Need your 2 cents!!!!!!!!!!

[L84THSKY]

Here is another potential diff. It's a 3.46 LSD from a 1987 528E. The seller claims it will fit any E30 car. Does that sound like it will fit our cars with a half shaft, diff flange and rear cover swap?

Checkout the link to REALOEM and the pics below.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=4083&mospid=47228&btnr=33_1216&hg=33&fg=10

[Panzer_M]

needs a new rear cover. HINT Mcoupe cover.
But it looks 4 bolt correct.

[DustenT]

Is that rear mount right? I don't remember mine looking like that.

[L84THSKY]

I know I need to swap the rear cover. The issue is whether the diff with E30 flanges and a E30 cover, will go into our cars. I don't want to run into the same problems I had before with the flanges having different diameter and bolt spacings.

Is that rear mount right? I don't remember mine looking like that.

[cali-ti]

IF the seller is correct that it will fit any E30 car, then you SHOULDN'T need flanges just half shafts.

that said, it appears the flange spacings are different (94mm vs 86mm). you may therefore need to change flanges. ask the seller about it. the cover and tapered roller bearings appear to have the same part numbers in the ETK (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=33_0116&hg=33&fg=10). so ... it should be as you said, a swap of diff cover, e30 flanges, e30 halfshafts and you should be good to go. get the reman'd halfshafts so you know which halfshaft bolts to get for sure (hex or torx). you'll also need new nuts for the front flange that connects to the driveshaft. if you're anal and feel lucky, get new seals for the diff flanges (my friend and i changed these out but it was a little disconcerting doing it. if they aren't leaking, i think i'd leave them alone).

[L84THSKY]

Eric

1. Let me know if the flanges went out.

2. I think I will do like Constant-Yu did and swap the inner CV joints on my halfshafts. My car only has 45K miles, I think my halfshafts are good. That will save me a bundle on buying reman halfshafts. Do you see any reason why this method would not be wise?

IF the seller is correct that it will fit any E30 car, then you SHOULDN'T need flanges just half shafts.

that said, it appears the flange spacings are different (94mm vs 86mm). you may therefore need to change flanges. ask the seller about it. the cover and tapered roller bearings appear to have the same part numbers in the ETK (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=33_0116&hg=33&fg=10). so ... it should be as you said, a swap of diff cover, e30 flanges, e30 halfshafts and you should be good to go. get the reman'd halfshafts so you know which halfshaft bolts to get for sure (hex or torx). you'll also need new nuts for the front flange that connects to the driveshaft. if you're anal and feel lucky, get new seals for the diff flanges (my friend and i changed these out but it was a little disconcerting doing it. if they aren't leaking, i think i'd leave them alone).

[Silver00spike]

I will have a 3.45 LSD from a clubsport available about next wednesday, because of my m3 swap. It has about 80k miles on it, I used it for about 2. Shoot me an offer

[L84THSKY]

Let me see what happens with the diff I'm currently considering. If I don't buy it, I will make you an offer.

I will have a 3.45 LSD from a clubsport available about next wednesday, because of my m3 swap. It has about 80k miles on it, I used it for about 2. Shoot me an offer

[cali-ti]

ok ... i wanted to sum up what we'd discussed just to make sure we were both on the same page and so others could potentially use the info as well.

here are the options as i see them with the 3.46 large case LSD you posted pics of above:

1) use your stock 318ti halfshafts and 318ti flanges. the GOOD: don't have to pull halfshafts or modify them, should be pretty straight forward, cheaper. the BAD: the spline length on the 318ti flanges is shorter than the e30 flanges (and i'm guessing the ones included with the 5-series diff as well), you may or may not have issues related to that down the road. people HAVE done it, but as i told you on the phone, i'm not sure what kind of mileage they've put on after that. i see it as a risk.

2) use e30 flanges and e30 halfshafts (again i'll recommend reman'd ones). the GOOD: longer spline contact, (i believe) stronger halfshafts. the BAD: more work (have to remove/install halfshafts), more expensive, potential ABS sensor clearance issues.

with EITHER of the choices above, you'll still need to get an appropriate diff cover (and i just threw the cover i removed from my e30 3.73 LSD into the garbage too!) - keep in mind that if you use the m coupe finned cover you won't be able to directly mount the spare unless you deflate it, you also may or may not have diff clearance issues, at a minimum you need to get new nuts for the driveshaft connection (i would recommend a complete mounting hardware refresh, but that's just me :)) ... i can get into more specifics on that type of stuff if you want. if you decide to go the e30 halfshaft route, i can also tell you which halfshaft->flange bolts go with which style e30 halfshafts (i ended up with one of each on my car :( - i can't repeat enough REMAN'D REMAN'D REMAN'D REMAN'D! lol).

