I brought a second hand rear diff carrier about 2 weeks ago with the aim of removing the bushes, and putting in some powerflex bushes so I reduce the movement in the rear of the drive train, the first job though was to remove the 10 year old bushes, this is not a simple task, as BMW employ a special tool to do this (but at about £300), I thought it was a little too much money. So the old fashioned method of removing the rubber from the bush in a sufficient quantity to allow a hack saw blade in there, so that the outer metal of the bush can be cut through, and weaken the bush’s hold on the diff carrier.
The first one got a little more mangled than the second one, but I think thats normal, as the second one is always simpler, I have another two to do before I can attempt to paint the carrier (lime green is my current thought on the colour), but items outside of my control stopped me removing the final two bushes. (it started to rain, and my battery died in the drill.
Just another two to go, then I can paint it, I brought a spare one, so I do not need to have my car raised for the time it takes to replace the bushes in the rear diff carrier, and I am also going to change the rear track control arm bushes, but for this one I think I will purchase a special tool.