I recently posted last Friday a thread with the title "Drive shaft going out or??"
and I took my car in to braumen BMW in Miami last Thursday because of a "wheel hop LIKE" feeling from the rear passenger side of the car over %50 throttle in gears 1-3 (never went past that). The car drives fine with light accel under %50 and feels smooth on and off the highway even at speeds over 80mph. (I had also requested that inspection 2 be done since I just hit 60k miles which is a $1200 service ticket)

So on Friday the dealer calls me in and the tech points to my guibo which has a crack in it and says "there's your problem" so i said "ok, how much??" they said "$250 for the part and $675 for labor" so I was thinking to myself "Its steep but ill let them preform the service since i need the car back quickly and I have no repair experience on a BMW yet" So i let them do the service.

Ok so monday is here an at 8am they left a Voice mail calling me in again because they found something else (mind you the guibo and my inspection had already been preformed). So I went down to the dealer after i received the voicemail at around noon and they put the car on the car on the lift, then the tech points to my rear passenger side drive axle and says "it wiggles" (which it does a little more then the drivers side axle) then he points to a hairline fracture in my sub frame in front the the brace for the diff. and says "they needs to be repaired at our body shop" then he says (out of nowhere) "the diff is bad". I'm like "how do you know the diff is bad?" he says "because the axle is bad and it wiggles" Is this a fair assumption? that at 60k miles on a 2003 BMW M3 a diff goes bad? wtf? So Im asking has anyone had any similar issues? and what do you think of this?? especially since he never caught any of this "additional" damages before he charged me $925 for a damn guibo and install which wasn't even the main issue or possibly even the issue at all...
Now my bill is damn near $6k on top of my already $2k tab.
Please Advise.

You need to cut your losses, and have your car towed to an independant shop that is trustworthy. $675 in labor for a guibo replacement is ridiculous. You're going to continue getting taken advantage of if you let them do the work.

You need to cut your losses, and have your car towed to an independant shop that is trustworthy. $675 in labor for a guibo replacement is ridiculous. You're going to continue getting taken advantage of if you let them do the work.


I actually told them to close out the ticket and im waiting for thursday to come around for payroll so i can get my car out of that place... Its crazy for the labor on the guibo but like i said i need the car this wed. so i can drive up to tampa and i didnt have the time to do a DIY. But the guibo wasnt the issue i was having anyway it turns out...

I mean active autowerkes is right across town and Im thinking of having a 2nd opinion on things from them.

I have a 2003 M3 with 34K on it. A couple of weeks ago, I was getting a rubbing/grinding sound from the right rear area during turns under power. I found out that there is a service advisoty SI B 33-01-02 that changes the part number for the differential fluid. The new part # is PN 83-22-2-282-583. The cost of changing the fluid was approx $180. After I changed the fluid I have not had any problems. I'm not sure this is the same problem you have, but it sounded similar to mine and I thought this might help.
GandT

Active Autowerke is right there ... so is South BMW. Avoid Braman, they are evil.

never go to the dealership. i cant believe they charged 675 for replacing the guibo. what a ripoff.

I have a 2003 M3 with 34K on it. A couple of weeks ago, I was getting a rubbing/grinding sound from the right rear area during turns under power. I found out that there is a service advisoty SI B 33-01-02 that changes the part number for the differential fluid. The new part # is PN 83-22-2-282-583. The cost of changing the fluid was approx $180. After I changed the fluid I have not had any problems. I'm not sure this is the same problem you have, but it sounded similar to mine and I thought this might help.
GandT

Its not a noise, it actuall FEELs like wheel hopping without the actuall hopping lol. The small crack in my subframe I think is my problem actually. but i will look into that and replace my fluid, thank you.

Its not a noise, it actuall FEELs like wheel hopping without the actuall hopping lol. The small crack in my subframe I think is my problem actually. but i will look into that and replace my fluid, thank you.


