I purchased a Kaaz 1.5 way LSD for the e46 way back when. How way back when, you ask? The middle of July! This differential was supposed to be completed, and in my car for DriftShowoff Maryland: July 24th, 2004. Needless to say this hasn't been the case. A FULL four months after I dropped everything off at the shop, and I'm back to square one.

The shop that was "working" (I use that term loosely) on the diff was Driveline Service in Norcross. They came "highly" recommended as a shop capable of rebuilding BMW diffs. In my initial conversation with Dwayne, he advised me that it would take him two days tops, provided I had everything to do the install. I purchased a used differential carrier case off a 2000 328i - with a 3.46 final drive. At the time, it was thought that the Kaaz carrier could only be installed using that ratio. My open diff now is a 3.15 - so I snagged the 3.46 for $250 shipped. I got the Z4 finned diff cover (disapates heat better, and looks BADASS) for $110 (thanks Hooman!), as well as the output driveshaft seals for $20. The gasket for the diff cover was like $10. This was everything Dwayne would need to complete the job. We agreed on a $300 flat build fee for the job.

I met a guy online (e46fanatics.com) who did this entire install himself. His name is Bill. He advised me that unless I have prior experience with diffs, that I should take it somewhere to have it all assembled. He said it's not the most difficult job... but not something for a beginner. This is why I went to Driveline. To make an obscenely long story (4 months... remember?), Dwayne destroyed 6... count 'em 1-2-3-4-5-SIX carrier bearings (see below). Normally, not a big problem... only BMW doesn't want people rebuilding their diffs! So, they don't sell any of the internals seperately... just entire differential carrier cases for $1300. Originally, Dwayne had been outsourcing used carrier bearing from a local source that had some old diffs lying around. He exhausted that resource, leaving me stranded with an unfinished diff, and no easy way to get carrier bearings. At this point, he claims he needs two sets of bearings: one to hone the surface to allow for test fitment... and another set for final placement once the shimming is correct. WHY HE DIDN'T DO THIS WITH THE FOERST 6 BEARINGS IS BEYOND ME!

Dwayne began calling around trying to find bearings, only to come back with "Our only option is to try and order these directly from Germany". Germany. HA! I began calling around as well. Everyone I talked to had someone different to refer me to. Finally I get ahold of Brett at Koala Motorsports... they do performance BMW diffs. He said it's easy to get the bearing from any local bearing house. He made some calls, and said he could get them brand new... with the race, for $110/bearing. $220 for a pair of bearings that should not have been destroyed in the FOERST place! DAYOM! I had also called Ray at Kaaz to ask for help. He began making some phone calls. A week went by, and I broke down and decided to order the bearings from Brett. At this point, I knew Driveline was through working on the diff anymore (my choice... not theirs)... but I still needed bearings for the next guy to work with. 30 minutes after I order the bearings, Ray calls me and refers me to Dan at diffsonline.com. They built Dado (Ferrari Yellow Turbo M3 (Mischief 3000))'s diff... and specialize strictly in BMW diffs. I explained all of this to Dan. He said Driveline doesn't know what they're doing with the diff (obviously), and that I should send it all to him for evaluation. He assured me of two things: he had built hundreds of BMW diffs... several e46/Kaaz combos - and he had never once destroyed the carrier bearings. He insisted he would take care of me and help me get this taken care of. This is the guy I've been looking for.

Worst case scenario - Dwayne destroyed the internals in the carrier case itself... rendering it useless & Dan would have to use one of his carrier cases: $1500.
Best case (and most likely) - Dan can use the carrier case & internals I purchased, and have it assembled and shipped in two weeks max for $500 + parts.
My cost for the project so far spans $1600 - so I'm pulling for the $500 option. Otherwise I'll be running over three grand... in which case I would have been better off getting a fully customizable (and completed) 2-way diff from Turner Motorsport for $4800, lol.

I shipped everything out today at lunch. Shipping ran $98! I was actually surprised it wasn't more considering how heavy everything was.
What a road this has been. I knew it would be a hassle doing this from the get-go. I didn't realize it would be a four-month hassle at that... but ya live and ya learn.

If you made it through all of that... props to you. This could have been made into a freaking reality tv show.

Ahhhhh.... [/rant]

Pretty li'l Kaaz... please work soon!

You can see this carrier bearing is bent.




Another destroyed carrier bearing.


More destruction.

Mondo-Destructo!

My AutoPower arrived today!!! They were supposed to call me when the truck left San Diego - but they didn't... so I was pleasantly, pleasantly surprised when it arrived today! The rest of the goodies arrive tomorrow... I can't wait!

Also - is it weird that I got an Epson Inkjet cartridge with my rollcage? Is there some sort of application for cyan, magenta, and yellow that I don't know about in reference to installing a cage?

