E30 Zone

Attempted to put my diff back in today, however the prop when i removed it initially would move in and out by an inch or two, making easier to get it out. Now it seems to be stuck in its furthest out position (the end of the bolts on the end of the prop are further out than the front mounting holes for the diff!) and nothing will move it any further in.

I even accidently split the prop while taking the diff back off again! barely any force at all.. being VERY careful to fit in back in at exactly the same angle it came back out at..

Any suggestions? has been stood a few weeks with the diff out but when i removed it the first time prop moved freely back and forth.

Am I gonna have to unbolt it at the front and get the whole thing out? Anyone experienced anything similar?

Thanks in advance

You know there's a collar in the middle that can be undo, thus allowing the diff to have in and out movement?

It's supposed to be tight as well.

having not seen the centre of the prop i wasn't too sure how it worked, so normally this should be tightened and not move in and out at all?

sounds like this is gonna be a fun exhaust + heatshield off job now i take it

I'm about to fit an LSD and its a bigger case than the one one there so am expecting some prop adjustment too - but if its a major ball ache I'd like to know in advance.

you may need to undo the centre prop nut to adjust the prop length - mine was about 10mm too long when I did it

I figured - but can I can get to that without faffing around with heat shield / exhaust?

I just dropped the back box off it's hanger and the gave enough room to slide the heat shield back out and loosen/tighten the collar bit of a ball ache on ramps but doable.

all i needed to know, fook knows why my centre prop nut was already undone thanks

Royalratch wrote:I figured - but can I can get to that without faffing around with heat shield / exhaust?

It will all depend in the exhaust layout. On my cab its a 2 piece system so involved removing the exhaust from the manifold back, then both heat shields.

The bolts holding the diff to the prop are bastid tight so much so in my case I couldn't shift them.

While you have it all apart its worth inspecting and replacing where necessary the rubber guibo, gearbox mounts, prop centre carrier and bearing.

Also the input selector seal on the gearbox as they will be easily accessible with the exhaust and heatshields off.

I'm doing this shit on axle stands and it now sounds like a real pain. Aaarrgghh. Might cancel. Every job I start on e30s seems to end up 7 times longer because of some bastard oversight - rounded bolts, seized bushes etc etc...

It's not as difficult as it sounds Ratch.
I took off the exhaust, heatsheild and prop in about 2 hours, on axle stands on saturday.

Royalratch wrote:I'm doing this shit on axle stands and it now sounds like a real pain. Aaarrgghh. Might cancel. Every job I start on e30s seems to end up 7 times longer because of some bastard oversight - rounded bolts, seized bushes etc etc...

I just did all the prop bits and the gearbox mounts on stands. Its not a pleasent job but more than doable.

The only problem bolts I had was on the diff \ prop connection. The rest were easily undone with spanners ands sockets.

But to replace the prop components you do not have to disconnect the prop from the diff.

Replacing a diff however you will have to.

I'm only doing the diff. Mounts and guibo are fairly new.

I'm in the process of doing this with just two axel stands and a trolley jack.. And if I can do it anyone can

Started today. Soaked all bolts in WD40 overnight and I think it helped.

Driveshafts bolts all off - quite boring with handbrake on / off constantly to get the bolts where you need them. Prop to Diff bolts off - again, WD40 and a ratchet Spanner are a must. Had to remove the silencer to get more room on the left side driveshaft.

Bush bolts off with dual 19/18 sockets. Quite stiff. So far no real resistance.

Now leaving the 4 main bolts to soak overnight. Have a swivel head 19mm ratchet spanner but its not going to be long enough - unless I can slip something over to extend leverage.

No room for socket.

Once I got under the car, the exhaust layout looks easy to remove if needed. Just extra ball-ache is all. Pleased to see rust is non-existent!

Full report on my resto thread coming soon.

Did this this evening, 3/4 of my exhaust bolts sheared though haha, loosened the nut to get the prop back in now, any way to be sure which spline it was inserted into? I'm not 100% and can see no marks that would indicate where it was.

Does it need to be back in the exact spline? If its one out for example will I know straight away from noise etc or is it just a new prop job?

Spiders at each end of the prop. half must lie in the same plane, so there's only two ways to choose from - one correct, and the other 180 degrees out.

Fantastic should be alright then, if somehow it's not will it be instantly obvious?

Thanks for the advice

Anyone got the torque settings for:

Diff Back Plate
Prop to Diff
Driveshafts
Diff to Subframe

And how the HELL do you correctly torque bolts that can only be got at with a spanner - are those crows feet things necessary?

Torque settings are all in a big list in the wiki, AFAIK
For a bolt that's impossible to get a torque wrench on, find another bolt torqued up to the correct figure, then put your spanner on it and get a 'feel' for the force needed to just move it, before using the same spanner to tighten up the inaccessible one.

Jedi shit from B-Moore!

FT + a bit

So the diff comes out in basically a long afternoon. Again - WD40 is a must.

As I pull the thing out - out comes the prop with it!

I take it the center nut on the prop had not been tightend?

It would appear so.

The last time this area was touched was a few years ago to fit a new guibo. How on earth can you FORGET to tighten this!

Apparently there are 2 white marker dots to help you realign the prop correctly.

I hope they're still there!

If your lucky the prop will have them mine did. If not it can only fit one of two ways, but you'll only know if you got it right when you drive it again.

It was all going so well.

Have to wait for some new fasteners anyway - BMW want £20 for 4 new prop to diff bolts and nuts!

Surely you can fit any hi-tensile stuff on there thats the right diameter and thread pitch...?