Opening Up The BMW Differential We Damaged & Responding To Your Comments! 

That bearing was failing prior to you servicing the front diff ..its exemplary that you stood behind your work .I have used the the valvoline oil on BMW front diffs and never had an issue ,am a retired BMW tech with 38 years experience on BMW

I find it incredible that someone would accuse you of faking a video in which you admit you made a major mistake. No business owner would risk damaging their reputation just for a few clicks and likes on RU-vid. You can't win with some people. It doesn't matter how honest you are. They will still find a way to criticise you. Best thing to do is to point at them and laugh.

Well done, you answered all the negative comments, maybe you and your team were unlucky with the timing of the bearing failure, but you owned the end result and rectified it. I have nothing but respect for you and your company.

Props to this garage service for taking responsibility and owning mistake without a fuss so rare in today's world. I'd say u made a lifetime customer out of that guy. Much respect 💯

ACCOUNTABILITY. A lot of people have lost this. To touch on the flat rate you are 1000% right. I’m a painter at a collision shop and with flat rate you definitely have to take the good with the bad, but at the end of the month you definitely get more good than bad. Well said Sherwood! Your videos are great and honest. Keep it up 👍🏻

Sherwood, after watching this video over a dozen times I don't think the damage to the roller bearing is the root cause of the problem. In all of my years working in industry I have never seen a roller bearing wear in such a way as to produce a clicking type binding. The clicking here is symmetrical and even. The most common way you would get this in a roller bearing would be if the race had a crack in it and the crack opened up. However, the wear pattern on the rollers do not show an impact wear pattern but a consistent circumference wear pattern about 1/16 of an inch from the top of the rollers. Also the tops of the rollers show no wear. The most severe wear pattern is about 1/16 of an inch from the top of each roller. This looks like the roller cage has been pushed out of its race towards the back end of the pinion. This causes the rollers to run on the edge of the race not the full surface.. Most of the load is then concentrated on a small portion of the rollers causing the narrow wear pattern on each roller. From the video it looks like the problem is caused from the front ball bearing and race. If you look at the front ball bearing closely you will see impact scars on the circumference of each ball in a circular pattern. This would indicate that the ball is falling into a hole smaller than the ball causing the scar. If you look inside of the race area you will see what looks like a hole at the 3 o'clock position. You will also see circumference scars on the race just after the hole on the right side of the race. Not sure what the race is made of or if there is even a race installed. The ball bearings may be riding on the housing. It is hard to tell from the video. If you look where the front ball bearing sits on the pinion shaft you will see a circular wear pattern on the shaft and what looks like a blackening of the shaft. This looks like the front ball bearing inner cage was spinning on the pinion shaft instead of being stationary on the shaft. Looking at all of this is why you are getting the clicking and binding when you turn the pinion slowly. As each ball enters this hole on the right side of the housing it gets stuck a little until you turn the pinion further and the next ball contacts the hole and so on. This acts like the detents on a camera lens when you change the "F" stop settings. The faster you turn, the less of a binding you will feel. The slower you turn the more you feel each ball enter the hole. Not sure what this hole is for or if some kind of plug was there that fell out, since I can't see the right side of the housing. Since this pinion is somewhat floating in the longitudinal direction, this could have caused the shaft to move backwards a little pushing the roller bearing slightly out of its race. To me it looks like the noise is mostly coming from the front ball bearing. You could test for this by using a stethoscope and moving from the roller bearing to the front ball bearing and seeing where the noise is the loudest. Also if you look at the front of the housing at the 6 o'clock position you will see a very small hole drilled through to the front race area. Not sure what this tiny hole is for or if it has any function. As far as the oil is concerned, both the BMW oil and the Valvoline are API rated GL5. According to the API any oil rated GL5 is compatible with another GL5 oil of another manufacturer since they have to meet the same specifications. The only other factor is if the BMW oil had on its label that it was fortified with an additive such as Moly or Boron etc. or some proprietary additive that is necessary for use in their cars. I could not see that on the label because of the lighting in the video. I think your mechanic or your shop did not do anything wrong servicing this BMW. It may be a manufacturing defect on BMW's end since the car had only 35K miles on it. I hope you still have the differential since BMW may owe you the cost of this repair.

