Rear VC is dead, what can I swap in?

[driftxsequence]

My rear VC is dead and that makes for a boring winter. I have a local with a crusty working rear for $200. Are there any other options like a clutch style that drops in?

[spdracrm3]

A few have swapped in plate style LSD (just make absolutely sure it's the matching ratio)
are you sure yours is bad ,never heard of one failing

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[driftxsequence]

Pretty sure.

When I lift the rear end and spin one wheel, the other spins the opposite direction. Also, when I try to slide the car in snow, it just understeers no matter how much i throw it side to side.

I guess my point in asking was, how do I know if its a small/medium/large case? I dont know much about what would match to go in.

[ACVC325ix]

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Differential

Is this what you are looking for?

[driftxsequence]

you rock!!!! Thank you!

[The Dark Side of Will]

If you have a stick, it's a 3.91; automatic is a 4.10.
You can put anything the same ratio in an E30 case back in. Clutch pack? Torsen? Another viscous? All will work.

[nando]

ix's are medium case. Any M20-powered E30 diff will fit. I'd recommend using your original cover (or replacing the bushing with one from an ix) as the rear mount location is slightly different on the ix.

[kronus]

anyone have thoughts on tossing a torsen in? not sure how they are on snow..

[ForcedFirebird]

Pretty sure.

When I lift the rear end and spin one wheel, the other spins the opposite direction. Also, when I try to slide the car in snow, it just understeers no matter how much i throw it side to side.

I guess my point in asking was, how do I know if its a small/medium/large case? I dont know much about what would match to go in.

Viscous and Torsen both do this when lifted in the air. Doesn't mean it's bad. Also, the ix naturally under-steers compared to RWD. You will have to force a slide (the very reason people want AWD in the snow ;))

anyone have thoughts on tossing a torsen in? not sure how they are on snow..

Torsen would be very similar to viscous. They don't "lock" unless there's power being applied, and once one side gets to slipping, it can just get worse (over-simplified explanation). When I got air under a tire at the track with the Torsen, it would "one wheel peel", but as long as it was planted, it grabbed great.

[nando]

No, that is not correct at all. A VC will absolutely lock even if only one side is touching. Otherwise, the 'jack test' would not work.

[ForcedFirebird]

No, that is not correct at all. A VC will absolutely lock even if only one side is touching. Otherwise, the 'jack test' would not work.

True, I stand corrected on the VC (don't know where my brain went, too much espresso). Torsen will definitely spin one side when completely unloaded, though.

[nando]

yeah, a torsen will lock better when there's some traction, but IMO I wouldn't want to switch to a torsen over a VC.

[The Dark Side of Will]

If you're concerned about snow performance, keep the VC; that's why BMW put it there. If you're worried about pavement performance, try a torsen or clutch pack.

[driftxsequence]

I mean it's primarily a pavement car but I do have snow tires and do use it as my primary winter vehicle.

What would you guys do? The rear VC is rebuildable right? I have no problem finding a spare unit and freshening it up. All I know is I literally could not make the car slide in snow and I wanted to do dumb stuff.

On the other side of things I plowed through 6-8" of snow without issue.

[nomansland92]

What ratio are you looking for? I switched mine to a clutch type and I still have my old 3.91 vc diff internals. It would leave 2 black marks when I launched it so id assume its working haha

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