M3 rear end on a 330ci, what driveshaft???

[WatsoN]

Another thing is that when spinning wheels something really bangs in the back, havent figured out what it is yet, might be the swaybar knocking on the cooling of the diff, will modify brackets tomorow
Also m3 speed sensor eather just dont work, or dont work with 330ci ECU. Have to put 330ci ones, but they are bigger, havent figured it out yer

[rider-.]

agreed ^^

[dbworld4k]

I don't think I had any of the problems you mentioned when mine was done. Only the driveshaft was modified to my knowledge and other than that it was a straight bolt-in from the driveshaft backwards, including entire subframe/control arms/hubs/brakes etc. etc. I could be wrong, but that's what I was told.

[rider-.]

Originally Posted by JINT

Ok the swap is done.
If anyone wants an LSD in your 330ci, DO NOT F@CKING DO THIS SWAP. It is a b!tch and a half. It is not easy and sh!t does not always work as others say. The car is on the road, it does drift very easy and due to the 3.62 ratio it does pickup speed quick.
IF anyone wants to do this swap, here you go:
0) full M3 rear end, even the brakes.
1) Driveshaft from M3 doesn't not work.
2) Drive shaft combined from two pieces (50% 330ci/50% M3) does NOT work.
3) The 330ci driveshaft needs to be CUT and shortened by exactly 44mm.
4) The input flange on the new diff(M3) needs to be taken to a machine shop and bored out inside.(50$)
5) The 330ci flange does NOT bolt up to the M3 diff, there is less teeth and the diameter is smaller than the M3.
6) Need an M3 sway bar and brakets(fillip didn't give me that said it's the same, it's not the same)
7)330ci Differential support bracket(aluminum one) needs to be modified with a grinder, other wise the driveshaft will rub on it.
8) M3 diff rear cover (aluminum) with the cooling fins, does hang very low, so for all the O.G's out there, u can't run stance with it, gotta higher the car back up to M3 height.

I'm probably forgetting something, but you get the point. Get the qualife unit online and call it a day.

to be honest all I had to do was lengthen the m3 driveshaft, use the m3 subframe, sway bar, and diff. I used e36 m3 trailing arms with e36 m3 brakes, since i had them laying around and they are larger then my e46 320 brakes (i already had 330 brakes up front so my bias was out of wack) i did have to cut the support bracket. Also to my surprise the flange from the zf tranny i had laying around in the garage bolted direct onto the getrag with a bit of machining to shorten it down. my car is lowered and the fins arent too close to the ground. all in all i wouldnt say that this swap is horrible to do. The only reason that I was annoyed from it was the headache of figuring everything out myself, I didnt really find a thread that explained everything i needed, all the sources seemed to vary. To those thinking about doing the swap, I would definately recommend that you talk to someone who has done the swap personally, not taken it to a shop, because there is stuff that the shop probably forgot to mention or the person forgot the shop mentioned. Do your homework so you pick up all the right parts and do all the right things to make the swap as easy and cheap as possible. that is all.

[JINT]

Originally Posted by rider-.

to be honest all I had to do was lengthen the m3 driveshaft, use the m3 subframe, sway bar, and diff. I used e36 m3 trailing arms with e36 m3 brakes, since i had them laying around and they are larger then my e46 320 brakes (i already had 330 brakes up front so my bias was out of wack) i did have to cut the support bracket. Also to my surprise the flange from the zf tranny i had laying around in the garage bolted direct onto the getrag with a bit of machining to shorten it down. my car is lowered and the fins arent too close to the ground. all in all i wouldnt say that this swap is horrible to do. The only reason that I was annoyed from it was the headache of figuring everything out myself, I didnt really find a thread that explained everything i needed, all the sources seemed to vary. To those thinking about doing the swap, I would definately recommend that you talk to someone who has done the swap personally, not taken it to a shop, because there is stuff that the shop probably forgot to mention or the person forgot the shop mentioned. Do your homework so you pick up all the right parts and do all the right things to make the swap as easy and cheap as possible. that is all.

The qualife unit is still a chaper swap and definately less headache.

[Blocked_Out]

Originally Posted by JINT

The qualife unit is still a chaper swap and definately less headache.

Amen!

Unless someone can have an M3 LSD installed for less then $1300+$125shipping its not worth the headache.

[rider-.]

i paid quite a bit less then that

[Blocked_Out]

Originally Posted by rider-.

i paid quite a bit less then that

Pleas share where and for what.

I love to know where to get deals.

[rider-.]

my friend works for a shop that gets a lot of wrecked and salvage title bmws from the states and rebuilds them for sale. He also has a lot of parts lying around that were spares. The rear end happened to be one of the things he had lying around, but the shop owner hooked me up because of my friend who works there. Anyways, I got the subframe + diff and swaybar for 300, axels for 100, and driveshaft for 100, and then got the driveshaft customized at a HUGE cost of 450$. oh and the rear trailing arms I had lying around from an old e36 m3 i had. which i got for 150 with brakes, which I also used. But I did get very lucky with the pricing. For the average person this swap definately is not a good idea cost wise, but i do like having the benefit of bigger rear brakes and bigger axels. and the torque gain from the change in gear ratio is fun too.

[JINT]

well lucky you, no everyone gets deals like that

[B6T]

Yup, whoever sold you an E46 M3 rear subframe with differential for $300 must not like money very much.

If I was that guy, and wanted to give someone a really, REALLY good deal, I wouldn't sell for less than $500.