318ic gear ratio?

[m44ic]

does anyone know what the stock gear ratio is in my non ti 318 is? Im pretty sure its a 3.45 but I just want to make sure.

[ZeroG]

does anyone know what the stock gear ratio is in my non ti 318 is? Im pretty sure its a 3.45 but I just want to make sure.

3.45 Standard

4.44 Automatic

[GDB]

It's 3.45. It is the same for all E36 4cyls (atleast in the US). And the autos have a 4.44 rear end.

[L84THSKY]

According to REALOEM.COM a 1998 318is with a manual tranny uses 3.45


does anyone know what the stock gear ratio is in my non ti 318 is? Im pretty sure its a 3.45 but I just want to make sure.

[cali-ti]

m44ic ... now i see why you're so jealous of my diff! LOL ... j/k :p

btw, the e30 diff does not "fit right in" like it's made to sound. i had to grind small semi-circles out of the rear subframe that's part of the unibody for the top diff cover bolts to clear properly. also had to grind the flat side lip (but not into the ribs) of the diff cover bushing mount (which is again part of the unibody) to clear another of the diff cover mounting bolts. i have the m coupe finned diff cover which may account for the latter of the two problems, but i'm pretty sure the former would occur even with the e30 3.73 LSD cover. something to consider when doing the swap. you better have a grinder handy with metal grinding wheels (and spares). i then painted the grinds up with POR15 so hopefully it'll be kosher for years to come. we finally got the diff mounted up properly on the FOURTH try (around 6am this morning). this has been a looooooonnnnnggggg weekend (and i still have to mount the half shafts and the new exhaust). but i now am the proud owner of some new tools (air and electric impact wrenches, bench grinder, 4.5" rotatory grinder, 10 lb sledge, 3 lb sledge, ball pien hammer and a gigantic punch which we used to drive the half shafts out of the hubs). i should have bought farm and fleet stock before this weekend :p

[m44ic]

m44ic ... now i see why you're so jealous of my diff! LOL ... j/k :p

btw, the e30 diff does not "fit right in" like it's made to sound. i had to grind small semi-circles out of the rear subframe that's part of the unibody for the top diff cover bolts to clear properly. also had to grind the flat side lip (but not into the ribs) of the diff cover bushing mount (which is again part of the unibody) to clear another of the diff cover mounting bolts. i have the m coupe finned diff cover which may account for the latter of the two problems, but i'm pretty sure the former would occur even with the e30 3.73 LSD cover. something to consider when doing the swap. you better have a grinder handy with metal grinding wheels (and spares). i then painted the grinds up with POR15 so hopefully it'll be kosher for years to come. we finally got the diff mounted up properly on the FOURTH try (around 6am this morning). this has been a looooooonnnnnggggg weekend (and i still have to mount the half shafts and the new exhaust). but i now am the proud owner of some new tools (air and electric impact wrenches, bench grinder, 4.5" rotatory grinder, 10 lb sledge, 3 lb sledge, ball pien hammer and a gigantic punch which we used to drive the half shafts out of the hubs). i should have bought farm and fleet stock before this weekend :p

sweet good work man, reminds me of when I did my clutch, I picked the coldest week of the year and had to buy about $90 in tools, luckily ACE hardware was right across the street. But good god you have been busy, just think when its all done, it will sound great and haul @ss :)

[cali-ti]

all i can say, it freakin' better! lol ... noticed my rear subframe bushings are toast too, great! going to price out the (most likely unGodly) labor cost to have the subframe dropped, put in new stock/harder rubber/polyurethane subframe bushings and have the ireland engineering rear camber/toe kits welded in (oh yeah, along with the turner rear sway bar tab reinforcements). i know it'll be nasty job. i would REALLY like to clean up and POR15 the damn subframe and trailing arms at the same time, but i don't know if i could work that out with the shop doing the work. blech blech blech ... this thing better last forever after all this shizat ...

[slacker]

Cali-ti you are a martyr for sure...living in hell and now this!!

I thought I was going through hell HAVING the thing done! But your posts explain all the stuff I get when the daily reports come in of why it isn't done yet. I've had mine in the shop since a week ago Monday...today is Tue. and the left side half shaft doesn't match the right....the twelve bolts were too short...now the new ones are too long...since cut. Man-o-man! And to think there is an MCoupe subframe complete available..don't have a price yet. Oh, and the fit had to be ground and bashed into place even without an M cover. Still...I'm hoping, like you, that this will be sweet. My 3.73 is replacing the 4.44 auto and I KNOW that will be an improvement!

Just had to say...it has been enlightening. Glad you had the place, the ability, and the balls to DIY...oh, not to mention all those nifty new tools! Kudos, you da man.

Gary

[cali-ti]

slacker ... whoah! what IS going on with your swap? what model are your halfshafts from? i'm assuming the 12 bolts you're talking about are the ones that mount the halfshafts to the the diff, correct?

here is what i had: e30 3.73 LSD, e30 halfshafts, sourced all mounting hardware (diff mounting bolts, diff cover bushing mount, halfshaft to diff flanges, 30mm nuts on the end of the halfshafts + lock rings, nuts for the driveshaft flange) for the e30. the "only" problems i've had are the clearance on the top bolts for the diff cover, diff cover bushing mount (that's part of the subframe) and then (after everything was back together) a bad cv joint which means i have to replace a halfshaft. i didn't have any problems with bolt lengths or improper halfshafts. do you know what exactly they've run into and are doing?

i'm just a guy learning as i go. i'm very glad my friend has been there ... he's had a lot of experience working on this type of stuff in the past and we've been using that experience big time! hope to post more when i have time. fair amount to do yet :)