[judec]

Hi guys,

recently I exchanged a few emails with Kevin Birds from Birds UK. I asked him about a solution for welded diffs. He has one. Asked him about any GB possibility. He does not intend to do a GB as U know it, but offered me the following:

He can give 10 e90post members a 10% discount on Quaife LSD install. Conversion of the welded final drive unit to LSD is approximately 2700$ before discount, takes 3 days, or U can ask them for a ready modified differential in exchange for additional 2000$ deposit, which will be refunded to U after U send them your original unit back after the install. Check through our emails, then ask me for details:

Hello Kevin,

a member on e90post.com mentioned U came out with a solution for welded diffs on 335i.

Could you pls confirm and give me some brief info and pricing on it?

Thx

Julius

Dear Julius,

If you send us your final drive unit, we can convert it for £1341.88. The process takes 3 days, and we will retun ship the diff to you.

If you don't want to dissable the car for this period of time, we can offer a ready modified differential in exchange, which costs a further £1014.19. When you have installed the modified diff, send us back your original and we will credit the £1014.19 again.

It's expensive, but it's worth it. There is no cheaper solution, and nothing is better than the Quaife.

If you wish to order, I need your full address, chassis number, and whether you want the fully built solution, or want yours sent here for modification.

Regards, Kevin.

Dear Kevin,

thx for great info. My car will arrive in March (hopefully), will call U, as this is possibly the first mod I intend to do on it. It is possible some of my friends will contact U soon with their enquiries, or some of them not speaking english will ask me to do so in their favour.

Just out of curiosity - I could put together about 10-20 desperate welded-diffed 335i owners from the US, which recently dont know about a solution other like to find a crashed early make 335i or a 540i, take it's non-welded diff and bring it in a shop to put the quaife LSD in it. Some of them even sold their units after storing it in their garage for a few months with no use for it. Would U be interested to do a group buy for them? Do U have the capacity to fulfill such a group order? Can U make a discount?

Best regards

Julius

Dear Julius,

In my experience, group buys don't work. There's always the problem of who collect the money, etc. However, if anyone you have contact with wants this done, just get them to email me with their chassis number, name, telephone number and full shipping address, and I will offer a 10% "group buy" discount to anyone who mentions your name as the referer. (this includes you, of course!)
We will deal with each order as it comes, and will limit the volume to 10 only.
If any of you contacts has a spare welded diff, we need them for exchange purposes and will pay £350 for them. We need stock of at least 10 of these to satisfy the demand.

I still need your address and telephone number, please.

Regards, Kevin.

So this is the deal. I think cca 2400$ + shipping is a fair price, so if U want it, here's your chance. I'm affraid it won't get any better like this.

Note:

• I'm in no personal relation with Birds Auto or Quaife.
• I have no profit from any of your orders, your order/payment/etc. will not be processed through me.
• My only benefit is my 10% discount next year if Kevin does not change his mind. Besides of that I'm doing this only as my act of philanthropy. Don't missuse!
• I'd appreciate to have info if U decide to use this oportunity. PM me and I'll give you my e-mail address (and Kevin's if U dont have it) and help U out if I can.

That's all, guys. Waiting for your responses.

Julius

PS: Remember, only 10 "slots open". First come first served.
1. purplewidow (welded diff, US)
2. ArmyBimmerDude (not welded diff, EU)
3. NPDAN (welded diff, US)
4. AZ_E90 (welded diff, US)
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

[judec]

PM replied, purplewidow is the fastest

[jahwerx]

I recall that shipping from the US + the customs charges are not trivial and should be considered for the price as well. However, no VAT this way...

Is there any possible partnership Birds has with a US company that can offer the same price and keep the diff stateside?

[judec]

well, I can't solve this issue for U. Managed U a solution, managed U a discount to cover your expences. Not enough?

Try to find a way around. One idea of mine - do U have to pay customs even if U send a part abroad for repair, then get the same part back?

[jahwerx]

Originally Posted by judec

..do U have to pay customs even if U send a part abroad for repair, then get the same part back?

As a matter of fact I did - It was a turbo that broke an oil seal that I shipped out of the US. Got smacked by customs charges both ways. I'll try to do some digging around and get more info on this, since I think it will be useful info for anyone in the US.

