Manual E36 LSD swap
What’s up fellow E36 guys n gals! I’ve been searching for an LSD for my manual 328is. After doing some research, it seems like an LSD with a ratio of 3.14 or 3.23 would be the best option. I was talking to a BMW mechanic the other day though, and he was saying that I should be looking for a 3.91….. which threw me off because I thought that gearing ratio was for automatics. So now I’m wondering if he’s right or if I am, haha. 😓
If anyone here has experience with an LSD swap, drop some knowledge on me! Thanks doods.
Comments
Gearing ratio is all down to preference, do you want high speed or low speed, drifting etc.
Right. Most people know that. But manual and automatic E36’s came with completely different gearing ratios so I’m wondering WHICH is the correct for the swap.
E36 M3 came with a 3.23:1 final drive I believe. It’s at about 3k rpm at 70mph. It has decent pickup for the gearing but I would prefer something a little shorter for better acceleration
Okay cool. See that’s what I was thinking…. I have no idea why that guy told me to go 3.91, I felt that was waaaaaay too short… The 3.23 sounds like the solution to me, as I believe my 328is is running a 2.93.
Im not sure about German cars, but most cars are either stamped on the rear differential, or you can pop the cover off and it’s stamped inside
Lol, did you even read my question?
E36 is perfect car for almost crashing into many hatchbacks in eastern bloc
I took the 2.93 diff out my e46 328ci and put a 3.38 one in. I had to swap the drive shaft output flanges over from the diffs. It wasn’t a Lsd but it made abit of difference on acceleration.
I ran out of engine power at 157/158mph (with 233hp and raised limiter), with the shorter diff in it did about 150mph before the redline.
If you can pick up the m3 diff then it’ll be best to go for