Replace Differential from a front end collision car

jrlee53 · 09-19-2017, 03:40 PM

I had my car in the shop last week trying to sort out the loud metallic clunking noise issue when putting it into gear. I brought my car in to 3 different shops to get it looked at and they were all convinced it was the U joint on the driveshaft. As there seems to be a shortage of new OEM driveshafts (been on backorder for entire year according to some of the dealers/parts companies I've called) the shop I ended up going to had mine rebuilt with new parts, which unfortunately didn't fix the problem (he was nice to not charge me for the work as he considered it was his fault for misdiagnosing the issue, don't meet many stand up guys like that these days). Anyway, it looks like we narrowed the problem down to the diff as they found a lot of metal in the fluid and suggested we could swap it out with a E93 M3 wreck he has that he was going to get rid of anyway. It was involved in a front end crash and a total write off, but the rest of the car seems to be intact and it only had 22k on the clock and is charging me less than half the cost it would to get a new one. Would you guys pull the trigger on this or just pony up $3k for a whole new diff?

R3dliner · 09-19-2017, 03:42 PM

It's worth a try. Just make sure there's no play on the used part. Your guy should have known the U-joint cannot be serviced.
Did you try Mpartsworldwide in NJ? they have a big inventory of used parts.

jrlee53 · 09-19-2017, 03:57 PM

I thought it wasn't able to be serviced either but he uses a guy who specializes in driveshafts apparently and was able to repair it, which unfortunately didn't fix the main issue. M-Spec Performance in Middle Village Queens also quoted me to have the U joint repaired but they were charging a lot more to do it.

Haven't tried them, but I never thought about using used parts like that before. I did see the donor car and the underside looks like it is in good shape, just the front end is messed up.

tlow98 · 09-20-2017, 12:50 AM

Absolutely. The part will be fine.

R3dliner · 09-20-2017, 09:03 AM

M-spec is such a rip off lol
If you can wrench it's not that hard to replace the driveshaft.

09-19-2017, 03:40 PM	#1
jrlee53 Captain 157 Rep 838 Posts Drives: 2010 E90 M3 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Queens, NY iTrader: (0)	Replace Differential from a front end collision car I had my car in the shop last week trying to sort out the loud metallic clunking noise issue when putting it into gear. I brought my car in to 3 different shops to get it looked at and they were all convinced it was the U joint on the driveshaft. As there seems to be a shortage of new OEM driveshafts (been on backorder for entire year according to some of the dealers/parts companies I've called) the shop I ended up going to had mine rebuilt with new parts, which unfortunately didn't fix the problem (he was nice to not charge me for the work as he considered it was his fault for misdiagnosing the issue, don't meet many stand up guys like that these days). Anyway, it looks like we narrowed the problem down to the diff as they found a lot of metal in the fluid and suggested we could swap it out with a E93 M3 wreck he has that he was going to get rid of anyway. It was involved in a front end crash and a total write off, but the rest of the car seems to be intact and it only had 22k on the clock and is charging me less than half the cost it would to get a new one. Would you guys pull the trigger on this or just pony up $3k for a whole new diff? __________________ 2003 Cobra -> 2010 BMW e90 M3 - Space Grey - Black on Carbon Leather Int. - BRILLIANT CAR!!
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09-19-2017, 03:42 PM	#2
R3dliner Lieutenant Colonel 935 Rep 1,930 Posts Drives: 18 M3 6MT Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: NYC iTrader: (5)	It's worth a try. Just make sure there's no play on the used part. Your guy should have known the U-joint cannot be serviced. Did you try Mpartsworldwide in NJ? they have a big inventory of used parts.
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09-19-2017, 03:57 PM	#3
jrlee53 Captain 157 Rep 838 Posts Drives: 2010 E90 M3 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Queens, NY iTrader: (0)	I thought it wasn't able to be serviced either but he uses a guy who specializes in driveshafts apparently and was able to repair it, which unfortunately didn't fix the main issue. M-Spec Performance in Middle Village Queens also quoted me to have the U joint repaired but they were charging a lot more to do it. Haven't tried them, but I never thought about using used parts like that before. I did see the donor car and the underside looks like it is in good shape, just the front end is messed up. __________________ 2003 Cobra -> 2010 BMW e90 M3 - Space Grey - Black on Carbon Leather Int. - BRILLIANT CAR!!
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09-20-2017, 12:50 AM	#4
tlow98 Major General 2188 Rep 5,002 Posts Drives: 2009 E91, 2014 F15 x35i Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (2)	Absolutely. The part will be fine.
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09-20-2017, 09:03 AM	#5
R3dliner Lieutenant Colonel 935 Rep 1,930 Posts Drives: 18 M3 6MT Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: NYC iTrader: (5)	M-spec is such a rip off lol If you can wrench it's not that hard to replace the driveshaft.
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