Drive shaft woes

[n3rdy30]

Good afternoon r3v,
Just got back from the junk yard, and pulled a drive shaft from an 88' 325i, the one I thought I needed. The distance from the transmission (ZF) to the rear is roughly 59"...this one is WAY too short. Prob by about 5". I looked at one from an e36 318ti that about met the length requirement however there was a large ring around the front of the shaft where it bolts to the trans. Help??

[e46s54dr]

Good afternoon r3v,
Just got back from the junk yard, and pulled a drive shaft from an 88' 325i, the one I thought I needed. The distance from the transmission (ZF) to the rear is roughly 59"...this one is WAY too short. Prob by about 5". I looked at one from an e36 318ti that about met the length requirement however there was a large ring around the front of the shaft where it bolts to the trans. Help??

Did you pull it from an automatic trans car because I believe they are shorter. Also, Did it have a large guibo? I thought the drive shafts from the pre 88s are the large guibo? That large metal ring is there to protect the guibo from exploding or something along that lines. Youre going to have to unbolt the rear u-joint, unbolt the center support bearing, and unbolt the 3 accessible nuts from the driveshaft on the trans side. You should be able to wiggle it out after that with the guibo still attached.

FYI, revshift now offers a nice guibo thatll allow you to attach your stock small guibo driveshaft flange to the larger zf output flange. Its a quality piece for right around 140?

[cabin]

If you're using a ZF, get a drive shaft from a manual M3 or 328i/is, just make sure it has a 4 bolt flange on the rear.

[328ijunkie]

You cant use that driveshaft.

[MattM]

If you're using a ZF, get a drive shaft from a manual M3 or 328i/is, just make sure it has a 4 bolt flange on the rear.

this

[n3rdy30]

Yeah the d/s was off an automatic. Damn I'll have to take it back tomorrow and see if I can find an e36 328. Thanks for the great information guys, big help. I'll update when I find one. Unless someone has one they can sell me.

[n3rdy30]

Alright...so the only thing I could get was the d/s from a 96 318ti, and it actually seems to fit. I will need to drop the tranny a bit to slip it in, but seems right. I pulled the large guard off the front as well. Lol thoughts?