**This advise is given purely as that! This member may not be a mechanic and if you do deceide to follow these steps, you do so at your own risk.***

I'm assuming that you'll be doing this without the luxury of a lift or ramp.
Jack the rear of the car and put axle stands under the rear jacking points. I don't need to tell you to chock the front wheels as well, do I? Pull the handbrake on hard(ish).
Unbolt the propshaft from the diff flange. You'll probably only be able to do two bolts at a time, then you'll need to let the handbrake off and spin the prop 180degs and yank the brake on again to do the other two.

Undo the inner CV's (allen bolts IIRC) from the diff flanges and lower the driveshafts. Again, the handbrake may have to come off and go on again.

Unplug the speedo sensor wire.

IIRC, all the bolts that hold the diff are 19mm hexagon. Loosen the bolt that goes through the bush in the rear case of the diff, but don't pull it out yet.

Now comes the awkward bit.... Loosen the bolts into the top of the diff case. They will be very tight. When I did mine, I had to use a 2ft bar and a flank-drive socket. There was only room to move the bar a few inches at a time, but I just couldn't get enough leverage on a shorter bar to crack the bolts off. Once the bolts are loose, support the diff with a trolley jack - it's bloody heavy! When you're certain the jack is taking the weight of the diff, take the bolts right out. When you've done that, lower the jack and roll the diff off it and drag it out from under the car.


If you're swapping diffs and they are not identical (i.e large case for small case), you'll have to drop the exhaust off its mounts, remove the heatshields and loosen the big nut on the slider in the centre of the prop. The prop will then need to be pushed forward slightly. Don't do the big nut up again until you've got the diff in, bolted up tight and the prop flange bolts done up.
Refitting, as Mr Haynes says is reversal of removal. IIRC, it took me hours to get all four diff bolts back in. Every time I got three in, the fourth wouldn't go. If they're all as awkward as mine was, it might be quicker to drop the sub-frame with the diff still attached.

If you're going to attempt this job, allow plenty of time. Don't be scared of it though. Good luck! Stuart.

Written by StuBeeDoo for PlanetE30.co.uk copywrite 2009