $2500 out the door. So I ran a little more with the transfer case. I wish you luck on your repairs and hope it is the tires. My noise went on for probably 4 months and 2000 miles before it was bad enough to get checked out. It was just a noise at first and had no hard shifting until the last 2 weeks before getting fixed, I was almost scared to move my car. It deteriorated fast when the gears started to shift hard. Hope that gives you some help.

12-06-2012, 02:34 PM	#8
Arpy303 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 4 My Ride: 06 325xi	To your question in your first response; yes, it was the BMW (Gebhart) in Boulder. I am not sure if you live here in CO but I ended up going to The German Car Shoppe in Littleton.

12-19-2012, 03:59 PM	#10
Fahrer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 6 My Ride: 2006 325xi	Whining problem solved, not mechanical! I just changed out the old Pirelli tires for a new set of Continental Extreme Contact DWSs and all of the whining noise from the front end of my car is gone. Sounds and drives like a new car. We had a snow dump last night and the 325xi now carves through the snow like our Subaru. Dodged the $$$ problem this time.