M52 E30 Limited Slip Differential Install | Medium Case 3.64 LSD | New ECU Map & Other Tweaks | 061
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ต.ค. 2024
- M52 E30 Limited Slip Differential Install | Medium Case 3.64 LSD | New ECU Map & Other Tweaks | 061
In this video, I follow up with some improvements to my M52 swapped BMW E30 to start addressing the issues I found with the car in the previous vid.
Firstly thanks to Dan at bmconversions-... for helping out with a new ECU tune for the car. Check him out for any custom parts you need for your swap.
I ran into a couple of new issues after the previous video. The first was my front mounted 16" Spal pusher fan decided to disintegrate. That sucked because it's a cost on the build but also because I felt my mounts were great.
I modified my aluminium strip mounts to allow the fan blades more clearance. If you copied my mount I urge you to update it in the same way. Since changing the fan there have been no further problems.
Shortly after that I found my stainless steel exhaust brackets had failed. I was using some simple ebay hangers. The quality was good but the way I was having to use them on the E30 to match the original hangers was sub-optimal. This caused one of the straps to split.
I picked up some OE 325i exhaust mounts to replace them, sadly not stainless but I knew I was going to need to modify them to fit around the massive Scorpion backbox muffler.
With a bit of cutting and welding, I'm happy with the new mounts, I should have done it this way in the first place. The exhaust is held much firmer.
With those issues resolved, it was time to move onto the big news.
I took the advice of most of the people who commented and picked up a nice E30 3.64 Medium Case LSD. It's a 188 limited slip diff and the ratio is the most recommended one for use with my setup, which is an M52B28 engine paired to a E30 318is gearbox.
These differentials have become grossly expensive in recent years, and hard to track down. I picked one up a few hours away from home and it had been sat at the back of someone's garage for the past 10 years having been removed from a 90k mile 325i sport. The guy used to break E30s and hung onto this diff.
It looked very rough on the outside, but cracking it open confirmed that it was in sound condition. I cleaned it out with white spirit and then have it a cosmetic refresh with a fresh coat of paint, not to mention replacing the differential bushing with a new OEM rubber.
I removed the 4.27 small case open differential from the E30 and with both units on the bench I took the opportunity to discuss E30 differentials and their differences, including how to identify an E30 LSD differential of you're buying one. Differences like the below:
Small case vs medium case size difference
S prefix on the tag and painted on the case, standing for Sperre
Crown wheel size difference
Rear cover bolt difference
Oil capacity difference and oil type
How a limited slip diff behaves when the flanges are turned versus open diff
What the inside of an LSD looks like versus open diff
With the new medium case differential fitted, I moved onto tweaking the suspension.
I'd been back and forth with Driftworks support trying to find out what spring rates had been provided with my HSD Monopro kit all that time ago. Unfortunately they are having a hard time telling me, but they did advise I removed all of the preload from the front springs.
With low expectations, but wanting to play the game, I removed the 5mm of preload and set the coilover springs to 0 preload.
With that done, my ECU arrived back from Dan at BMConversions UK. I sent my DME off to him for his map which should be much better than the one I got pre-loaded. The one I had was probably for a drift car and I was confident it was a burble tune giving me the pots and pans pops and bangs effect I have when lifting off the throttle.
With Dan's map installed I was ready to do a test drive and see the results of my changes.
The change to the differential ratio has actually transformed the way the car drives which I am thrilled about. The change to the suspension has also made the ride slighly less crashy, which I'm happy to take for now. More to do on that side though.
Unfortunately the map change didn't solve the pots and pans which was a shame, and a change to 600rpm idle seems to have revealed a potential running issue with the car which is to be investigated. It feels like it wants to stall on me when setting off, and it feels rougher at idle.
All in all, I feel like we've leapt forward with the differential change, and we're on our way with the rest. More to come!
For more helpful how-to guides and restorations: www.spannerras...
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#bmwe30 #e30build #m52 #m52b28 #m52e30 #m50 #e30 #e30m52 #e30m50
I did a similar change to my swapped e30. I have a different transmission though (ZF320). I went from a 3.46 LSD to a 2.93 LSD, the car is so much more usable on the motorway/highway and the car builds speed through the powerband vs. always having to change gear at the top end.
After I swapped my diff, I also noticed there to be a loss in low-end torque which then led me to my cam sensor. Replaced that and the car runs so much better, and is even that much faster. (M52B28 with S52 Cams, OBD2 + ZF320 & 2.93LSD)
Interesting, I am hoping to find out if it is something similar with mine, like the cam sensor. here's hoping! Thanks for sharing that
I was after a 3:64 but had to settle for a 3:45 , although mine came in a similar condition & story - once fitted it became apparent id be done as it was deafening!
Bearing shot , so now spending hundreds having it rebuilt. Gonna be the most expensive diff in the world .