Hello Sherwood, Save the pinion bearing and knock the outer race out of the housing and give it to your Valvoline rep and save some of the oil and have them do a breakdown analysis of the bearing. I'm retired now but we have a couple guys at work that do vibration analysis on our equipment and are always inspecting bearings on failed equipment. I'm sure Valvoline has the resources to do this for you. We used Mobile products, and they did it for us if we asked. We also did it ourselves in house, I'd have to agree that the damage was already done, and you were unlucky to have been the last to touch it. too bad you don't have a sample of the old oil from when you performed the service. I bet if you had it analyzed it would show the problem had started before you serviced it. I applaud you for taking care of your customer. I hope they spread the word around on how well you treated them. You know they would have told 100 people or more how you broke it and didn't back up your work. Hang in there, it will be a better day tomorrow Dave Szydlo (Retired NPPC 41 years.)

Good evening, sir, I’ve been in Mechanic for the past 45 years sorry for any misspell’s. This is voice text. I agree I would 100% take responsibility, especially after one day. And I don’t disagree that you didn’t put exactly the same fluid that they called for into it. But are we sure that enough test drive with the radio off and no AC and a smooth road was done to make sure there was no noise. That bearing could’ve been on the verge of failing and no one caught it. And I wouldn’t run that by the client, because it looks like your CYA. But I just cannot see how that those two different oils are so dissimilar that the improper oil can cause the diff to fail that quick. I think I believe that that thing was on its way out, and no one heard it. But I agree with the way you solved the problem, and I have total respect for the way you run your operation.

I don't believe for one second that the fluid caused the issue, but I applaud you for doing right by the customer, nonetheless.

I think you guy were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Parts are made like crap now a days, you got screwed and rectified the problem very professionally.

Sherwood you are too much of a gentleman to address some of those posters properly. They are simply malcontents. Their lack of critical thinking skills clearly show. They also never signed the front of a check. No reason in the world with your reputation why you would make a fake video for likes or views. We share the earth with odd thinking people. We all see them everyday especially in the comment section. Thank you and your staff for showing the good the bad and the ugly. We all can learn from this.

Just found this channel, I worked at Sears Auto and an engine shop 20 years ago; I've been working as an aircraft mechanic for the last 20 years now and went to a diesel community college working on tractors, school buses ect. Not working in auto, its impossible for me to know everything. This channel reminds me of the speed channel I use to watch in the 90's. If I could clone myself and work two jobs... this is the shop I would want to work for.... liked the video of the parasitic draw with the infra-red imagery tool, we use this for pneumatic leaks on aircraft. Every technician field is different in someway and I love learning more and more....20 years ago I had a Ford Taurus comeback with front pulsation.... felt it in the steering wheel bad on hard braking no worn steering components and I rarely had comebacks.... three times for me this car! back then we cut rotors and I used the on the car brake lathe to minimize run-out in the hub on the last time rather than the ammaco brake lathe . It was a young girl with a breathalyzer in the car from drinking; I used ceramic pads and the rotors were blue from heat well above machine to spec....Were ceramic pads not a good combo for the Taurus, this girl was hard on the car? It was our raybestos brand and if we didn't have it.. I only used Carquest or napa pads, and I always used sil-glide, brake lube, and zep disk brake quiet and all rust was removed with cookies and wire wheels from the hub. No caliper hangup, balooning brake hose pads even wear; any opinions? I was 20 back then and ended up sending her to the dealer thinking it was a combination valve. Back then I had all my state certification and did sales too when the desk people were lazy...so I sold the job and did the repair, customer service is #1 and they pay your check. They wouldn't answer the phones so I had too.... now look at Sears! After watching your video I now think it may have had a worn wheel bearing/ hub. But I shook down all my vehicles down bc I did all maintenance services and alignments. In Detroit Michigan, my High School was aircraft mechanics and we flew planes as well. I failed my Ase test many times until I passed. Learning so much from your channel keep the content coming... this is better than 📺

Absolutely a preexisting condition. That tapered timkin style bearing is the same material and spec as any other diff. The fluid your tech installed is fine for that bearing. I would say that the BMW fluid has properties that are compatible with the non metalic cage on those ball bearings.