Shipment number two of my goodies came in today! I'm stoked - although... the install on this seat isn't going to be easy in my car. the seat rails are about three and a half inches inside of the existing mounting points for my stock seats. I might have to get a custom bracket made... because the Sparco one, ain't gawn fit, nahmeen?






I can't wait to get alla this in the e46! It's driving me insane! I just want to sit in my living room all day, lol!

Hooman and I got the rest of the interior pulled that needed to be yanked for the cage fabrication tonight. It's starting to look crazy!!


Here's a coupla pictures of the Sparco install! This is the bracket from Wedge Engineering. This thing is haas. Everything was threaded, and lined up perfect. I was very impressed with the build quality.





The car without any seats, lol.


The Sparco up in the mix:



I'll post pics of the cage once I get her back from Robinson. She goes in tomorrow morning, and should be back by weeks end!

SWEEEEET!!! I got my brrrfday present from you guys today!!! Since it looks like this thread has turned more into a "Prepping the e46 for Formula D" thread... I figured I'd post up some pics!!!






I can't thank you guys enough for chipping in on these for me! YOU GUYS EFFING RAWK MY FARKING SAWKS OFFF!!!!

Seriously. You guys didn't have to do that, and it REALLY means a lot to me that you did.

I've got the aluminum rear shock tower mounts en-route from Turner Motorsport, so hopefully I'll be able to get all this mayhem into the e46 this weekend!

Well, the cage gets on a truck back to San Diego tomorrow. We finally have our living room back... but before it was all disasembled and thrown in the WARwagon... I decided to rawk one last photoshoot with an effing BANG!

I had been joking about all the car parts we had being able to assemble a front clip - so that's what I did!




Buaaaaahahahaha... I love being this dorky. It's rad!

Well, I got the car back from Robinson Racing, fully caged and ready to go! I never realized how much the body flexed until the cage was in & I thought: hmm... there's no more flex!

Robinson did a bangin' job. There are places you'd be lucky to squeeze a piece of paper between the interior panels and the bar... it's insane! Yes, it was a little more than I wanted to spend... but you really can't put a price tag on safety.







I'll post some more pics up once I get the padding all on there.

Well, my clutch problem is on it's way to being solved. I decided to snag a lightweight flywheel while we'll be up in there.

UUC Motorwerks Stage II Lightweight Flywheel (8.5 lbs):



E34 ///M5 OEM Sprung-Hub Clutch:


From what I've been reading, UUC customers have been using the Stage 2 & M5 clutch setup in turbo or supercharged E36 M3s and MZ3s and reliably handling an excess of 450hp. This should be just what I need, considering my car has considerably less horsepower, but I give it a thourough "bang bang bang"! It's also nice, because of the piece of mind that comes with knowing a replacement clutch is never any further away than an authorized BMW parts counter.

The flywheel shipped today, so hopefully everything will be in the car sometime next week. 16 days until FD ATL, so I have to jump on this now!


Next on the list... HEADERS!!!

Hmm... I found a set of used headers off a TMS World Challenge car...


"These headers are for competition use only, and are tuned to work best from 4500-7200RPM."

Mental checklist update:
AutoPower 6-point death-trap return: $78.95 repaint/restock fee
AutoPower 6-point death trap shipping: $250 (I don't get the same shipping rate )
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Money I lost on a shit cage: ...... $328.95

Robinson Racing Custom Roll Cage: $1500 labor + $200-250 in material
(additional labor if they have to do any interior removal, which we pretty much took care of already )
Wedge Engineering Seat Bracket: $120 shipped + $20 rush fee = $140
Sparco 3" Harness Pads: $18.50 (Thanks eBay!!!)
Turner Motorsport Aluminum Rear Shock-Tower Mounts: $107 shipped
Hi-Impact Roll-bar Padding (21 ft): $97 shipped
Bilstien Sport Shocks: FREE BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE SO SOO AWESOME!!!
------------------------------------------
$$$ for new cage & accessories: ...... $2112.50

Formula D/SCCA Pro Registration & License: $122
NJ & ATL FD Registration: $300
------------------------------------------
$$$ paid to Slipstream: ...... $422

5 Hours labor @ Diffsonline.com + shipping back to ATL: $450 (they gave me a free hour... whooHOOOO!)

------------------------------------------
This weeks expendatures: ...... $3313.45
GRAND total so far (approx) ... $5728.45

I guess the only thing on that list not from this week is the seat bracket. At this rate, I'm spending the money faster than I can make it. It's CRAZY! (insert wiping sweat off forehead & panting here, lol). Anyway... after this week, the spending should cool off a bit, and I can focus on saving a little before the season starts. I'll be ready to ready to pass tech and run after this week, so I won't NEED to blow so much loot getting prepped to run - which is a releif.

Now if these tyre sponsors would just cooperate a little. You'd think they didn't want to give out free tyres, lol.