Just got my car up on the ramp to change the engine oil and noticed that there was a leak in the differential! see photos.


I asked the independent service guy I was getting the oiled changed at and he said it's probably the seal/gasket and he will need to bring down the exhaust to get to it to replace the seal.

anyone else has had this problem?

if that's not enough I also noticed tranmission oil leak near the front since teh undercover had oil there. The oil pan has oil in it. Wondering what all I need to get changed there?

Out of warranty but have extended warranty (3rd party).

Any inputs will help.

thanks

~ V

 

that leak looks like the input shaft seal on your diff. its kind of odd to fail, unless you have a lot of miles, or you have movement in your pinion shaft. before changing the seal, make sure there is no side to side movement on the driveshaft to diff area.

 

I had the same issues as well as leaking valve cover gaskets and a leaking front stabilizer bar pump. BTW my 545 only has 49k on the clock. These cars are notorious for these problems. I also have a 3rd party, Mercury, that covered it all.

 

Did you take it to the dealer and have them work with the 3rd party warranty or did you use independent service?
I have also installed H&R anti-roll bars and a custom magnaflow exhaust, so I am hoping that doesn't void my extended warranty (through Warrentech)

 

I just have 54K miles. I'll check the pinion shaft too.

Is it hard to change the input seal or pinion seal on the diff.? Is there a DIY for it?
An independent told me that the exhaust will have to be lowered etc. ~ 4-5 hrs labor. The pinion seal itself is cheap ~ $40K.

 

well, half the battle is getting to the seal, but you also need to tighten the pinion yoke to a specific spec(?) after you change the seal.

 

An update:

I got the car into an independent shop and it's the mechatronics sleeve in the transmission which had a leak.
In the differential, it's the pinion seal that's leaking.

Good news - I got approval from my Extended Warranty company (Warrentech) to get both issues fixed (using BMW parts not aftermarket or refurbished).
That's $1200 saved that the dealer quoted to fix this!

 

I had a similar problem. I took it the dealer, and paid $500 to fix it. The tranny is the car so I would fix it right away. G/L Tho!!!