Hello guys, I am a retired engineer from GKN ePowertrain. We are the manufacturer of that front RDM (front diff assembly). First of all I love your channel. At the facility in Newton NC where it’s built, we manufacture both ring and pinion and then welded ring gear to diff assembly. Then they go to our assembly line. First of all you are very correct that there is a very proprietary additive package in the oil that is in there. It is so proprietary that BMW doesn’t tell us what is in it. Whole unit is of BMW design, not. GKN design. They just have us manufacturing them with our proprietary processes of machining, laser welding and assembly. We along with BMW basically call it a lifetime fill but truthfully it could use a fluid charge around 60K to 70K depending on several things. What I can’t remember if it has a magnetic drain plug or not, if so was there debris on it?. There is on more possible answer that I know has happened before but very difficult to find or prove. I will try to explain…during processing of the firing and pinion set, one step is that every ring and pinion set are lapped together in very special machines. That lapping compound is silicon carbide in an oil suspension. It’s 220 grit equivalent. Set’s are then washed in pair in special custom washers. Then placed in another machine for testing. Then washed again. There have been instances where and small glob of lapping compound get stuck and hardens in the root of pinion teeth. If that was possible case and during you fluid change it came loose. It can and will compromise the pinion head bearing has you showed. If that Valvoline had heavy detergent additive in it it could have actually was said compound out into the bearing since the head bearing is directly behind pinion head. And it doesn’t take much to ruin that bearing. You would never see any gear tooth damage either as they were lapped anyway. Again. I am just speculating as I was not there with you to analyze the diff. In 23 years working there and lead most if not all design and manufacturing phases, I have seem thousands of those go out the door

Nice to see an honest shop fixing their issues. However, if the fluids were both GL-5 rated either would be appropriate in my opinion. The differential looks poorly designed with the split case and I have had the same issue with the pinion bearing going bad. In both cases it was a piece of cast flashing from the housing that broke off and fell into the bearing. Your mechanic was just the poor guy who was in the right place at the wrong time when the bomb went off.

I'm a wrench of 40 years.i have never seen more honesty and integrity!! The diff was already trashed and customer knew it.

Good on you and your company for taking responsibility and keeping that customer happy. Word of mouth, and social media, are huge.

Really diggin' this format with the comments from a previous video! That's a rare treat in the world of RU-vid.

You are to be commended for this video and your entire attitude towards the remedy and customer. I have read some of the BMW techs' comments; it's a shame that you didn't have prior knowledge of the failures. Please do not let the idiots on YT bother you. Y'all do OUTSTANDING work, create great videos. Please continue to do that.

Personally I believe without a shadow of doubt that the rear end was already damaged on arrival. The customer knew it. You did the admiral thing Sir

This seems like a shop where I would want to travel multiple states to bring my car. 😄

I've always been anal about using specified fluids but this is hard to believe. I'm inclined to think this was a pre existing condition and the client got it fixed for free. Good on you for taking care of it and making these videos. You've got a business to run and a reputation to uphold. I hope this guy didn't take advantage of that. Keep up the good work.

Not sure if the wrong fluid was to blame or not, don't care. The fact that the tech put the wrong fluid in and then it broke means they are on the hook. What really matters is that the customer was taken care of.

First I must say kudos for taking the responsibility although something is fishy here. A bearing is a bearing, so unless you tell me that the only bearing that goes in that diff is BMW proprietary bearing, I can't believe that the "wrong" diff oil can cause it to fail in that short time. It wasn't like he put engine oil there or automatic transmission fluid. If it is above the recommended viscosity, which it is 75-90, don't see how the fluid is to blame. You can also see - on engine oils - the manufacturer usually do not recommend a specific viscosity, it always comes with operating temperature ranges. I think what happened was the pinion bearing was starved of oil, maybe something the tech missed was blocking oil from getting to it, this caused the problem, the customer was lucky you are an honest man and maybe on this case, owned something that was not really your fault. In any case I salute you again for you honesty and responsibility. I believe that this will bring you more blessings in the future. 👍👍👍

I'm not a BMW expert,but i 've done many diffs in my life. I think this vehicle was already making a noise that went undetected. Even if the wrong oil was added when serviced,it's hard to believe that bearings won't survive more than a day with the wrong oil. Wow. That's another reason why i don't work on european cars. Good thing you're taking care of your customer,whether your tech caused the problem or not.

Murphys law..what can go wrong will go wrong..that bearing was on its way. Noise or not. Glad you guys are honest and teach along the way.

