Diff types

[Zebbo]

Good evening all, I recently bought a lovely y2k 2.0 Z3 and, purely for my own peace of mind, I'd like to replace the differential oil but I need to confirm which diff I have. Is there an easy way to find out? Preferably without crawling underneath it! Cheers.

 

[Zephyr]

last seven digits of your vin in this site: www.realoem.com will tell you the original diff the car came with. If it is swapped, unfortunately you will have to crawl and check the part number on the case. And put it in the same site to check the type.

 

[Lee]

99% sure you will have an open diff. Some Castrol 75w90 will do you fine.

 

[Zebbo]

Thanks all. I tried the realoem but it listed both the standard diff and optional lsd. I realised I had a photo of the diff from the seller if this helps identify? Cheers.

 

[Zephyr]

Personally I cant help, but you can input your vin (all numbers) here: https://www.mdecoder.com/ and will give you the build sheet of the specific car. (Meaning that if it has an lsl it will be listed, if not, well.. it will not be listed).
this is more specific than the real oem.
This is 100% accurate and displays the exact options of this specific vin.

 

[t-tony]

Standard Diff. going by the picture. Make sure you can remove the fill/level plug BEFORE draining the old oil. These are usually FT from factory. You will need a couple of alloy washers from the dealer as these usually break apart on removal. 14mm 1/2”drive Allen Key socket and 30” bar often required to loosen these plugs.

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

The LSD on these is (normally) a Torsen type, and takes a normal diff oil, not the special LSD oil.

 

[Andyboy]

Small case (168) open diff.

EP90 is fine.