By the way, I'm quite interested, but just want to understand the "real cost" once everything is said and done.

[judec]

I understand. In fact, to be honest, I did not consider customs. Birds in EU & me in EU = no customs, so I've also forgotten about yours.

My POI is that if its a reexport (or reimport?), our law allows me to apply for zero customs but I have to do that before I send out the original part. Then, when it's OTW back, I ofcourse have to prove it's the original part, or a replacement part of the one I've sent etc. So pls work on this and elaborate.

When ordering from US I'll try to find the way to smuggle my stuff over here

[purplewidow]

see it's difficult for a company here to order 30 diffs which is what birds requires which is why no one here has them in stock..even when i called dinan eric told me to just get the quaife cause he had no clue when theres was coming out...i even said i could wait till the spring and that's when he said the quaife....with or without welded diffs it seems without a doubt the best way to go!!!! kevin is more professional than most people as well he emailed me 6 times answering my Q's...he is a super nice guy!!!! great to see kevin bird takes his company so serious he takes time to answer the emails himself!!!! i can't wait to get it i will have more info tomorrow!!!! thanks a bunch judec you really did a great job in saving us all some money!!!!!! and i am telling you be careful with that food over there!!!!

[judec]

Well, I'm living with that food for 33 years w/o problem, but I'll be cautious

Adn yes, Kevin is a nice guy. He really cares a lot, wants to help. He's a great example how customer care should look like.

Jim, if U got some usefull info from Kevin, maybe U could share with us.

Regarding customs - I checked it last night with a friend of mine. The reexport thing works here in EU. I am almost 100% sure similar thing exists in the US, too. Just go for it. Actually if U do that, it will be a customs fraud, but it's your business, so who cares?

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Great find Judec. If I had an after March production car I'd be all over this. Why do people cheap out after buying a $50k car? Waiting for BMW or Dinan to come out with their LSD? lol

[judec]

Well, if U are the lucky one w/o the welded diff and want an LSD, just ask Kevin and mention me as a referrer. U'll get your LSD much cheaper if U don't need the conversion.

And don't ask me why ppl cheap out. Can't understand that either. For me it's a series of simple Q/A:
- Do I want it? - Yes.
*Optional - Do I need it? - Yes/No/Who cares?
- Do I have the money? - Yes.
-> Order.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Thanks bro, I just emailed him. We'll see what he says as far as pricings concerned.

[purplewidow]

Originally Posted by ArmyBimmerDude

Great find Judec. If I had an after March production car I'd be all over this. Why do people cheap out after buying a $50k car? Waiting for BMW or Dinan to come out with their LSD? lol

why would waiting for dinan or a bmw diff be a cheap move? it is all but guaranteed to be cheaper to go with the quaife and faster as eric at dinan even told me to get the quaife as he had no clue when it was coming out and he even put me on hold to ask around and nada that's when he told me to buy the quaife and said it's a great diff.

the clutch style diffs are more expensive and more expensive to maintain and you have to change the oil frequently and after a lil bit starrt to worry about the clutch slipping wearing out of the gears....i am not a fan of that maybe if i tracked all the time or had a dedicated track car then ok

the quaife just seems without a doubt the best!!!!

[Nyulak]

The clutches should last at least 60k miles before you notice any degradation as long as the diff fluid is changed. I already have 10k miles on my diff and it performs exactly as it does the day it was installed. If the clutches wear out, the diff won't eat the gears. You will lose preload and eventually start running open. Then you just go and get the clutches replaced, which may be a hassle for some people, but not unbearable, expensive, or excessively time consuming. During fluid changes, you can ask the shop to test your car for worn clutches before they ever become a problem.

I'm lucky, because it only takes an hour for my to drive to KMS and Brett is a really good guy. I could have had the Quaife installed by him, but I like clutch -type diffs. Personal preference, that's all.

As far as long term experience, I have a clutch-type Ford Motorsport LSD installed in my Crown Vic that has more than 30k or 40k miles on it without any problems. The engine on the other hand is resting in my garage, broken due to bent valves. The transmission is also in the garage suffering from an unknown ailment. I really should get rid of them.

[judec]

I think that "cheap move" was meant ironically. Imagine some quotation marks around that

[Nyulak]

i r imagining kwotes!