Not many shops would OWN IT like you guys did 👍👍👍🔧🔧🔧😎

Shit happens. Mistakes happen. Its a life lesson dealt with professionalism and class that we should all aspire to in this industry. Well done and well said.

Live a life of truth and honesty. You are doing just that, and many can learn from you. Thank you.

Thanks for the update video and for owning up and taking care of the customer, whether it was a pre-existing issue or not!

I don't think the failure is anything relating to your choice of oil. I think it was unfortunate coincidence. But since the timing of failure was very suspicious, I will say hats off to you for repairing this car at your cost.

Those front diffs are a common fault. Their is no way the fluid or the tech is to blame. Bearings can run in multiple fluid lubricants along with engine oil. Cant help think the customer got one over you guys. Hope the tech isn't feeling to bad about it. my local manual transmission shop here in the uk recomends some diesel motor oils for manual transmissions. Great channel

Glade to see there are some reputable people out there stand behind their own work and take care of their customers no matter what.

Great video. I have said this before and I will say it again. I wish your shop was near me. I would 100% take all of my vehicles to you for any work I needed done. You may have been victim of very inconvenient timing on a part failure or it certainly could have been (and probably was) the incorrect fluid. Regardless of which it was, you stood tall and took the hit. That professional response and remedy will payoff 10 fold. Well done!! The haters are going to hate no matter what you do or say. Keep doing what is morally right and good and you will be blessed. Keep up the good work! (PS. well done on not trashing the tech. We all make mistakes. He/she will never forget this lesson)

It would be interesting to replace the bad ball bearing and use the 75W-90 oil in the differential and run it to see the results, but I agree with you, tolerances are super close these days to use a different fluid. Good video!

Ok as a retired Automotive independent garage trainer and vocational teacher thank you for these videos. They make me feel still connected to the field. One of Automotive industries biggest mistakes is you get to a certain age the brain works fine however the body is worn out. INsdead of keeping one around to mentor young sharp kids coming in they put out to pasture. Any way the BMW lube deal has me perplexed. As an AMSOIL dealer for 40 years and with a good connection to the company ,my training says ( Monday Quarterback ) it would have been nice to have a sample of the gear oil that came out of there first. And a sample comparison of Valvoline's gear lube new and the gear lube you collected on the bearing failure. When you get a oil analysis comparison of the BMW spec fluid and the Valvoline Fluid side by side it might give you some better feedback. I also know the guys up at Valvoline and would hope you could have a conversion with them and they would help you out. I had a brand new BMW in 2004 after 100 miles I heard a bearing problem driving and it had a bad Diff outta the factory.

You’re and Honest Business owner. Wish all business owners would own it like you do Dave. Keep it up 👍🏻 God Bless

The fluid wasn't the issue. BMW bearings are no different than any other. As a retired business owner I do agree with and applaud your decision to repair at no cost. Due to the wrong fluid it was an unwinnable argument with the customer. Your choice shows that you are a reputable shop and today that is rare. 👍for the work and 👍for the videos.

Gotta love all those internet experts😆. I wish there where more businesses like yours. Dirt bags are every where now, not just in car shops. You guys handled the situation admirably.

Thanks for the follow-up. I appreciate that y'all have taken a stand for the customer and backing up your work. Kudos! This is not just a BMW issue. I'm almost at 48K miles and am about to replace the differential fluid in my '15 Challenger SRT 392 with the Sure Grip (Limited Slip) rear end. Mopar specs a 75W-85 that has the friction modifier already in the fluid for my Challenger. After talking to a couple of Dodge Parts/Service Managers, I learned that the Mopar 75W-85 fluid for the Challenger is different than the Mopar 75W-85 that's used in the Ram trucks and it's different than the Mopar 75W-85 that's used by Jeep. And, that it's important to use the correct one. Seeing this video (and the previous one) makes me feel like I potentially avoided a similar issue by making sure I got the "right" fluid instead of just getting a "close enough" fluid from my neighborhood parts store.

I am I am a 40 year master ( factory trained Toyota,Datsun/Nissan,Chrysler and BMW) I respect the fact that you acknowledge a comeback. I would be lying if I said that I have never had one. Thank you for your honesty from San Luis Obispo California and a mechanic who’s been there before.

