So I decided to throw my hand at drifting, as most people know at this stage you need rear wheel drive and a locked diff so both rear wheels turn together. Without the locking diff when you dump the clutch all that will happen is the inside wheel will light up but you wont be doing any real controllable slides.
I got myself a 2000 BMW 535i e39, in an ideal world I would get an Limited Slip Differential but unfortunately only the M5/M3 models etc have them. You can buy aftermarket quaife LSD’s but you are talking over a €1000. As the car was free and wasn’t going to be used on the main road the cheapest option was to just weld the diff. If you are thinking about welding a diff for a daily driven car on the main road then dont! especially in a big heavy car like this even the smallest of 3 point turns are torture! The whole diff vibrates and bangs along with the tires screeching. It puts a huge amount of strain on the whole rear drive train.
That been said its the cheapest way to get drifting! so the first thing I did was get the diff out of the car. Some people open the inspection plate and weld in place but this is a real dog ruff way of doing it. I wanted the diff to last more than one round out so I stuck it up on the lift and started to work.
There are two bolts at the back of the diff and one to the front right. You also need to remove the bolts from the drive shaft from the front of the diff. Once the bolts on the diff are loose put the nut back on them and tap with a hammer to knock them off there splines. this gives an extra inch when you trying to maneuver the diff out. The half shaft bolts are a bit of pain as well, its best to have a second person with you for this part. I had some one sit in the car and hold the brake then open the bolts then spin and lock the wheel again, repeat. You will need a set of torx sockets for this job. the back two diff support bolts are hard to get at also. I used a an offset spanner to hold the rear bolt head and then a socket with extensions to the front to crack the bolt.
I had a gearbox stand to the weight off while I dropped it out but you could do this on the ground with a car jack. Once you have it out in the ground remove the oil and open the rear inspection plate. I used a degreaser solvent and power washed the inside to try and remove as much oil as possible. The cleaner it is the stronger the weld will be. The center piece below is the bit we will be welding.
I got a local engineering shop to do the welding for me, only cost €20. I got him to put in a little rectangle shaped steal plate and then just welded all the ring gears to the plate and the center cylinder.You can then rotate the diff and do the same on the other side where there is another inspection hole. Get a flat head and wire brush out and try to remove any weld spatters that could fall off and get stuck in the gears. Once thats done either get a new gasket or use a gasket filler paste to seal up the rear plate.
Welded diff:
Topped it off with universal diff oil and put back in the reverse order it came out of the car. Then skidz time!
Johnny Fix It 