[cali-ti]

I will have a 3.45 LSD from a clubsport available about next wednesday, because of my m3 swap. It has about 80k miles on it, I used it for about 2. Shoot me an offer
unless you're seriously considering an engine swap, i would go this route! use your current halfshafts, no potential clearance issues, no potential ABS sensor clearance issues ... drop open diff, install LSD, done.

the finned diff cover from the m coupe alone is about $200. new e30 flanges were something like $40-50/each. even used, halfshafts are about $50-$75/each, reman'd are around $240-$260/each. the higher cost of the club sport LSD is very quickly offset by additional costs when using a large case diff from another series even though the diff itself is cheaper (thus making the club sport LSD the better deal). others with DASCs even have run the club sport LSD. if you're planning a 6-cyl swap, then i would seriously consider doing the large case diff swap and doing it right (reman'd halfshafts mostly being my point).

[L84THSKY]

Hey Eric

Wait one cotton pickin' minute............

I have another option. What if......I put in the 6-cylinder 3.46 LSD, use my original flanges and halfshafts for awhile. Then when I'm ready, I swap the flanges, and swap the inner CV joints on my shafts. Swapping the flanges and CV joints after installing the LSD shouldn't be too hard. The diff doesn't need to be removed, just drop the halfshafts on diff side, pop out the flanges, and swap the CV joints. That seems like an easy 2 stage operation.

Of course if I am sure that I will never do a 6-cylinder engine swap, and the Clubsport diff can handle a Supercharger, then maybe the 6-cylinder diff will never be necessary.

I just like the idea of having a beefy diff, gives me peace of mind. :rolleyes:



unless you're seriously considering an engine swap, i would go this route! use your current halfshafts, no potential clearance issues, no potential ABS sensor clearance issues ... drop open diff, install LSD, done.

the finned diff cover from the m coupe alone is about $200. new e30 flanges were something like $40-50/each. even used, halfshafts are about $50-$75/each, reman'd are around $240-$260/each. the higher cost of the club sport LSD is very quickly offset by additional costs when using a large case diff from another series even though the diff itself is cheaper (thus making the club sport LSD the better deal). others with DASCs even have run the club sport LSD. if you're planning a 6-cyl swap, then i would seriously consider doing the large case diff swap and doing it right (reman'd halfshafts mostly being my point).

[cali-ti]

Hey Eric

Wait one cotton pickin' minute............

I have another option. What if......I put in the 6-cylinder 3.46 LSD, use my original flanges and halfshafts for awhile. Then when I'm ready, I swap the flanges, and swap the inner CV joints on my shafts. Swapping the flanges and CV joints after installing the LSD shouldn't be too hard. The diff doesn't need to be removed, just drop the halfshafts on diff side, pop out the flanges, and swap the CV joints. That seems like an easy 2 stage operation.

Of course if I am sure that I will never do a 6-cylinder engine swap, and the Clubsport diff can handle a Supercharger, then maybe the 6-cylinder diff will never be necessary.

I just like the idea of having a beefy diff, gives me peace of mind. :rolleyes:if you want peace of mind, i wouldn't be cobbling together CV joints/halfshafts :p just swap 'em out to e30 ones and be done (what happens if one fails and you need to replace it?). so it's then a combination of my (1) and (2) suggestions ;)

[L84THSKY]

I want a painless and low potentiallly problematic install. Since I have access to a drive on lift, I would prefer to NOT remove the rear wheels in the diff swap.

You gotta remember, my car only has 45K miles, not 200K like yours, the halfshafts are fine. I already asked the seller of the diff if he could supply the inner CV joints; he said yes.

I am assuming, maybe incorrectly, that the CV isn't what goes bad, but maybe the boot and or repacking of grease. Maybe replacing the halfshafts will be done anyway, in the end.

I like the advantage of being able to drive the car on the lift and raising the car up to do all the work. That isn't possible if I remove the halfshafts.

I'm gonna take this project one step at a time.