Something I learned. A part failure doesn't care if you just left a funeral and headed to work that night. 😢 When it's time, it's time. The fluid had nothing to do with the failure. I've used oil heavier than that in those diffs for years if seeping, not one comeback.

The first off thank you for the video when I watched the first one I was in disbelief that that could happen within a day. There had been some underlying issue with the bearings to begin with. I have been Twisting the ol iron for 43 years professionally and other than people putting in gear oil instead of dual pump in a Honda I can honestly say I have never experienced gear oil causing that failure so quickly.

I work for a case/case ih eqipment dealer. I do alot of differential and front end work on backhoes and tractors primarily due to lack of maintenance. Certain models use gear oil 85-140/ 80-90 and some use hytran which is basically 10 weight. Some models say you can use either. It goes to show the viscosity doesnt mean as much as you think but the additives are what makes the difference. Old school mentality of thick is better or dump lucas in it is total bs. For example some dozers that have a 64 : 1 gear ratio final drive use hytran fluid. The reason for this is a heavy thick oil wont splash high enough to lubricate the top shafts bearings and gears. Nice video by the way love the channel. I really like your approach on electical trouble shooting i use several similar methods on heavy equipment. Ive come to the conclusion damn near every electrical problem is a bad or corroded connection or wiring issue. I love goin out on a million dollar machine with multiple controllers and networks and the problem literally take 10 minutes to sort out. Keep up the good work!

In 2018, I took my '99 Saturn SL1 for a coolant flush. The manual stated that it required DEXcool coolant but Good Year shop put in regular coolant into my reservoir. During that same week, I had a blown head gasket as oil and coolant crossed paths, contaminating both reservoirs. For the last 6 years, I could only drive this little Saturn within my neighborhood only, making short errand trips. For 6 years, I am allowing the motor oil to dominate my cooling system in order to minimize and residual coolant from 6 yrars ago to seep into my engine. I am relying upon the radiator fans, the mechanical properties of oil, the summer fog, and winter rains to cool my powertrain. Engine is still running okay after driving short distances for the last 6 years on a blown head gasket. Good thing my Saturn still passed biannual smog emission tests.

Already a subscriber before this video, but I would definitely have joined after seeing it. Just a superb attitude for dealing with your clients that's sadly lacking in many shops these days. Thanks and keep up the good work.

I do fluid services. Its the life of the vehicle. People who subscribe to lifetime fluids are lazy or dont have the resources to look up the correct fluid. This channel is one of the best beside South main garage. Lol. Thank you for your time and energy Sherwood.

Whether it was tech error or a coincidence , you did the right thing.

Great video guys. I also own a repair shop, and it sucks that this happened and it was the right thing to do to replace the diff, but I don't believe it was the fluid. More than likely when fluid was refilled it pushed some wear shavings off the bottom of diff up into the pinion bearing and got lodged into the cage and ruined the bearing. Its just one of those crazy things thats a one and a million chance of happening.

Sorry to comment so much but I am amazed how much hate you got for doing the right thing, I am 72, and was under and beside the cars working on them for years. Rear end oil not correct or never changed will destroy it. Bought my wife a 2005 4wd Ranger with front and rear diffs and transfer case. I spent 1200.00 for a full fluid and 4wd service at a shop that is a 4wd specialist virtually in days of her taking delivery. This was so we could be sure regardless to the other owner's actions we baselined it and made sure it was up to snuff. Keep being who you are, doing what you do the way you do it. It infuriated me some of the comments and support you 100% You are a stand up good man and if I lived near you I assure you your shop would do my work. And YES WAY IT CAN GO THIS WRONG as a real mechanic (me) to all your armchair mechanic detractors they need to sit down and shut up. You are a good righteous man with scruples and integrity and I applauder you so much. Love and all the best from south Alabama.

I would check the TSB's on that vin for factory issues on that diff. Good work trying to go after this issue thanks!

Good stuff taking care of the customer EVEN IF worst case scenario it was a coincidence. Regardless you were the last to touch it and you guys are holding yourself accountable and will get a customer for life. Thank you for going above and beyond. Oh! And also, don’t let the comments get to you! They could be bots! Keep doing what you do day to day.

