DIY Front Differential Fluid Change Complete

[garagelogician]

Originally Posted by Proflyer

What's the torque on the fill and drain plugs?

Just gutentight. Don't go crazy on it.

[Proflyer]

Originally Posted by garagelogician

Just gutentight. Don't go crazy on it.

I thought the same thing but wanted to make sure.

[msan]

Originally Posted by Proflyer

I thought the same thing but wanted to make sure.

Torque spec for fill and drain bolts is 60 Nm or ~44 ft/lbs

Reinforcement plate bolts should be replaced with new and torqued to 54 Nm or ~40 ft/lbs and then a 90 degree rotation

Important!
If oil is filled up to the lower edge of the oil filler opening, the front axle differential would be overfilled and in rare individual cases oil could emerge from the ventilation opening on the front axle differential.
After draining front axle differential oil or when carrying out the initial filling of a new replacement front axle differential, the transmission must be filled with 600 ml oil.
Only use the approved front axle oil in the front axle differential.
Failure to comply with this requirement will result in serious damage to the front axle differential!

Note:
Only change oil when front axle differential is at normal operating temperature.

[Lambeau]

I re-used the bolts and filled it to the bottom of the fill hole and now have 73,000 miles driven since I did this with ZERO issues. BMW specifies exactly 600ml and to re-use the bolts so it discourages owners from performing their own work so they can overcharge like they do everything else. I also used Pentosin instead of BMW fluid when I changed my trans fluid and the cheapest trans pan/filter I could find on Ebay and now have 75,000 miles driven since trans fluid change (175,000 total miles on trans) with ZERO issues. I do all of my own work and use the cheapest parts I can find on Ebay for wheel bearings and suspension pieces with zero issues. Pi$$ on BMW and their overpriced rip-off scheme.