We recently did a video showing where we put the wrong differential fluid in a BMW that was in for service. We screwed up and owned it. We wanted to make it a teaching moment for others so they didn’t make the same mistake. Well, apparently some people just weren’t believing our story. So this is a response for them.
We also decided to take it apart and see exactly what happened. It was cool to see the root cause of the noise that was being heard. Listen guys, we aren’t here to make fake content. Of course we want our videos to get views. Who does social media and doesn’t want views? But we aren’t going to fake stuff in order to do so. Hopefully this can clear that up.
You can find part one here:
https://youtu.be/_sBhs8TlYWU
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Absolutely own your mistakes. Learning always costs something, whether it's time or monetary or both, and mistakes are the fastest way to learn. While it is unbelievable that a minor difference in viscosity would cause damage in a day, technicians need to realize that with many of these newer vehicles close enough isn't good enough. Secondly, if anyone thinks that dodging this issue is a viable answer is forgetting that if this customer went to another shop, that other shop would absolutely throw this guy under a bus over using 75w90 vs the factory spec, 100% without a dpubt that would happen and eveey technician knows it, and if they don't well… lessons cost.
I think the lesson here is dont buy a Big Money Waste
Do you think it was prior to Service and the wrong fluid just made it worse
What did the original (drained) fluid look like? I think you were scammed.
BMW is notorious for engine, air conditioner, and turbo failures. I guess we can add differentials to that list.
Good on you for owning up to it.But I still think that the fluids are pretty close in viscosity. Next time I suggest you analyze fluids that are drained and advice customer accordingly
I think for some reason it got an airlock and did not get your oil up to that front bearing
I am sure others have asked this. Are you SURE there wasn't anything wrong with the front diff prior to servicing? Did you drive it prior? Did you collect an oil sample of the used oil (I know this is an extreme question). Those BMW front pinion bearings are notorious. I think you guys are outstanding and gave the customer the benefit of the doubt in a situation that would be hard to prove after the fact without spending more money than it cost you. I think you simply got wrapped up in a situation where you were the one that made an error and got stuck holding the bag. Vehicle owners who prey on shops that have integrity also are to blame for the poor perception in this field.
Oh and BTW, if you had just bought a car where the crankshaft and the wheel axels are parallel instead of at a 90 degree angle to each other, then your BHP to CHP ratio would be very close to 1:1. Anytime you try to bend 400+ horses around a 90 degree angle you is askin' fo dee most trouble piece of equipment in the entire car. A diff has the highest forces applied to its teeth at a very funny angle with the hypoid gear and pinion gear setup. Any jackass company like BMtroubleU that does not use roller bearings on both the pinion shaft and axel shafts are super jerks. And finally just the art of using prussian blue gear dye to check the mating surface and clearance of the pinion gear to hypoid gear goes to show you how much a diff really sucks. Its a horrible setup and anyone not driving a Golf R is a turkey.
From these arguments of bad bearings as the root cause, seems like bad bearing alone is way to much of a coincidence. Maybe a bad bearing failure accelerated by incorrect lubricant?
Let’s get “Bob the oil guy” in on this.
I agree, not the fluid. Bad timing. But stand up shop for taking care of it, if they felt responsible. But i dont think they are responsible for the repair.
That dif was busted way before that oil change. Costumer likes frre stuff.
Does the proper fluid seem like it's a similar fluid or does it feel like a completely different fluid? that's just crazy a bearing will fail that easily
New Toyota, forget to put differential oil from factory, 500 miles finish.
Its not the oil! 1 bad bearing!
Bad bearings!! Ring gear is ok!
From one tech to another, we all know the fluid did not cause this in a day. I also see BMW techs chiming in saying similar.
Biggest takeaway here, when possible, thoroughly road test and evaluate all vehicles before any work is performed.. even fluid changes.. I think you got burnt on this one.
Really interesting. I watched the video, but I still don't see how the wrong fluid caused this damage this quickly. The mechanical components looks extremely sound and robust.
I don't think you guys caused this issue. You're taking responsibility – which is great, but you didn't cause it. The oil you used would have easily lasted more than a day. Something was going on with that diff before it reached your shop. My guess is that either the customer knew it was bad, or that it started whining when it warmed up, or a previous mechanic put something in the diff to quiet it down temporarily. I think they brought it to you with a plan to hold you responsible. There are plenty of additives but none so effective that they would prevent the kind of severe mechanical damage to those bearings in such a short time. Your video isn't fake, but there's something fake about the condition of that diff.
Thxs nice video honesty is the best policy and you did…..
You didn’t need to share any of this with us. But thank you for sharing.
Please don't feed the trolls. Many commenters are just looking for their own 5 minutes of fame. It's better to just ignore them and connect with your honest and serious viewers. Anybody with an IQ over 80 could tell your video wasn't fake. Keep up the good work, there's a reason SMA trusts your judgement, it's because you're honest and know what you're doing. My thought about the diff was Wow, that's crazy, I wonder what caused that, could it really have been the wrong fluid in just a day? I'm glad you posted this follow-up.
I appreciate you addressing my comment. I didn't realize that you have that agreement with your mechanics and assumed that there was an unstated expectation of them to verify the fluid recommendations. The shop mechanics I know of don't research the parts/fluids used on a repair, the stuff is selected for them and they have no responsibility to assure that the right stuff is selected. I always verified stuff because I care, now I work for myself so I have to.
It's hard to imagine that there's a secret sauce in the OEM fluid that would protect that bearing, but having experienced issues from using non-OEM fluids I know that strange things can happen, and it's usually with 'specialty' cars like Porsche, BMW, Mercedes….
My Carrera was always stiff to shift when cold, after much research I bit the bullet and bought the OEM fluid, instant cure. The most shocking thing about it was that it cured the intermittent reverse light switch problem. It worked about 10-20% of the time with the old fluid and now it's 100%, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience it.
As a Engineer I had cases when oil could be incompatible. I would fill the the casing with terpentine run it unloaded at high speed for 20 seconds stop it quick. Drain the terpentine and blow it dry. The new oil will stick better and go like new
There is no way oil caused it
This is low quality bearing and maybe bmw uses a lot of additives to mask problem in time…but time will take toll
Who makes that bearing?