[Yozh]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Yozh, Can you please add a picture of your drain plug please? Take your time as i know you are very busy these days.

Just saw this, sorry. I'll try to dig it out. If not I'll snap another one.

EDIT: here is a pic:

[Asonchadwick]

Wow excellent info

[Mach.81]

Question

Can we not just buy a new ring and pinion gear set for the wavetrac carrier and toss out the old welded carrier?

Seems like a easier route than machining the welded gear set.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by Mach.81

Question

Can we not just buy a new ring and pinion gear set for the wavetrac carrier and toss out the old welded carrier?

Seems like a easier route than machining the welded gear set.

Things to consider in your suggestion.
1) The 335d gearing is 2.81:1 and those don't grow on trees.
2) Pretty sure you can't buy the ring gear where it is ground off to right thickness and tapped for the 10 holes needed.
I did this conversion a few years ago so perhaps things might have gotten easier. Check these vendors below.
*) Perhaps contact Mfactory over on the vendor products for sale area.
**) contact Harold at HP Autosport and he might know something as well. this business is in Santa Barbara, CA.
***) contact Matt Whitbread. He does the conversion in house and prices are quite reasonable.

[BB_cuda]

I am in process of bringing the diff back down so I can do 2 things
1) change the 650i cover over to Whitbread Performance machined one. It is a beast in comparison to the other. It has both a drain and fill plug. Comes with screws and afore mentioned plugs.
2) Going back to OE 335d rear bushing and (2) M3 front bushings. I would like to get rid of the diff whine I hear. I wouldn't be bothering with the bushings if i didn't need to lower it down to change the cover.
*Its been about 40,000 miles since i did the Wavetrac install, changed fluid 1000 miles later per above thread, so 39,000 miles on the Motul Gear 300 gear oil. So, its about time to change it again. I run a LSD on a Dodge truck and changed fluid about every 40k miles so this sticks to that plan.
**) i don't expect a bad outcome swapping the Powerflex diff bushings out since i have the diff support bracket to keep it from winding up.

I have lost track of where the 50 mm crows foot tool has went to. I asked Omaha Diesel and he sent it on to the next Wavetrac conversion person. This was 7 years ago so no way to guess where it went. I ordered my own made by Tectonic and its made in USA.

I need to reborrow the transmission jack shown up in original posting. Hope my friend is a good sport about it.
EDIT: A user here let me borrow his transmission jack instead.

[BB_cuda]

I pulled car apart and removed diff with 650i finned cover. I also pulled the (3) diff bushings in prep for installing rear OE 335d diff bushing. I had trouble getting large rear rubber one in but have a new tactic to get try again. If it proves to be a PITA, I will revert to the Powerflex ones as they are in perfect condition. Here are a few pictures.

You may recognize the diff brace bracket shown in 2nd picture. I carved a relief in side of it where the connecting h/w was grinding against the brace. It should clear now.

The cover comes with 8 screws of proper length. I had to swap 2 of the screws due to losing the thickness of the diff brace bracket backing them out. I got (2) M10x1.5x40 mm grade 10.9 with flanged heads from trusty Ace h/w.

I used same Motul 300 Gear 75W-90 gear oil. The cover has a slightly larger volume so that i needed almost all of the 2L I bought. I had like 6 oz left over. I really like the drain and fill port option. Also, he accomplishes the venting in a clever way.

Update: I used the new tactic on the large rear buishing and it damn sure worked. All 3 rubber bushings are now installed. Powerflex purples are in a baggie and will go to another good home maybe.

EDIT: I revised the labels on picture with 3 covers side by side. Earlier, I incorrectly labeled middle one as E60/M5. This middle cover has origins from 650i. Way up in this thread, I reference a thread over on 1 addicts forum where this is identified.