93 318i rear end interchangable

[nickshinny]

hey whats up? just spent the last 2 days workin on my car thought it was bearings or no gear oil in the diff but ive come to the conclusion i need a new rear end. shits blown.. :/ what rear ends are interchangable on a 93 318i? can i still use one off of a 325i or are the gear ratios to high or low for it? please someone help me out i baught a 92 325i for 800$ i wanna know if i can just swap em out

[slocar]

the 6 cylinder unit is physically larger ... your replacement has to come from the same 4 cyl car

[joey79]

If you want to swap in a diff from a 325i, the half shafts and driveshaft have to go with it. If your 318i is manual, then you should have 3.45 ratio. The 325i diffs are 3.15 for manual, and 3.91 for auto.

[nickshinny]

Thanks so much for the reply. alright well i think i got all those parts, would there be a big difference in acceleration

[joey79]

If you're going from a 3.45 to a 3.15, your acceleration would suffer.

[ponchiz318]

Try to get a 3.91.....:D

[nickshinny]

is a 97 318i rear diff interchangable to my 93? both standard 4 doors. gettin it for 50 bucks with 90k miles

[ponchiz318]

Yes. The physical sizes are different between the 4 and 6 cylinder engines.

[nickshinny]

so i can use the one from the 97? wow thanks guys you just saved me 400$ :D

[dieselbro]

Yup, all 318 diffs are interchangeable.

Except for the Ti models (however I am not sure).