[Jonoooooo]

So I've bought an m sport 320i from auction. Excited to own another BMW, been a while since my E30 days.

The problem I'm having is that the diff is making a horrible noise and looks like it needs replacing. I've searched high and low here in Aus and there's nothing less than $1k in the 3.38 ratio that the car initially came with.

I do have the option of a 3.15 for very cheap but I have no idea how slow that will make it off the line (it's already underpowered). Hard question to answer but anyone know if that would be too low of a ratio?

It's either that or a 3.91 as is in the automatics but I think that could make first gear useless.

The 6 cylinder diffs are cheaper still but I'm not sure how much more than the diff I would have to replace.

Any help would be amazing!

Thanks

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Jonoooooo

So I've bought an m sport 320i from auction. Excited to own another BMW, been a while since my E30 days.

The problem I'm having is that the diff is making a horrible noise and looks like it needs replacing. I've searched high and low here in Aus and there's nothing less than $1k in the 3.38 ratio that the car initially came with.

I do have the option of a 3.15 for very cheap but I have no idea how slow that will make it off the line (it's already underpowered). Hard question to answer but anyone know if that would be too low of a ratio?

It's either that or a 3.91 as is in the automatics but I think that could make first gear useless.

The 6 cylinder diffs are cheaper still but I'm not sure how much more than the diff I would have to replace.

Any help would be amazing!

Thanks

If your car is a manual I would do the 3.91. I’m running a 3.91 in my 328i which originally came with a 3.23. I tried the 3.73 for a while but wanted a bit more so went to a 3.91 when I installed a lsd.

Your 320 needs all the help it can get I would not even think twice about a 3.91 unless you really want to be miserly with gas.

[desertman123]

Check RealOEM, the 6cyls use I think it's 188L and/or 188K. Compare part numbers for axles, driveshafts, flanges etc.