That’s a very good video for other shops to review. It demonstrates that you have to be very specific about what fluids you put in foreign vehicles. Aftermarket fluids may work for domestic market vehicles, but for foreign one you cannot use regular common fluid that you put in every other domestic vehicles. There are specifications there for a reason. And also, this video demonstrates how truly awesome the manager of this shop is by admitting the mistake and repairing the vehicle after all. It is such a rare thing to see these days. Mechanics usually make mistakes and never admit them blaming customers always. Huge respect to the owner of this repair facility.

Valvoline GL-5 75w-90 is the right fluid. "GL-5" means it works with that hypoid gear, which is the "tough" thing to lube, so GL-5 means it has to have lots of phosphorus to handle the load/friction. No way "the wrong fluid" caused this. I would say some normal heap of metal dust, from normal wear before, got kicked up and got lodged into where the tapered roller bearing was, during the drain and fill operation. And, BTW, no way the small difference between 75w-85 and 75w-90 viscosity caused this.

I would take my car to your shop in a heartbeat if you were close. Ethical automotive shops are hard to find. Appreciate your vids!

it just shows how accurate you need to be doing this stuff, the materials and tolerances used today are no joke.

Thank you for making the video and today everything takes a special fluid have a blessed day today 🙏

Thank you. This is an great example of a customer focused business practice. It says a lot about the culture of your organization that you are willing to share this as a teaching tool for other shops. While the how and why comments on this video are valid, at the end of the day all that matters to the customer is what you do to address their concern.

I only want to interject that tolerances are so very tight today. When I started working on vehicles back in the 60's, everything ran on 30wt motor oils and 90wt gear oil. Now, when I r and r diff oils from my BMW's, I actually drain it in a clear container to check for possible problems, because I am retired from shop work. I know that is not reality in the shop environment, but that diff could possibly have been ever so marginal before the service. But, thanks for making honest and through video on the subject.

Thanks for doing the update. It was needed because your audience are mostly gearheads who were all left hanging on the edge by the sparse technical info in the original video. I'm a retired mechanical engineer and no stranger to gearbox technologies. I have to agree with everyone who is of the opinion is that it was more likely just bad timing. Rolling-element bearings need very little lubrication and care little about viscosity and nothing about the GL rating. The tapered-roller bearing failure was entirely due to metal particles circulating in the oil when they should have been sequestered by a magnet. Big kudos to your shop for covering the repair costs. Of course you're right that there was no other sensible way out of this.

Hey guys I love your videos what I you guys do, I was a tech at bmw for over 10y until 2022. You guys didn’t cause any damage nor the fluid did, these diffs goes bad I have replaced plenty of them under warranty for the same issue. I have my own shop now and I would’ve done the same replace the diff because we worked on it last and less then a day, it’s just unfortunate that happen right after you did the fluid service. Again these diffs front or rear can take any fluid with grater wight as long it has the right approvals

I for one appreciate the high integrity demonstrated in the way you guys operate your business. Thanks for the video and the subsequent follow up.

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.

If it was an active differential with clutches and control, having the wrong fluid causing the failure i could see, but that's a normal open diff, so I really don't think it was a lubrication issue, but I'm glad you took care of the customer anyway. One thing I learned in modern cars, and especially german is to use the factory fluids in transmissions, differentials and transfer cases. It's bad enough that they seem to design gaskets to fail literally within miles of the warranty, but I know they use very special lubricants that it seems only they provide.

The diff either had the wrong preload on the pinion from the factory or the vehicle has mismatched tires on an Xdrive. Many grenaded Xdrive diffs are from changing only 1 tire or 1 axle set of tires.

Many thanks for your interesting and ever so honest channel & content. It's my opinion that your technician did not cause this failure; while he did not use the correct classification for the vehicle in question I believe the car had already suffered bearing failure before the fluid change ever occurred. Aged oil combined wit cavitation and contamination from the bearing surface would have somewhat lessened the viscosity of the oil making it an ever so slightly heavier. When replaced with new oil the bearing lubrication and surface tension was no longer there making the existing failed bearing more audible. Whilst manufactures do specify classifications of lubricants to be used and is always best practice to conform to them; The bearings and lubrication properties of a differential such as this would have run quiet normally within tolerance on your Valvoline oil. There are instances here in Europe where garages use the one oil for all scenario. Not how it should be done granted. But it does work to a point. In this case the failure had already occurred as to if the owner was aware I will leave that to others to decide on. Wishing you all the best.

