6 bolt flange from e36 diff bolt to e30 diff?

[nextelbuddy]

so i have a 6 bolt drive shaft from a 1996 e36 m3 that came with my s52 motor and transmission. obviously i can not use this drive shaft since the 3.25 diff i picked up is a 4 bolt unit.

is it possible to fit the 6 bolt flange from the e36 diff onto the e30 diff i have? or do i have to find a 6 bolt flang from another e30 diff which probably doesnt exist?


EDIT meant to say i have a 6 bolt DRIVE SHAFT

[RoadHazard]

I don't think the E36 diff would works anyway. It has different mount points from E30. You need a diff from E30 or Z3-M.

[2002maniac]

Try it, I bet the flange will fit just fine. BMW's are like Legos Just make sure you torque the pinion nut properly.

[nextelbuddy]

im sorry guys i meant to say i have a 6 bolt DRIVE SHAFT and that i know it wont work wit my e30 4 bolt diff.

could i find a e36 diff and remove the 6 bolt flange and install it onto the E30 diff?

[flyboyx]

im sorry guys i meant to say i have a 6 bolt DRIVE SHAFT and that i know it wont work wit my e30 4 bolt diff.

could i find a e36 diff and remove the 6 bolt flange and install it onto the E30 diff?

you may be able to but i think finding that would be like a needle in a haystack. i am pretty sure the only driveshafts with 6 bolt flange are 95(maybe 96) m3. that really narrows your possibilities. if you do find one, if it is the automatic car with the 3.38 ratio, i want the ring and pinion for a project i am working on. the easiest thing would be to find a 328i drive shaft and use that. we know this one will work.

[RoadHazard]

Oh Drive shaft. Then you need one from either E36 328i with E30 center bearing or M3 E30.

[nextelbuddy]

Oh Drive shaft. Then you need one from either E36 328i with E30 center bearing or M3 E30.

yea i know but what im saying is the Drive shaft i got now is a 96 M3 6 bolt, it came with my 96 S52 and tranny.

since my E30 3.25 diff is a 4 bolt and seeing as how im having a really hard time finding a 97+ M3 4 bolt drive shaft would it be possible to install a 6 bolt diff flange from an e36 diff onto the e30 3.25 diff?

[WADE30]

I had my E30 DS and a 6 bolt E36 M3 DS, I took both to a drive shaft shop, they adapted them to each other and at a correct length. This was a waste of money. It worked for a while but I didnt get the U-Joints replaced, so it crapped out after a couple thousand miles.

I ordered from Bavarian Auto Recyclers a 328i DS and pressed in an E30 CSB, it works great and in the end was a lot cheaper than building this custom drive shaft that I have sitting in my garage.

[flyboyx]

we all know what you are saying, but you are not listening to our advice. we are saying above that we don't know if a 6 bolt flange will fit an e30 diff (it probably will) and that said flange would be very hard to find. i'm not trying to be a butt hole, but we are saying that there is already an easy solution out there that you refuse to pay attention to. are you of the mindset that if you argue with us enough, someone will affirm your point of view?

it doesn't have to only be a 97+ m3 shaft. expand your horizons a little. 328i and e30m3 shaft will also work. get registered on s14.net. people are parting out e30 m3s all the time. i have an e30m3 parts car on the way in the next week or two. if there is a drive shaft included, you can have it for 75 bucks.

[nextelbuddy]

we all know what you are saying, but you are not listening to our advice. we are saying above that we don't know if a 6 bolt flange will fit an e30 diff (it probably will) and that said flange would be very hard to find. i'm not trying to be a butt hole, but we are saying that there is already an easy solution out there that you refuse to pay attention to. are you of the mindset that if you argue with us enough, someone will affirm your point of view?

it doesn't have to only be a 97+ m3 shaft. expand your horizons a little. 328i and e30m3 shaft will also work. get registered on s14.net. people are parting out e30 m3s all the time. i have an e30m3 parts car on the way in the next week or two. if there is a drive shaft included, you can have it for 75 bucks.

I don’t think you are being a butt hole, I definitely understand that the 97+ 328i/m3 drive shaft are identical in length and flange size.


But the guy above me replied as if i was just asking what drive shaft i needed when that wasn’t what I asked.

i specifically asked would the e36 diff flange install onto an e30 diff. that’s it nothing more and I had to clarify myself that’s all.

I’m not arguing one bit and i know that i can use an e30 m3 DS but those are even more rare around here and a lot more expensive than the supposedly more common 97+ e36 DS i wanted.


the guy I purchased my motor from told me he had a 4 bolt DS and i drove 1 hour away to get there only to see it was a 6 bolt DS which made me frustrated but i bought it anyways because he gave me the 4 bolt rear half from an automatic 325i drive shaft and I had hoped I could use the front half of the 6 bolt DS and slide it onto the back half 4 bolt

not to mention calling a well known salvage yard that is an hour away from me that has a good for nothing parts guy that tells me yea we have many of those in stock only to drive there and then they tell me oh yea i guess we dont have any 4 bolts


Well I found out later I just wasted 100 dollars on that because you can not separate the 6 bolt drive shaft its all one piece.


so I was trying to get my car running this weekend and I have been busting my ass to get the motor out myself get the new motor prepped only to be held back because i cant find a drive shaft that should be way more common to find (late 96+ - 99 model year 4 bolt) compared to a 6 bolt that was only made in 1995/early 96

I was getting frustrated and exploring every option available to me thus why i had to ask about the flange exchange possibility.

I am not trying to be a hard ass/smart ass/ignoring advice etc, just trying to make everything work and exploring every option becuase I am tired of getting the run around.

[RoadHazard]

Sorry I answered the wrong question. So let me try again.

If you really run out of options then you can try cutting and welding the shafts. That is, you can swap the half of the rear halves of the two shafts that you have. But the person who works on this must be familiar with the job. After welding then the shaft needs to be rebalanced.

Flyboyx's M3 drive shaft is another option if you can wait.

I feel you man. I had a hard time finding my drive shaft too. I had to order mine from the UK and had it shipped to Thailand and it was a 328 shaft. Not to mention the amount I paid.

Motor swaps usually take a long time to finish when you don't have all the parts before starting the swap and it's really frustrating. I've been working on mine since October and have not finished yet.