Rear end change

[gtopaul]

I've got a pretty noisy (pinion bearings) rear end in my 90 325i 4dr automatic w/180k miles. I've got a nice 60k mile 3.78 rear end in my storeroom I want to install. Will it be all that noticeable a change? I believe the earlier automatics used the 3.78 anyway didn't they? Son is giving me static because he feels he's going to loose too much acceleration but I think I could add a chip and the 3.78 rear and he probably wouldn't notice the swap. Opinions?

[Bryson]

OT but did you convert to r134a? What did you do about the hood prop? Did you just not bother installing the other red connector or something?

edit: I figured I'd add a little helpful info, too. The pre 89 325iA came with a 3.73:1, later models had a 4.10:1, and all of the manual variants had a 3.73. You shouldn't notice tooo much of a loss, but a chip would help regain some lost peppiness. You could also look into having the diff rebuilt? It's around $500, I had mine rebuilt a few weeks ago and I'm very happy with it's silence. You might also want to find a 4.10:1LS diff to replace yours with.. that's probably the best route.

[gtopaul]

Rear end

Thanks, I meant 3.73 but had a brain cramp. The other cap for the 134a doesn't show in the pic because it's next to the inner fender on this car. Think I'll swap the 3.73 in and see what happens. I can probably get the guys at the dealership to do it for me pretty quick since I worked there eight years. No way I'm doing it in the driveway. ;-) I've got a couple of chips to try, an Alpina 2.7 and also a Hartge 2.7. Hopefully one of those will work out ok on the 2.5 (yes they're for an i but a bored to 2.7 i).

Thanks!

Paul