[purplewidow]

the "lol" worked the other way...lol...anyways at least there's another point to the post...but you see what i mean nyulak...most people are timid b/c they don't see a cost per benefit value...or they just don't want an expensive mod..adding more cost and guaranteed replacement over time kills it even more..te quaife is easier to maintain and it has a LIFETIME GUARANTEE....people don't understand the HUGE difference i guess between a car with and without an lsd...the difference is huge and it is safer as well with benefits in snow,ice,rain and every day driving as grip is dramatically increased!!!! dammit i can't wait for this any longer and with dinan even saying go with the quaife i am not going to stand back and wait any longer...the time has come QUAIFE STAT!!!!!!!

[ArmyBimmerDude]

You guys are funny

Seriously though, people are willing to spend around the same amount for an exhaust just to have the car sound better, or $1k on CF interior trim, or other stuff. This is right up there with the piggyback tuning options in my opinion. Judec and Purplewidow have covered everything I think. Now I'll just sit in my little corner waiting for my LSD to show up......

[judec]

ArmyBimmerDude, congrats to be 2nd on Birds list, even if it requires your action towards Kevin.

PM sent

[jahwerx]

Purple . . . did you get quotes on duty or shipping yet? When I was in contact with Kevin a month ago he suggested that shipping (each way to and from the US) was £130 - meaning $268 * 2 = $536 <= just for shipping.

Not sure what the customs part would cost yet....

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Originally Posted by judec

ArmyBimmerDude, congrats to be 2nd on Birds list, even if it requires your action towards Kevin.

PM sent

Thanks man, I'll contact him in the next couple days after I'm in the U.S.

[judec]

Originally Posted by ArmyBimmerDude

Thanks man, I'll contact him in the next couple days after I'm in the U.S.

Well, being U I'll initiate it ASAP. Like tomorrow or today...

[judec]

Well, guys, I just can't believe I'm doing that, but I've looked after the reexport thing for U.

Companies use merchandise and machinery from all over the world. Sometimes goods must be returned to their country of origin for repair and maintenance. In international trade and shipping logistics, there are two scenarios for U.S. companies dealing with repairs. First, an U.S. company imports defective merchandises from a foreign buyer for repair and then re-exports the repaired merchandise back to the customer. Second, U.S. customers return merchandise to a foreign country for repair and then re-import it. In both scenarios, U.S. companies should contact their local Customs office for exact procedures.

WHAT ARE THE PROPER PROCEDURES FOR SENDING A REPAIR TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY?

When sending merchandise abroad for repairs or alterations, you should register it with U.S. Customs before shipping it to avoid paying U.S. import: duties upon its return. Use Customs Form CF 4455; "Certificate of Registration, "available at your local Customs office. A CF 4455 demonstrates prior ownership.

Step 1: Take the item to the nearest customs office for certification. Customs will give you CF 4455 in duplicate for you to complete and verify that the CF 4455 is accurate and authorize it. A copy of the CF 4455 is available for download at: http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/forms/.

Step 2: Enclose the original CF 4455 with the merchandise you are sending abroad.

Step 3: Be sure to instruct your foreign supplier to return the CF 4455 with the repaired item and to mark on the outside of the return package: "Repaired/Altered Merchandise B CF 4455 enclosed."

Step 4: Keep the duplicate in case something goes wrong to demonstrate that you are liable only for the duty on the repair and not the entire article.

Whole article: http://www.exportmichigan.com/exdoc_..._reexports.htm
Customs Form CF 4455; "Certificate of Registration": https://forms.customs.gov/customsrf/...-4455-form.xft

NOTE: This scenario imo applies only if U have np to live w/o your car for some time, as U need to put your diff outta car, send it to UK (X days), they will "repair" it (3 days) and send it to you back (X days). Depending how fast is the shipping U use it can take 1-3 weeks, dunno exactly. It possibly also involves double invoicing from Kevin, like one invoice for customs purposes and one real one.
The other scenario of letting Kevin send U a converted unit and then sending him back yours will be more convenient, involves only 1 day downtime, but will be more expensive as it does not apply for the "repair" customs close to zero. So it's up to U.

NOTE2: Do at your own risk.