How do you remove the rear differential cover

Asked by Carlos Sep 22, 2018 at 12:43 AM about the 2008 BMW 3 Series 328i Sedan RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I need to remove the rear differential cover of my 2008 328i because when I was sucking the oil out the hose came off inside the differential.  I removed all the bolts but there is  mount attached to the cover.  Not sure if this has to be removed and then how to separate the cover from the differential.

1 Answer

Thanks all, I just went for it figureing the worst that could happen is i ruin the differential and if I do nothing I ruin it. Not easy but was not very difficult either. I did have to take out all the bolts holding the exhaust from infront of the diferential to the rear and loosen the drive shaft. I removed all the bolts including the one going through the mount which had a bolt on one side and nut on the other. The exhaust had to be loosened so I could get the rear differential cover down from between the frame and the differential which was a very tight fit. Once I removed it I could see the hose and the remaining fluid I was not able to get out. I wiped down everything cleaned the cover and remove the gasket sealant (old that was on) and put new sealant and installed. I put a lot of the gasket material, which I bought from auto zone for no more the 10 dollars while the dealer wanted $80 or so. the most difficult part was putting the gasket cover back on with the gasket sealant in such a tight space with out takeing to long so the material start to dry or smudgeing it off or contaminating it because of thre tight fit. Follow the directions as best as you can on the gasket sealant which includes allowing it to cure to at least a day. It has been close to 2 months now and no leaks what so ever.

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