What your describing and the diagnosis for the diff in my opinion is correct by the dealership.. I had the same problem you are describing so I did some diagnosis under the car before it was brought into the dealership so I would know what was going on with their diagnosis. My car is an 04 with about 30k miles so this was a warranty repair but I wanted to know what they were looking at.

Long story short when I got under the car you could see/feel that the outer bearing of the diff was shot on the passenger side - the outer drive shaft was essentially wobbling around in the bearing race. I did not have any sub frame damage but I can see that if you have a problem with a wobbing shaft it would put some harmonics through the subframe and could cause a crack.

My result, a new diff was put in the car and as I said it was warranty so a price wasn't attached to the work. It did take a day to day and a half of labor so I bet the price they are giving you is correct for dealer rates.

Hope it all works out for you - repairs like this are $$ no matter how you cut it.

What your describing and the diagnosis for the diff in my opinion is correct by the dealership.. I had the same problem you are describing so I did some diagnosis under the car before it was brought into the dealership so I would know what was going on with their diagnosis. My car is an 04 with about 30k miles so this was a warranty repair but I wanted to know what they were looking at.

Long story short when I got under the car you could see/feel that the outer bearing of the diff was shot on the passenger side - the outer drive shaft was essentially wobbling around in the bearing race. I did not have any sub frame damage but I can see that if you have a problem with a wobbing shaft it would put some harmonics through the subframe and could cause a crack.

My result, a new diff was put in the car and as I said it was warranty so a price wasn't attached to the work. It did take a day to day and a half of labor so I bet the price they are giving you is correct for dealer rates.

Hope it all works out for you - repairs like this are $$ no matter how you cut it.

Define wobbline shaft because mine isnt exactly a wobble its more like a tought and tight fit, if you put your hand on it and throw your boddy weight at it (like the mechanic) you can get it to move a little but thats about it. and according to the dealer repair instructions the passenger side axle has a bit more play in it then the drivers side axle. The symptom i am discribing I was told by 3 other ppl from the BMW meets that i goto was a syptom they have had before due to a stress crack in the subframe and they have heard of this on the e46 a few times. This is why im scepticle of them telling me the Diff is blown. I've blown a diff before and soe have many friends of mine and the symptoms and sounds are no where in compairison. When the diff goes usually it gets noisier or louder with more speed, i just have my vibration under accel of %50 throttle or more. driving soft is find, driving 110mph is fine to and no noise.

I am looking to buying a E46 M3. This is kinda of off topic, But i have looked at three and i have done PPI's on all of them, I have passed on all of them b/c they have had Diff's replaced, IS this common? Should i not be worried?

i am sorry to steal your thread, I hope everything works out, but I have seen alot of M's that have had them replaced, this is strange. good luck to you.

I have passed on all of them b/c they have had Diff's replaced, IS this common? Should i not be worried? It is a problem if one revs the engine to 6K rpm and dumps the clutch.

I am looking to buying a E46 M3. This is kinda of off topic, But i have looked at three and i have done PPI's on all of them, I have passed on all of them b/c they have had Diff's replaced, IS this common? Should i not be worried?

i am sorry to steal your thread, I hope everything works out, but I have seen alot of M's that have had them replaced, this is strange. good luck to you.


You know if I was looking for an M and noticed that lots of them have diffs replaced then i would have bought one with the diff already replaced for the simple fact that the issues is fixed on that car already, why buy an M without that replacement and have to deal with it later on.

You know if I was looking for an M and noticed that lots of them have diffs replaced then i would have bought one with the diff already replaced for the simple fact that the issues is fixed on that car already, why buy an M without that replacement and have to deal with it later on.
agreed, but to me that shows wear and tear...I thought it was a manu problem, not abuse, check into it. it might be worth it...