I was resent new dye for my Vaders, since the colormatch was wrong on the first mix. That is what I'm focusing on this weekend.



if you want peace of mind, i wouldn't be cobbling together CV joints/halfshafts :p just swap 'em out to e30 ones and be done (what happens if one fails and you need to replace it?). so it's then a combination of my (1) and (2) suggestions ;)

[cali-ti]

d00d, don't make me come over to new york! lol

what keeps the car on the lift? you're going to be removing pieces of the drive train so nothing will be holding it from rolling unless you have chocks or something else to hold it in position. the CV joints DO go bad, not a case of just being able to repack them indefinitely. even my halfshafts were still good after 200k miles! one of the replacements was NOT (no idea of mileage or even which side it came from).

oh ... and you can have the wheels on and remove the halfshafts :) pop the roundels out of your rear wheels and take a look at the lock ring/nut on the end of the halfshaft. that's what you need to remove to get the shaft out. i can take a pick of the giant punch we used to hammer the shafts out of the hub if you want, it worked very well! you may need to disconnect the lower rear shock mount to gain clearance to get the shafts in and out. i'm also not sure how much fun it will be trying to combine the halfshafts and repack it with grease while they're still on the car, but in the end it's certainly up to you. hope it all works because going back to stock if you had to would be even less fun. your exhaust is pretty new, right? because you'll most likely want to drop that to get easier access to the whole area (i swapped my new exhaust in at the same time - along with the hell of new parking brake cables which had frozen themselves into the hubs).

[L84THSKY]

Better you come to New York, cause I'm not going to Hell, not yet that is :chuckel:

Repacking the halfshafts on the car seems easier than taking them off. You wrap a support around it to keep it from falling, and do your work at eye level.

Oh and to answer your question, you can use the emergency brake to keep the car from moving :icon_poke

Ok, then removing the wheels is not necessary for swapping halfshafts, that makes things easier. Yes the muffler is new, worst I have to do is cut the donuts and buy new ones. I still need the M-coupe rear cover, this could add up to a $1000.00 easy.

But like it's been said many times, the LSD swap turns out to be a favorite modification, so it's worth the effort.

Out of curiosity, can you provide a name of someone who used the stock 318ti flanges in the 6-cylinder diff housing? I would like to see how it turned out, in the long run.

d00d, don't make me come over to new york! lol

what keeps the car on the lift? you're going to be removing pieces of the drive train so nothing will be holding it from rolling unless you have chocks or something else to hold it in position. the CV joints DO go bad, not a case of just being able to repack them indefinitely. even my halfshafts were still good after 200k miles! one of the replacements was NOT (no idea of mileage or even which side it came from).

oh ... and you can have the wheels on and remove the halfshafts :) pop the roundels out of your rear wheels and take a look at the lock ring/nut on the end of the halfshaft. that's what you need to remove to get the shaft out. i can take a pick of the giant punch we used to hammer the shafts out of the hub if you want, it worked very well! you may need to disconnect the lower rear shock mount to gain clearance to get the shafts in and out. i'm also not sure how much fun it will be trying to combine the halfshafts and repack it with grease while they're still on the car, but in the end it's certainly up to you. hope it all works because going back to stock if you had to would be even less fun. your exhaust is pretty new, right? because you'll most likely want to drop that to get easier access to the whole area (i swapped my new exhaust in at the same time - along with the hell of new parking brake cables which had frozen themselves into the hubs).

[cali-ti]

Better you come to New York, cause I'm not going to Hell, not yet that is :chuckel: hehe. i'm driving out of Hell tuesday morning to go to the Promised Land! yey!

Oh and to answer your question, you can use the emergency brake to keep the car from moving :icon_poke i don't known why, but i was thinking this wouldn't work with the halfshafts out :blink:

Ok, then removing the wheels is not necessary for swapping halfshafts, that makes things easier. Yes the muffler is new, worst I have to do is cut the donuts and buy new ones. I still need the M-coupe rear cover, this could add up to a $1000.00 easy.

But like it's been said many times, the LSD swap turns out to be a favorite modification, so it's worth the effort.confirm you can get an impact wrench driver on the nuts through the wheels (you might need a short extension). those nuts are on there at like 180lb-ft.

Out of curiosity, can you provide a name of someone who used the stock 318ti flanges in the 6-cylinder diff housing? I would like to see how it turned out, in the long run.i'll have to search through my 318ti yahoo list digests. i know there was one in there since i joined.

[L84THSKY]

I bought a new professional "Made in USA" impact wrench. My brother has the compressor, just need the correct socket.


confirm you can get an impact wrench driver on the nuts through the wheels (you might need a short extension). those nuts are on there at like 180lb-ft.

[cali-ti]

I bought a new professional "Made in USA" impact wrench. My brother has the compressor, just need the correct socket.if memory serves, it's 30mm (big one). i got a deep socket and even with that, i think i would have needed an extension to get in there with the wheel on.

also keep in mind if you swap halfshafts, you want to remove the ABS sensor before driving the new halfshaft into the hub to make sure it'll clear.

[FMD]

I will have a 3.45 LSD from a clubsport available about next wednesday, because of my m3 swap. It has about 80k miles on it, I used it for about 2. Shoot me an offer
I want!!