E34 LSD diff oil question

[Rory525]

Hi folks,

Im going to get the gearbox oil and diff oil changed on my car very soon... my question is about the diff oil.

I have a 525i sport, I think this was only a UK and Australian model? Maybe Germany too ?

Anyway Im pretty sure it has an LSD , my question is does an LSD require a different type of diff oil to a regular diff?

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Rory.

[bfd]

Hi folks,

Im going to get the gearbox oil and diff oil changed on my car very soon... my question is about the diff oil.

I have a 525i sport, I think this was only a UK and Australian model? Maybe Germany too ?

Anyway Im pretty sure it has an LSD , my question is does an LSD require a different type of diff oil to a regular diff?

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Rory.

On my 90 535i, 5spd, 107K miles with LSD, I have used either Redline or Royal Purple in my car. Redline MTL in my trans and 75W90 in the rear end is basically the standard. However, I recently tried Royal Purple Sychromax in the tranny and Max-Gear in the rear end, and have less than 10K miles on it.

Note - I have heard Brett Anderson state that some BMWs he's seen do NOT like synthetic in their tranny and have switched back to regular trans oil. I say give Redline or RP a try and see how it works.

[Rory525]

Hmmmm I dont know if I get those brands here in the UK.

I take it the oil from the dealers is a rip off ?

[bfd]

Redline UK dealers:

http://www.redlineoil.com/dealers_international.asp?countryID=177&submit.x=22&submit.y=7

For Royal Purple, email them. Good Luck!

[gale]

For the diff, any full synthetic gear oil which meets the GL-5 spec will do fine. That opens the brands up to whatever is available in your area. Check your owner's manual for what viscosity to get. 80W90 or 75W90 is sufficient for most climates, or get 80W140 for extreme heat.

Most synthetics are adequate by themselves in LSD applications without needing the special friction conditioner additive. If you find you need the special additive, you can always add that later. You'll know if you need it if the rearend makes a strange groaning sound in slow tight turns, especially in reverse. The LSD additive is fully compatible with synthetic gear oil, again, just about any brand additive will do. Save yourself the bother & just put the additive in it when you change the fluid. Most additives come in 5 or 6 oz. bottles (approx. 150 ml). After adding it, go to a parking lot & do a few tight figure-8's to work it in and that's usually all you have to do.