..please!

Diff bolt broke off, the stupid thing is never gonna come out (just trust me on this) had machine shop guys work on it, mechanics, they've heated it, drilled it, etc etc.. not idea what to do. The drill hole isnt' straight so I cant just tap / helicoil it and rethread a new bolt in there.

So yeah, might need a new diff, if anyone wants to pick up a 97 M3 3.23 LSD w/ 100k miles on it let me know, I'll probably sell it for like $300 or something.

I need a new one also, let me know what you have that bolts up to the 6 bolt flange.

Oh, and I also got some redline fluids for the gearbox/diff but it turns out the shop doesn't have a 14mm hex to open the drain plugs - anyone got a socket I can borrow?

Thanks for your help

-alex

so really just your diff case is toast, not the whole diff. you can probably find a cheap open diff from any e36 that someone is dumping after an upgrade and then have a good shop move your lsd (and maybe r&p) unit into the open diff's case.

or you can just find another used m3 diff...:)

14mm's can be found at sears in think. or steve at www.ultimategarage.com can ship you an sk one in a day or so. you can take a 14mm hex wrench, cut off 1 inch of it, stick that small piece in the plug and use a 14mm combo wrench on it.

Sears does not have 14mm allen wrench sizes. They don't have the American equivelent either, which if my memory serves me is not a perfect match anyway. I'd look online or at Napa, I hear they have them.

Sure they do

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00999170000&subcat=Sockets

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00901293000

Sure they do

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00999170000&subcat=Sockets

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00901293000

But they are only avail. online.

Snap On has them too.. your mechanic's should have a regular SnapOn guy. Just get it from them.

I'll offer $100 for your used diff. so I can use it as a core.

But they are only avail. online.

Snap On has them too.. your mechanic's should have a regular SnapOn guy. Just get it from them.

I'll offer $100 for your used diff. so I can use it as a core.

Doh!

What kind of a (BMW) shop doesn't have a drain plug bit anyway? :confused

Eric, I'll sell you my old 3.91 open diff for $75 if you come get it from my parents house.

Eric, I'll sell you my old 3.91 open diff for $75 if you come get it from my parents house.

thanks, but needs to be LSD for the core.... :(

I was in a jam about a month ago and needed the 14 and 17 mm hex and found them at auto zone 3/8 and 1/2 drive I actually bought the 5 piece set

I was in a jam about a month ago and needed the 14 and 17 mm hex and found them at auto zone 3/8 and 1/2 drive I actually bought the 5 piece set


Damn really? I would have never guessed. We have a cool snap on guy that's always around, I'll ask him tomorrow.

Oh, and it's not a BMW shop, it's a custom chopper fabrication shop (yes like the show lol) which helped me out A LOT today. I ended up milling out the old bolt with an air drill / grinder bit (the original extractor hole was way off so I had to do this) after I had a hole that was centered on the original bolt hole I put the diff on a drill press, clamped it down, centered/leveled it, and drilled it out. THE ONLY bit that would take out all of the original screw-up area was 3/4" so yeah, I officially have the largest front diff bolt on any bmw :redspot

Gotta get the old bushing out and put the new 3/4" bushing back in, refill the diff w/ redline goodies, and call it a day!


BTW since I'm going with a 3/4" bolt now, I have no use for the AA diff support bracket, I COULD drill it out to 3/4" as well but it wouldn't work on any other car and there's NO point with a bolt that large, I'd rather recover some of the insane cost for the thing. AA is selling it for $200 (plus shipping which was like $20) so if someone local wants it I'll probably let it go for like $185. Includes instructions, hardware, ZERO scratches.. got it less than a week ago.

Use a 3/4"x10 blank Timesert in the hole and drill/tap it to M14x1.5 or 1/2"x20 thread.

Use a 3/4"x10 blank Timesert in the hole and drill/tap it to M14x1.5 or 1/2"x20 thread.

Looking back on it that probably would have been a better idea but I had already tapped it to 3/4" 20x1.5.

if you need a 14mm hex socket to pull the fill and drain plugs, you can go the redneck route and get two M10 nuts and a bolt. thread the two nuts on and jam them down on eachother

That only works on 17mm socket-head plugs, numbnutz. GET A CLUE!! ;)

BMW used to use 14mm copper nuts on exhaust headers, but they've changed to 15mm. Can't find anything that works in the bolt bins. You may be able to grind a hair off of a 9/16" allen wrench in a pinch.

I was thinking about that but I've heard of people having to use 3' breaker bars on the stupid things (I guess why they picked 14mm hex) so.. bolt idea probably wouldnt work.

..besides, I'm DONE breaking bolts. :P

That only works on 17mm socket-head plugs, numbnutz. GET A CLUE!! ;)

what the deuce?

i know i use my 14mm wrench on my TOYOTA, so the bolt/nut size does exist. or are you just saying you can't reuse any BMW part for a cheapo tool and that you are inadequately equiped? :devillook