Yoshi's E46 LS powered wagon

[protomor]

I found out that you can just buy ring and pinions from BMW. The E46 racer crowd apparently do it all the time. So I figure I'll buy a 100% new ring/pinion gear set and an aftermarket diff unit itself.

So I'm hoping the E32 diff lines up right. Because that would save quite a bit of cash.

[Novablue454]

are they expensive? Thayer (bimmerdiffs) sells refurbished ring / pinion sets for 299.99

[protomor]

I'm trying to figure it out. TMS has them for $750 but that's insane to me <_<

Thayer/bimmerdiffs seem to have 188 gears but I don't see anything for 210.

[Novablue454]

Oh crap, you're right. Yeah $750 sounds crazy

[mcoupemindy]

I'm trying to figure it out. TMS has them for $750 but that's insane to me <_<

Thayer/bimmerdiffs seem to have 188 gears but I don't see anything for 210.

We have plenty of 210mm gears, just not listed on our website. support@thayermotorsports.com will get you the answers.

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I'm trying to figure it out. TMS has them for $750 but that's insane to me <_<

Thayer/bimmerdiffs seem to have 188 gears but I don't see anything for 210.

We can do a bit better on motorsport gear sets, but you have to pay to play with the 210s.

We're not on the forums very much anymore - information is only an email or call away.

Also be cautious of the differential "knowledge" shared here. I see some incorrect statements.

[protomor]

I think part of the issue is that people like you guys with the knowledge aren't on the forums and such enough to spread the good information. All the info spreading around here that's incorrect isn't malicious, it's just the best normal guys can find. And unfortunately, most of that is just googling and hearsay.

Would you guys be ok with me emailing or calling for a lengthy session? Differentials are my unofficial thing and I'd like to study up as much as I can. Part of it is that I'm cheap and sourcing as many parts as I can over the next year is a good option. And I'd like to piece this diff together myself for pride.

Irony is that you're about 2 hours from me.

[protomor]

I went to put on my M3 rims today... that didn't work. The free tires I got are bubbling or have GIANT gashes I didn't notice. No biggie since they were free. The 225s didn't look like I was going to have to roll the fenders like everyone tells me I'd have to. Rolling the rear fenders looks like a pain since there's some seam sealer or something in the lip itself. Like, a lot of it. Anyone dealt with this crap?

[e46cruiser]

I went to put on my M3 rims today... that didn't work. The free tires I got are bubbling or have GIANT gashes I didn't notice. No biggie since they were free. The 225s didn't look like I was going to have to roll the fenders like everyone tells me I'd have to. Rolling the rear fenders looks like a pain since there's some seam sealer or something in the lip itself. Like, a lot of it. Anyone dealt with this crap?

Yeah it's a lot of seam sealer, usually people (my self included) cut the inner lip off that you would roll. If you don't go that route most just hit it with a wire wheel and proceed to attempt roll them flat.

[protomor]

I hate cutting stuff on nice cars. I think I'll try to get the sealer crap out manually <_<

[e46cruiser]

good luck lol, I tried to remove the sealer and roll the fenders but I couldnt get them as flat as I wanted.

[protomor]

lol I hear you. I'm not going for hella flush fitment. I just want to fit factory 18x9 M3 rims in the rear without hitting stuff.

[e46cruiser]

True, if thats the case you should be good! I was running 17x9.5 with a low offset, so I had to cut them & roll / pull them.

[protomor]

I thought the GTO rear end was 3.64. Turns out it's 3.46. So the 3.62 E46 M3 diff I just picked up will be a small jump from stock. It'll be a huge step down from the 4.10 I have in the E30 but maybe I'll try this out. I wonder if the M3 innards will hold up to some abuse before I decide what to do. Anyone have opinions?

[Novablue454]

I don't think they have any problem taking abuse, I just think people don't like them because the lockup is unpredictable

[protomor]

I think I got a 540 open diff innard set on the way. So I'll probably just weld that and toss it in for the mad skids.

[Novablue454]

I think we are the first to do this, haha

[protomor]

Well I've been in contact with wangan style who does this for E46 race guys. So he's given me all the info in order to do the swap right. I'm not a fan of welded diffs but it'll work for now.

[protomor]

What kind of idiot starts an LS swap for a chassis but has a kid and tries to save money for a down payment on a house while paying for daycare? This guy.

[protomor]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMe8J4DDymr/

Cuz the LS ain't going in soon, I replaced the cabs with some $40 chinese knock offs. Pain in the ass to do it on stands with the control arms in the car. But hopefully it keeps the wheels from vibrating past 40mph since I know the wheels are balanced.

[tptrsn]

Well, looks like those CABs didn't owe you anything..

[protomor]

The passenger's side just came out with no effort. The driver's side I just used an angle grinder because I was too lazy to take out the whole control arm.

[protomor]

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Idunno. That baby makes it hard to work on a car or spend money on a car. So here's a cheap side project. OBD2/gps/accelerometer/sd logging/touch screen to play with. I'm working on getting it to take external IO so I can log non OBD2 stuff.

[tptrsn]

That looks like it could be a pretty cool little gadget. What is it?

[protomor]

It's a DIY kit from here: http://freematics.com/pages/products...ematics-kit-3/

It's an arudino mega with an LCD and such on it. I picked it up because I'm not super great with electrical engineering but I code for a day job. This solution covers 90% of what I'm looking for. Eventually, I want to put a second accelerometer and do stuff like drift scoring/telemetry.

[tptrsn]

That's cool, I'll read up on it more. I'd like to find something along those lines that would make a nice dash from MS3.