Define wobbline shaft because mine isnt exactly a wobble its more like a tought and tight fit, if you put your hand on it and throw your boddy weight at it (like the mechanic) you can get it to move a little but thats about it. and according to the dealer repair instructions the passenger side axle has a bit more play in it then the drivers side axle. The symptom i am discribing I was told by 3 other ppl from the BMW meets that i goto was a syptom they have had before due to a stress crack in the subframe and they have heard of this on the e46 a few times. This is why im scepticle of them telling me the Diff is blown. I've blown a diff before and soe have many friends of mine and the symptoms and sounds are no where in compairison. When the diff goes usually it gets noisier or louder with more speed, i just have my vibration under accel of %50 throttle or more. driving soft is find, driving 110mph is fine to and no noise.


Wobble was probably a strong term. There was to much play in the passenger side outer diff bearing. I didn't have a grenaded diff but due that bearing being out of spec it caused wear on the ring and pinion gear but not a failure.

Do you get any noise out of the rear if you make a tight turn at low speed (full lock turn). That would be help in trying to determine if you have a diff issue or are getting the sound from your crack.

In your case I would have that crack fixed first- it needs to be done anyway - and then see if you still have symptoms of a failed diff. That way your not throwing money at potential problems.

Wobble was probably a strong term. There was to much play in the passenger side outer diff bearing. I didn't have a grenaded diff but due that bearing being out of spec it caused wear on the ring and pinion gear but not a failure.

Do you get any noise out of the rear if you make a tight turn at low speed (full lock turn). That would be help in trying to determine if you have a diff issue or are getting the sound from your crack.

In your case I would have that crack fixed first- it needs to be done anyway - and then see if you still have symptoms of a failed diff. That way your not throwing money at potential problems.

No noise from the diff in full lock turning.

An thats also what they suggested that my pass side axle wiggles a little so it streached out or messed up the inner ring in the diff. But arrording to Repair Instructions the pass side axle is suppost to have a little more play then the drivers side axle...

Does anyone know where I can get a hard copy of this SIB 330102?
My car is out of warrantee but maybe the dealership will do it for free?

I had a misfire on cylinder #1. I took it to a very good Independent shop that I know and they diagnosed it in 15 minutes (just had to swap the coils and re-read the obd II). Before I took it to my independant, I took it to the dealership, and they said that nothing but the bottom end oil lubricated parts was under warranty. My independant even printed out the ignition coil warranty for me. When I went back to the dealership (with warranty in hand) and asked them again, "what part or parts of the engine is under warranty?" They said the same thing. Then, I pulled out the ignition coil warranty (8 years) and the catylitic converter warranty. You should have seen the looks on thier faces!!!! I called their bluff! Anyway, they said that they would replace ONLY the bad coil, since the other coils are still good (assholes). The ignition coil warranty does not specify "replace all coils". The issue here is the apparently low quality "Bremi" coils, to replace them with the "ERA" coils. The dealership should realize that if they replace just that one bad coil, that another and another and another will fail in the coming months. Why not kill two birds with one stone and replace all of them with the "new and improved ERA coils"? So, I live a good distance from Roadshow BMW, in Memphis TN, and I do not have to keep driving back to replace coils all the time. I went ahead and used my BMWCCA discount at the parts counter and purchased the other 5 coils. They will pay for the 6th coil, but I am going to go ahead and purchase all 6, (because they said that "they" will have to install the one coil under warranty and send it back to BMW. I will install all six myself because I do not trust them. I love BMW,,,,,it's the service department that has FAILED to gain my trust and business. It was obvious that they did not like the fact that I was an educated consumer and not the "wealthy soccer mom". As I walked out of the BMW service department yesterday, I could tell that something was not "right" in there, I could see it on the service advisors faces. When I was in there, an odor of sulfer was lingering in the air.

Hey,
screw the dealer. How often do you drag race...? maybe you do need a new diff? for what theyd want you could get a sick one from dan at diffsonline.

Turbofans, good for you, put those bastards in their places.

i cant believe no one says anyhtin about the price of the part!!!

250 for a guibo! that shit lists for 120! wholesale price at an indy is like 60!