[dlbrooks18]

So I was at the dealership last week to bring my car (E90 335i) in for squeaky brakes (w/ only 6K mi) and I began to inquire with the parts department and a few workers about an LSD for the 335i. My question to them was if BMW were planning to release an LSD upgrade in the future because my biggest concern going the aftermarket route is that I don't want to have to deal with the maintenance on an aftermartket LSD nor voiding my powertrain warranty...

Ok, why did everyone I spoke to first tell me that my car already has an LSD?? They even got my VIN# to look it up in the system and still couldn't confirm if it did or not, which of course I know it does not. Then they looked at BMW performance catalog to see if it is available and they found that an OEM upgrade is only available for older model year cars.. It seemed like I knew more about the friggin car than the people actually servicing them on a daily basis, kinda scares me a bit..

[darkphantom]

Wow. I'm speechless at the amount of stupidity present at that stealership....

[aerodyte]

Originally Posted by dlbrooks18

So I was at the dealership last week to bring my car (E90 335i) in for squeaky brakes (w/ only 6K mi) and I began to inquire with the parts department and a few workers about an LSD for the 335i. My question to them was if BMW were planning to release an LSD upgrade in the future because my biggest concern going the aftermarket route is that I don't want to have to deal with the maintenance on an aftermartket LSD nor voiding my powertrain warranty...

Ok, why did everyone I spoke to first tell me that my car already has an LSD?? They even got my VIN# to look it up in the system and still couldn't confirm if it did or not, which of course I know it does not. Then they looked at BMW performance catalog to see if it is available and they found that an OEM upgrade is only available for older model year cars.. It seemed like I knew more about the friggin car than the people actually servicing them on a daily basis, kinda scares me a bit..

Because they are low paid workers who can't afford a BMW so they have no interest and they drive honda's to work....Seriously, when I took my car in, the guy giving me a loaner car said he was giving me a 128i "turbo" car. I looked at him and said, "Turbo?". He said, it had a smaller turbo than the 135i.

[enrita]

OMG! they have no idea. We dont have an LSD in our cars as std. only M cars have an LSD fitted from BMW.

[tinnsoldaten]

[kiddo]

Originally Posted by aerodyte

Because they are low paid workers who can't afford a BMW so they have no interest and they drive honda's to work....Seriously, when I took my car in, the guy giving me a loaner car said he was giving me a 128i "turbo" car. I looked at him and said, "Turbo?". He said, it had a smaller turbo than the 135i.

haha smaller turbo that's a good one

[1clean335i]

you probably just talked to the wrong people at that dealership. im sure there has to be a tech in that shop that atleast know's only m's have lsd.

[dmurray14]

Originally Posted by aerodyte

Because they are low paid workers who can't afford a BMW so they have no interest and they drive honda's to work....Seriously, when I took my car in, the guy giving me a loaner car said he was giving me a 128i "turbo" car. I looked at him and said, "Turbo?". He said, it had a smaller turbo than the 135i.

Aw, leave them alone. That might be the case with some of them, but at least in my experience, our tech guys are good guys and very knowledgeable. No need to slam their profession...

[dlbrooks18]

actually, they brought a tech guy from the back and he was uncertain.. maybe they think DTC works the same as an LSD, I don't know..

[kyleb350]

You could go out in the parking lot to demonstrate...

[Ironring Racing]

You'd have better luck getting the other kind of LSD from your CA, he's probably got more experience with it!

Honestly, coming from the North country, selling a 300hp RWD car with an open diff should get BMW Exec dragged out to the arctic, miles away from the nearest Starbucks, and handed the key fob to a 335i with all seasons in 3" of slush. Lets see how long they leave 1-wheel drive in place. For $65k CDN-hell, cars a hell of a lot less come equiped. I can understand keeping the price competetive, but not even offering it as an option in countries that regularly get the white stuff?

[Mr. 5]

I can go on and on about the idiocy of the dealers.
But, then again, the deal with a lot of different cars and they are there to follow guidelines.

