e36 m3 driveshaft

[02stu]

Well the e36 325i driveshaft will not work, its about 3 inches to short. Does any one know how long the e36 m3 driveshaft is, or if it is even longer then the e36 325i unit. Thanks,

[mentaleeill]

what trans are you using? withe the m20 trans you need the m20 shaft, if using the e36 m3 trans you need the e30 m3 shaft. with the e36 325 trans you need the latemodel m20 shaft, or i have heard only a certain year e36 325 shaft will work, but don't remember the year or know if its really true. the e36 m shaft i believe will not bolt to the diff. it has more bolts.

[FredK]

I believe the lengths are the same between the 328i and the M3 driveshaft. My 328i driveshaft has a 24.5" front section. The rear section is identical in length to an M3 driveshaft.

Anyway, I'm still in the middle of the swap, so I'll let you know how it goes!

The M3 up to 10/96 or thereabouts had a six bolt differential flange. late 96 and 97+ M3s have a four bolt differential flange.

I'm using a 328i transmission, which is the same ZF 310/320Z found in the M3. The trans output flange may have a different bolt circle (but I don't think so... I believe both are 96mm), or the guibo might be thicker on the M3. Not sure. Whatever it may be, I have a 328 driveshaft, a 328 guibo, and plan on using the 328 driveshaft, unless it just totally doesn't work. In which case I will be uber pissed. :D

[02stu]

I'm useing the 240 transmission out of a 318is. I don't know how many companies there are out there that do swaps but what is the website that is right up there with treehouse that sells m50 swap parts?

[FredK]

either AKG Motorsport (www.akgmotorsport.com) or Zionsville (www.zionsvilleautosport.com)

[Jason89i]

Re: e36m3 late driveshaft.........The trans output flange may have a different bolt circle (but I don't think so... I believe both are 96mm)

ask new guy. i got him a late e36m3 driveshaft. upon install he was saying the driveshaft didnt have the same bolt pattern as the guibo/ zf transmission. i thought that was odd because the late e36m3 uses a zf trans. better double check w/ new guy. cheers, jason

[FredK]

Weird. I've always been under the impression that the early and late M3s always came with ZF 310 and ZF 320 transmissions, and the bolt pattern of the output shaft didn't change across production dates. Worldpac vendors show that both early and late M3s use the same guibo. I'd check, but realoem is down, and I don't have the ETK at work.

My combo should work in terms of bolt pattern, it was taken off the same car. :D

[aeryk7]

I just want to say that my e30 m3 driveshaft that i had on my getrag 240 s50 combo, worked on my friends e36 race car with supposed e36 m3 tranny.