Rear diff went kaboom!
 

Hey everyone...been a while.
As my X5 is my daily driver...I pretty much never do anything worth mentioning.
A couple of weeks ago...the rear diff went BOOM..completely out of the blue.
Has anyone else had this happen?
How hard is it to change? (I’d say I’m reasonably competent...mechanically).

Thanks for any/all advice

Mine did... went through a dreaded undiagnosable shimmy for months before mine went boom.

One thing to be careful of, there are two lengths of drive shafts, I don’t recall exactly but one is about 20 mm longer than the other and depending on which one you have, it will affect which diff you buy.

There are also diffs with high speed synchronizers and diffs without. I made life easy, I called my dealer with my vin and got all of that before I ordered my diff.

Then I found a diff on eBay, emailed the seller, got the vin and numbers off the diff and called my dealer back [emoji16]

When I found a match, I snagged it [emoji106]

While you have the new used diff in hand, it’s the perfect time to pop in new seals and change the fluid too.

I didn’t actually put mine in, but if you can get the rear axles out, it’s pretty straight forward.

Thanks for the reply.
I can get a used diff for $1400. Supplier says 12months warranty but only if installed by a qualified mechanic...and I will need to tell him who is installing it.
Doesn’t look like a particularly difficult job..but I’m not certain.
A mechanic friend said he’ll install it for $700....so maybe I’ll just get him to do it.
I HATE having to get someone else to work on my vehicles....I always do my own.

anyway to check rear diff fluid
 

just wondering if there any way to check rear diff fluid? before mine goes kaboom

how many miles on it when yours went out

i have 135k on mine runs smooth just need some preventive maintence

Mine ka-boomed right at 100k... after driving me insane for 4, 5, 6 months with this hanness shimmy through the floor, it was awful - I took it to a handful of places and 3 out of 5 times I was told to drive it until it breaks, we have no idea and the other 2 I was told "we need to start with the brakes"... yea, the brakes.

did they say anything about the guibo apparently that goes out alot and a simple replacement prolongs the life of your rear diff

Mine has about 200k Km’s on it.
2007 3.0d with the sports pack (so huge wheels).
According to all info...the diff oil is ‘lifetime’ so no need to change. However...my mechanic mate said it should be changed at 60k (kilometres).
I believe it has to be ‘sucked’ out.

We looked at it, but at the time it was solid, no quibo issues.


That said, if you have a bad quibo it is definitely better to replace it vs have it vibrate and stress the csb and the diff for sure.



When I got the shimmy, everyone checked the tires, csb, bearings, you name it, but no one ever got around to telling me that I needed a diff before it ka-boomed.

What year model engine miles ?

2007 3.0d
about 200K kilometres on it (I'm in Australia).
Very small amount of towing (7x5 trailer with 3 trail bikes...3 times).
Has the sports pack on it...so 20" 'wide' wheels.