Most of us are on this forum every day learning about this car and they aren't.
What I'm kind of surprised about is this comment:

"my biggest concern going the aftermarket route is that I don't want to have to deal with the maintenance on an aftermartket LSD nor voiding my powertrain warranty... "

I'm curious with what kind of maintenance you think is involved.
You replace the open dif with the LSD, and that's that.
There's nothing special that goes along with having an LSD especially the quaife, which is a non clutch LSD, which means that you don't need any special additives or anything of the sort.

The fact is that the only cars with an LSD are the M cars.
Even the BMW Z8 has an open diff.

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by Ironring Racing

You'd have better luck getting the other kind of LSD from your CA, he's probably got more experience with it!

Honestly, coming from the North country, selling a 300hp RWD car with an open diff should get BMW Exec dragged out to the arctic, miles away from the nearest Starbucks, and handed the key fob to a 335i with all seasons in 3" of slush. Lets see how long they leave 1-wheel drive in place. For $65k CDN-hell, cars a hell of a lot less come equiped. I can understand keeping the price competetive, but not even offering it as an option in countries that regularly get the white stuff?

Although I realy would have liked one installed, I disagree with you.
For the every day driver, I believe that BMW's traction control program is excellent and we do not need an LSD.

An LSD is only necessary on a track. This was BMW's thinking and this is the reasoning behind the LSDs being installed on M cars.

[HighVoltage]

An LSD on this vehicle in the dry is a nice addition, an LSD on this vehicle in the wet could be a handful for the general public. I envision a persistant flickering DTC symbol...

[hun77777]

people at the dealer don't really know as much as we do on 335i. i dealt with couple of sales man from local bmw dealers, they don't even know what the difference between SMG and DCT, they have any idea what DCT is and/or when it will be available on 335i. Still yet, they try to convince me to trade my 335i to M3...

All they care about is their commisionsheet and they will say whatever it takes to make that happen. and yeah more than half the time they don't even know what they are talking about...

[stressdoc]

Having played with my Quaife LSD for a week now I am of the opinion that it is a really great option under the following conditions:

1) If you live in a rainy place (e.g., Britain, or Vancouver) and understand how to control power oversteer, or are at least willing to learn.
2) If you live in a snowy place.
3) If driving fast in the canyons or twisties with some 1st or 2nd gear turns (especially uphill) is important to you.
4) If you spend time driving anything like the Pike's Peak route.
5) Any low speed track use, rallye, or autocross

For everyday stuff in SCal, it would be a low priority.

[dlbrooks18]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

I can go on and on about the idiocy of the dealers.
But, then again, the deal with a lot of different cars and they are there to follow guidelines.

Most of us are on this forum every day learning about this car and they aren't.
What I'm kind of surprised about is this comment:

"my biggest concern going the aftermarket route is that I don't want to have to deal with the maintenance on an aftermartket LSD nor voiding my powertrain warranty... "

I'm curious with what kind of maintenance you think is involved.
You replace the open dif with the LSD, and that's that.
There's nothing special that goes along with having an LSD especially the quaife, which is a non clutch LSD, which means that you don't need any special additives or anything of the sort.

The fact is that the only cars with an LSD are the M cars.
Even the BMW Z8 has an open diff.

I know there is some maintenance involved with the Quaife. Harold, from HP Autowerks, please chime in..

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by dlbrooks18

I know there is some maintenance involved with the Quaife. Harold, from HP Autowerks, please chime in..

What maintenance??!! Once filled with oil, that's it. Quaife themselves say there's no need for an oil change.

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

What maintenance??!! Once filled with oil, that's it. Quaife themselves say there's no need for an oil change.

That's what I thought as well.
The only maintenance that I expected was the normal routine maintenance that is required with an open diff, shich I believe is every 60 or 70k miles.

Extra maintenance is required with LSDs with clutches.

[stressdoc]

With a Quaife I prefer to change the oil after the first 1k miles, mostly so that I can check it for any evidence of wear.
With a clutch type it depends, sometimes I replaced the disks often enough that there wasn't a point to doing it in between.

[cbad335]

I thought I had read, in some other threads, that there was a break in period for the aftermarket LSDs, and that after the break in period, the fluids were to be changed. Only then were you good to go. If so, I suppose that could be considered maintenance.

[mmm def]

There are smart people and there are less samrt people..that's how it is no matter where yo go. Take it easy on the techs.

I agree with Mr. 5..you don't need an LSD.