S38 325iX - The real scoop

[Nisse Järnet]

You can bolt together a 260 based drivetrain... ;)

Maybe, but i will start with throwing in my 764whp engine in the ix and with that in mind i prefer a ZF or stronger gearbox :)

[The Dark Side of Will]

Maybe, but i will start with throwing in my 764whp engine in the ix and with that in mind i prefer a ZF or stronger gearbox :)

Is the ZF really stronger than the 260? I've had both in my hands and have taken a 260 (but not a ZF) apart... I would have said the 260 looked stronger.

If you want something other than 3.38, you can't use the E34 pan and front diff

[nando]

You could, but it would have to be custom built. The E46 ring an pinion would have to be modified to fit in the E34 case, which is likely not cheap.

I'd rather use stock parts that i can replace than custom one off peices that have to be fabricated though.

[Nisse Järnet]

Is the ZF really stronger than the 260? I've had both in my hands and have taken a 260 (but not a ZF) apart... I would have said the 260 looked stronger.

If you want something other than 3.38, you can't use the E34 pan and front diff

Well i havent broken any of them myself, but if you listen to the crowd (atlest here) the ZF is the stronger one :) But the 260 is not weak thats for sure. Before i installed the 6 speed i ran a diesel ZF, never tried with the stock 260 that was on my M20 when the car was still stock.

You could, but it would have to be custom built. The E46 ring an pinion would have to be modified to fit in the E34 case, which is likely not cheap.

I'd rather use stock parts that i can replace than custom one off peices that have to be fabricated though.

Yeah the best for me would be X5 stuff as i already have a X5 3.07 front and a E28 210 3.07 rear diff :)
But i will start with E34 stuff couse its more bolt-on, ill have to live with the low top speed this summer.

[The Dark Side of Will]

E28 210 3.07 rear diff :)

[Nisse Järnet]

Yeah from a M535 E28, fits right up on the E30 rear subframe with a modified back cover.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Ok. I thought the E28 M5 was the only E28 that received the 210 diff. It has 3.91 gears (I thought)... so I was a little perplexed.

I have an E23 2.93 210mm unit with the same case... It'll get 3.64 gears for my swap. I have the E32/E34 rear cover and VSS trigger wheel and the E36 M3 CSL diff mounting bracket to install it in an E30.

[Nisse Järnet]

Ok. I thought the E28 M5 was the only E28 that received the 210 diff. It has 3.91 gears (I thought)... so I was a little perplexed.

I have an E23 2.93 210mm unit with the same case... It'll get 3.64 gears for my swap. I have the E32/E34 rear cover and VSS trigger wheel and the E36 M3 CSL diff mounting bracket to install it in an E30.

I think even the regular E28 535 got the 210 diff as well :)
Cool how does that rear cover look?

[The Dark Side of Will]

Shots of the 188mm E30 case with E36 rear cover and the 210mm E23 case with E32/E34 cover and E36 bracket:









As far as mounts and driveshaft go, these two are bolt-in swaps.

The 188mm has the viscous LSD, which limits it to the 86mm CV joints, while the 210mm has output flanges for 94mm CV joints and can accept the later flanges for 102mm joints.
When the mounts line up, the 210mm positions the output flange centerline slightly rearward of where it is with the 188mm unit. However, this is not a significant distance and will not be a problem for CV joints to compensate.

[Nisse Järnet]

Cool, thanks! The E36 188 cover is that from a standard 325i or similar?

[The Dark Side of Will]

AFAIK, yes. I just told the guy who was installing the 3.64 gears to ship it back with an E36 rear cover.

The only fun part was that the E30 VSS trigger wheel is too big for the E36 case, but the E36 trigger wheel won't fit the viscous diff, so I had to modify the viscous diff's trigger wheel to work.

The same thing happened with the 210 unit... the E23 wheel didn't fit under the E32/E34 cover. Fortunately for that setup, I just had to swap wheels.

[Nisse Järnet]

Ok thanks, great info! I will use a lsd in the rear so hopefully the trigger wheel will work :)

Btw, someone might want to see this crazy pic hehe:

[flyboyx]

what the flock is that? xfer case on the passenger side? turbo flange that would put the blower inside the firewall? interesting bell housing solution.

[nando]

race car.

[Nisse Järnet]

Its a Nissan Skyline gearbox and front diff :) Its going in a Volvo Amazon of all cars :D