Sherwood Love your videos. Started watching them on Face Book, and migrated to your RU-vid videos. It never ceases to amaze me how specific German cars, and now all other brands are about fluid types. This video is a wakeup call to all mechanics that fluid type, viscosity, and recommend brand matters!

Watching your videos and I love how professional you handle all of your situations.No huffing just acknowledging that things will happen.I don't believe people understand the amount of pressure the fluid is under and how it dissipates heat.keep up the good work and great job not just paying flat rate but an hourly rate plus.always use the specified fluid

Very interesting To anyone that suspects the diff was bad before the service, I offer you this advice. When getting a customers vehicle, always make sure your ear buds are out, the car radio is off, and roll the windows down. I always make an attempts to drive around the parking lot once to listen for noise and cut corners hard to check for axles. A figure eight maneuver is a great test for this. I catch a lot of binding cv axles and center doffs this way

Haters will hate good guys do what is right!

Hey mate, I'm a mechanic from Oz and I really appreciate your videos. Respect to you and you buisness for having integrity and taking responsibility for your mistakes even when it costs you. Awesome to see someone in our trade practising what they preach.👍

Thanks for sharing and for taking responsibility! Great shop attitude and leadership. I'm lucky to have shops.locally that are honest and fair like you.

Hindsight isn't always 20/20, You guys did the right thing. I agree cars/trucks these days are EXTREMELY picky when it comes to fluids. The additive pack between these 2 oils must be completely different. Maybe send off an oil sample of each out of curiosity to see what is different between the two? That would be interesting to see.

Good video.Good costumer service.That diff started to faill before going to the shop...Fluid is not the reason.What is rest of the state of vehicle?tyres?tyre pressures... But that is the way to treat the costumer,unfortunately these thinks happends in this type of work and you have two ways fix it or leave it... It ends up that you are a goed man and take the loss.But in my mind and in yours i belive i dont think that is your fault. 👍

Sometimes it's the repair shop and sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I just went through a very similar situation on a just purchased Mustang GT that with a lash type whine during decelerating in gear. Asked shop to check differential whine and also change the manual transmission fluid while the car was on the lift. Within a few hundred miles of the oil change the transmission locked up in my driveway and I had to pony up another $4500 for a reman transmission and a clutch. I'm 73 years old and have never beat on the car but who knows what the previous owner(s) did. By the way, the differential whine is still there and I have an oil leak that wasn't there before, too.

Thank you for posting. You guys totally did the wright thing here. At the shop I work at we do what we call the final inspection once everything is done e and all test drives are complete. Doesn’t catch everything but it does help. I totally agree that things can quickly go shout with the wrong fluids or the wrong amount of fluid. Med and heavy duty trucks tend to be a little more forgiving than high performs cars.

Please keep doing what you’re doing. I am seeing a lot of automotive problems out there and it’s not just coming from outside shops it’s the dealerships as well. I live in the North East and have been in the automotive repair service industry for over 30 years, I’m retired now and just do electrical diagnostics for my clients i only turn wrenches on my own cars. I hear so many horror stories about shops now outside and dealer that it’s becoming a serious problem. You are going to have those critics so just keep doing what you’re doing.

Couch comments are the best. Unfortunately this internet thing has let the stupid out. Great video with real honest content. Good job!

Most people don't service their differential until it has a problem. You guys may have noticed it from driving it from the parking lot to the lift but good job on owning it since you can't prove that it was a previous issue.

U can never win on the internet, the best part of youtube is mostly the chat. So don't take it the wrong way. You guys are obviously good honest people. People just like to break balls...

Even as a lube tech, any true professional would verify the oil. Like you said, whether you're flat rate, hybrid, hourly, etc. just do your job. People don't understand the tolerances that components are made with today ask for a special fluid for that very reason. The fact it requires a thinner oil, yes all it could take is a day for it to start crying the way it did. Super informative and thank you for the transparency. Hopefully your tech doesn't get grilled too hard and can bounce back from this speed bump.

Opinions are like elbows; most people have at least one. You will drive yourself bananas addressing these keyboard-techs. Congrats on you for taking care of the customer immediately and professionally. In the past, i had worked at a place that would have said, "we couldn't have caused that issue; all we did was change the fluid." You are leaps and bounds above that type of business. Keep doing what you do and ignore the dingalings.