Dang, they really are silly money these things, and the rebuilds cost as much if not more than the unit in the first place. I am so lucky with this one, sucks to hear you weren't so lucky.
It should be awesome once done though.
13:41 Teamwork On Point! Great video, glad to see another one.
Haha thanks man, woulda been tough to do this one without help!
Great video! I’m glad to see you out driving the car finally.
I’m getting closer and making slow progress on my M54 swap in my 318. Seeing your progress and success keeps me going!
Thank you mate, keep at it, it'll be well worth it. M54 will be sweet!
Thats the holy grail of lsd
Yeah I was pretty pleased to find it, even better that it doesn't leak or whine! 😃
As always amazing video! Thank you for sharing your experience
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching. 😃
Dude- love your stuff. Glad you are sorting out the e30. I love mine- finally got the rear ended refreshed- new bushing, brake lines etc. Need to refresh the front now and get some AC 😂
Cheers! I'm making progress on the car now, can't believe how much more usable it is with the longer diff. Still plenty savage though, plenty more to come.
I hope you get your front end sorted out, you won't need AC in autumn. 😆
I've been watching your vids about 3 weeks, shocked to see your in my home town
Hah, no way, it's a small world 😄 Glad you're enjoying the vids
Great video once again! Don't give up! Your e30 is already really cool. With few more tweaks it will be perfect.
Thanks! I think we will get there in the end. I won't give up. 😃
Thanks for sharing your knowledge now I also know what the guys are talking about when they talk about small or medium casing
Awesome really glad to shed some light on that. Hope its useful if you're ever buying a differential. 😃
Awesome vid. Have been enjoying my M50B25TU swapped E30. Though I would like to attend to some more drift events but I don't have enough 15inch wheels to fit the 195/50/15 tires that i have collected the last months😅. Keep it up. Greetings from Greece.
Cheers, glad your swapped E30 is going well! I bet its great fun to drift it
Thank you for this new video! Lots of useful information!
Thank you mate, you might be particularly interested in the HSD Monopro suspension part. Running 0 preload has genuinely helped.
Although I am still running the dampers on full soft, and the ride is still too hard for me. So I think a spring rate change is still in order.
Where I am going to source the springs if Driftworks can't supply them? I'm not sure on that yet, but I bet they can be sourced from somewhere as soon as I'm clearer on what spring rates would be softer.
@@SPANNERRASH Happy to hear it. I will follow your advance. Waiting for the next video when you´ll fix the 900 rpm issue!
Best regards
I got a Racing Diffs lsd conversion kit for my ‘02 525i that I’ve been pretty happy with, especially since it just slides into the stock diff. It’s not really noticeable under street driving, but it grips a lot better under hard acceleration.
Nice, I keep seeing mixed reports about those, but glad to hear you're having a positive experience. A whole lot cheaper than buying an original plated LSD.
If I wasn't needing to change ratio too, I might have given one a try!
@@SPANNERRASH I installed mine back in May and put at least 5,000 miles on it since, and it’s been holding up pretty well
Bro, from the ride, the fronts are quite bumpy..try with some helper springs to lesser the preload or go with progressive springs with a spring rate of 4k.
Agreed, a marginal improvement with the preload removed is better than nothing, but I still need to swap those springs out for softer ones.
4kg springs? that sounds much lower than I expected, is that what you're running on a similar car? I thought 7kg would be more like it, but that might be what I already have.
I need to source some springs, but I'm still unclear on exactly what to buy or where to buy it honestly. 🤔
nice Rolex on your wrist!
Cheers 😅 hopefully I won't have to sell to fund this E30 project!
@@SPANNERRASH 😂😂😂
I do not want to wear my Rolex when I repair my e30. I just have a modest Ball watch on my wrist. I don't care if I scratch it or smash it.
And for your map... The bang are due to the fact that the oem ecu don't cut the gasoline on decelerations... You put a loud exhaust then now you hear it. With the oem exhaust it's dampened by the exhaust.
Yeah I am starting to think this is the case and my next move will be to make a physical change to the exhaust. According to Dan at BM Conversions the mid box on these Scorpion systems is very problematic.
It might even have something loose inside adding to the noise.
What surprises me is that a lot of people are running this exhaust setup on an M52 swap, but I've never seen anyone else complain about this. Thanks for your input.
Because lots of people like this pop at decelerations... You visibly like James may style. Elegant and comfortable. The scorpion unit is full absorption when the oem have baffles that lower the sound volume and cut most of the bangs. You can't have both. Power come with absorption mufflers and noise control with baffled muffler. Just put a homologated baffled Remus or Sebring then you will have less bang with less volume and still a enjoying noise.
@@Yaban-racing Haha absolutely, I wish it were a bit quieter and without the pops.
