What happened to my diff?

[SOUTHBAYeric]

After I took the rear subframe out of the car I noticed something was not right with the output flange, I could pull it out of the differential by hand! It did not cause any problems while it was in the car but I do not want to put it back in that way. Is it just a snap ring that broke?

[Michael_B]

I've never taken the diff out of my 02, but I think the output flange should be held in with a bolt through the center. At least that's how the one's on my Porche transaxle are held in. Can you tell if the bolt has backed out and that's where the sideplay is coming from?

[Guest Anonymous]

Look to see if the internal snap ring is still there. It is similar to the snap ring that holds a cv shaft into the transaxle on a fwd car. You should feel a clicking or snapping when the output flange is pushed into the differential.

shermanmartinez@hotmail.com

[dubois]

I have taken some out by simply using a small slide hammer, there are two designs and one is easier to remove than the other. I never heard of someone loosing one on the road. I would just reinstall and make sure at least I get a small resistance out. It really can't go anywhere once it is on the car. Is this the 3.90 lsd that we installed on Brutus?

[SOUTHBAYeric]

That clicking is there and it takes just a little bit of force with a pry bar to get the flange out. The other side isn't so easy though. So it seems all is good? And yes this is the same diff out of Brutus. I am swapping all the suspension and probably the interior into the new car. I started a project blog, and I am less than a week into the project and moving along very well.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,276060/

Thanks for the help guys