Excellent example of the superiority of DIY mechanics. A smart DIY guy double checks this stuff, takes his time, unlikely to make this foolish mistake.

Great video, I just took a Volvo Penta IPS class (large yacht propulsion system) they explicitly said only to use there gear oil. Specifically because of anti foaming. And pressure additives that only there gear oil has ($46 a quart) some hold ten gallons! People questioning you have no clue or training!!!

Both of those fluids meet API GL-5 specifications. They're not that different. Certainly not different enough to cause that much damage that quickly. That bearing was already damaged before you changed the fluid.

I actually seen an engine damage from wrong weight of oil being put in. Doing great job stay honest.

You didn’t need to share any of this with us. But thank you for sharing.

Having operated a drive line shop along with a service & repair shop I have seen bad luck like this before I definitely know it was nothing to do with your work or the oil some of the things that I have seen are certain European bearings are very brittle & the hardened surface will slowly delaminate if the bearing pre load is too loaded also I recall a certain make of vehicle was notorious for pinion bearing failure that we found the preload from factory was ridiculously high having said that if the oil was to blame the first thing it would have done was to badly scuff the crown wheel & pinion to have just one tapered bearing fail still leads me to believe the failure would have occurred regardless of your work . I put it down to bad luck combined with all of the above . Keep up the good work

110% right. I applaud your integrity. Very rare in this business. 👍

I appreciate the honesty, respect, and integrity of this shop greatly. As a fellow business owner, you are doing by far the best customer service and I strive to see more like this.

Thanks for the response. I am truly sorry for the rude and somewhat ignorant comments. I really think it would be interesting to run this by the Valvoline Engineering group. Take care

I really wish i lived closer to georgia id absolutely love to be able to use royalty for my automotive needs. Great job guys

BMW is known for having reliabilty and quality control issues. That bearing probably had issues from the day it rolled off the assembly line.

Your a good man , do worry about the haters, they have nothing better to do than beat up on others. Keep up the good work. 😊

Hi, i'm kinda of late to the commenting party and also quite a green technician from Canada. I have a few thoughts on this situation. 1.) I don't believe this was cause by improper fluid at all as improper fluid tends to cause even and uniform wear which this does not display. It appears to be a manufacturing defect that coincidentally happened after getting serviced 2.) You 100% did the correct thing in this situation of righting the customer and accepting responsibility. This will pay off for you in spades. My next though will leave you vulnerable, but I am a believer that unless to have undeniable proof of a failure being caused by something else, a junk part that was just getting ready to crest the hill to retirement as the last bolt was being torqued, or you get a comeback and a different part is installed than the one you put in or it's a system unrelated/untouched by the technician that it is the shop/technicians fault no matter what when talking to the customer. I saw similar situations at the dealership and sometimes it truly wasn't the techs fault but other times it was but the fact that the dealer defaulted to placing the burden of proof on the customer just never sat well with me and is one of the many reasons I left that particular shop as soon as it was feasible. You're an honest man and God will take care of you as long as you stay straight

I commend you for standing behind your work. No way the 75w90 GL5 fluid caused that. That bearing was on its way out before you touched it or maybe some metal from outside or inside got caught in the bearing during the service. nice work as usual.

Sherwood, good for you for pointing out the previous comments. I used to watch a shortwave radio RU-vid guy that would publicly say on his videos that he would pin the most dumb comments to the top of his list of comments for all to see and he literally would do that. I can’t tell you the difference in how people would respond to him. It was a running joke to see what idiots would comment and be posted to the top.

I appreciate this video. I have been turning wrenches for 25+ years, and there have been many " first time I have seen that" happen in my career. I appreciate your integrity. Keep.the great content coming!

I love that you threw yourself on the sword and owned up to the damage. All too many in our industry play the game of duck, dodge, and hide looking for ways to get out taking responsibility. I will say, and I think what a lot of comments are pointing to is you are the victim of really bad timing. Kudos to you for taking one for the team, but I agree this failure is hard to imaging givin the time involved. Great video and follow-up guys keep up the good work.

In the end it doesn't matter what viewers think. It only matters what the customer thinks, and what the tech and shop owner can live with. This shop is amazing.