The thing that grates on me most though is the clangy tone. It really does sound like pots and pans being clanged together rather than the typical burble.
I will most likely take your advice.
Very cool. When will the paint be?
Thanks! Hopefully this year but I can't move onto cosmetics until the car drives better. 😃
Isn't it always one step forward and two steps back....my E30 build was 3 years ....had a 1991 with a 1989 parts car....had to piece together 2 different year drive trains io get it right....said to myself...Nothing is easy...everything I thought would be "Plug and Play" never was.
Haha! Yeah the whole concept of "plug and play" when it comes to cars is mostly a myth unfortunately. That's been my experience too.
Blake set my idle speed to 800 saying that he felt that the stock speed caused the same hesitation you are describing (on the purple 316i/m52 Touring here in Chicago). Also, how is your clutch? Mine was terribly hard so I swapped over to the 22.2 mm e34 dual mass flywheel cylinder. Big difference. Still harder than stock, but very drivable.
Interesting, maybe I'll consider raising it again at some point, but there does seem to be more to it than just hesitation.
Luckily not when you're on the move. I imagine more to do with the lightened M20 flywheel than anything. Is that what you're running?
Interestingly the clutch feels spot on to me. Heavy by modern car standards but not too much.
Regarding the burble, I forget, do you have headers or is part of the exhaust system maybe touching the body and creating a resonant frequency that the body amplifies?
Cheers Dean, they are standard headers modified to avoid the steering coupler as it's a RHD car.
These headers and downpipes then connect to a Scorpion stainless system.
Theres no way it's clanging on the body as that was my first thought. I think a physical change to the exhaust might be the sensible next step.
This might put an end to it being a musical instrument. 😆
my pal fan on my e36 is rubber mounted so no vibrations can catch it
Sounds like a good solution. Hopefully I don't have to re-do mine again with the extra clearance.
Hello my friend
A necessary question
I'm at the mechanic's
I want to remove the oil pump?
It must be dismantled
The top of the oil pan
And the cylinder head
Hi, are you rebuilding the oil pump or replacing it with new?
It's one of those things not to skimp on in my opinion, with the sump removed from the engine it will be accessible for you to remove.
The cylinder head is a separate prospect altogether, a bigger job!
Hi, I was sold a limited slip diff but after watching this video i went down to check it and it behaves like an open diff. Flanges spin in opposite directions and if i spin the input shaft i can hold one of the flanges whilst the other spins. Have i been scammed?
Definitely sounds like it's an open diff. Have you looked for the S stamp on the tag or painted on the body?
Failing that, crack it open and it will become obvious when compared to what I show in the vid.
In theory a worn out LSD which is no longer limiting slip could respond to inputs like an open diff. Maybe it's worn out?
where did u get a 3.64 lsd? can i have the part number?
I would struggle to tell you the part number, it wouldn't help anyway because I am sure they have been NLA for a long time.
You will have to search ebay for second hand units like I did!
Re pop and bangs could it be the you don't a cat in the exhaust
Quite possibly, a few people are telling me that the exhaust I have isn't absorbing the sound like an OE one would.
As a 316i it never had a cat either, I guess it just pre-dates them being standard.
I'm thinking a physical change to the exhaust is the logical next step, but I doubt I will add a cat.
Probably flexis and a better mid-box
Did the car you got the engine from have a cat, maybe a sports cat might solve it
@@Graham.-E30 Good question, I imagine E36's all had cats, but I think the tune is for catless as vast majority of swaps will be.
I will have to do some reading up on that. It's quite possible that adding a cat would help tone the exhaust down, my worry really is all the other things that come with a cat needing to work for it to make sense.
I am really keen on simplicity with this car, I don't want to add any complexity I don't need to.
I am thinking to by the 4.10 ratio diff for my e 30 what do you think?
Or should I get other ?
Depends but for M52B28 engine paired to E30 318is gearbox, this 3.64 is spot on.
I was worried it would be too long and make the car feel slower. But actually it still feels like short ratio compared to my E46. Which tells me it's perfect because it's a fun drivers car. Its best of both worlds now. 😃
@SPANNERRASH my car as a 316 caburator M10 engine with webber carburators, I love it butt it come original with 3.91 diff and I also change from 14 to 16 inches wheals.
I am looking for more tork, butt also using daylly.
Looking to change for an 4.10 or 4.45 ratio as the car don't have mutch power
Who are you insured with for the e30?
I went with Adrian Flux, mods declared, was surprisingly cheap considering the nature of the car - sub £300
What tire size are you running?
Hi mate, check out my 5-lug swap videos to see details on how I did the wheels. The tyres I went for are 215/45R16 iirc
Unsubscribed from a backyard mechanic. Simply appalling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm confused, what have you found appalling??
@@SPANNERRASH Your CB 750 videos.