Tump43

Hey guys

My mechanics have my car apart, received the Quaife LSD and just now tell me that my OE differential carrier bearings are worn (at 43k miles). To replace them they say that MB will only sell these carrier bearings with and as a part of the OE differential. Does anyone know where I can pick up a set of carrier bearings that will fit my car without having to purchase the entire OE differential. This project is expensive enough already.

Any help would be appreciated, I´m returning on Saturday and would like to have my car ready by then. My mechanics have had my car for a week and a half already!

c55asleep?

Hey Marc that's odd that bearings are worn?? Did you visaully see them? When mine was swapped the spider was somewhat pitted but bearings were good. I have the oem carrier but unfourtantely no bearings. Try mercedespartsuperstore they got ok prices. Happy new year!

Tump43

Rolly --

From what they wrote to me (I'm in South America), it seems as if the bearings are ok but that the "rollers" which may mean the "carriers" were pitted, that the bearings were fine. If you could overnight the carriers for morning delivery to

Marc M. Coupey
C/O RennsportUSA
353 Adams Street
Bedford Hills, NY 10507
(914) 241-3338

Email me the bill for all and your paypal account and I will paypal you the funds.

this is what they wrote, what do you think?

"Marc,
Another update with the Mercedes. We have the rear end apart ready for the LSD to go in and the carrier bearings for the rear differential are starting to show signs of wear. There is slight pitting in the rollers of the bearings. The bearings are not available separately new from Mercedes, they sell them with the whole rear differential. We are trying to source them aftermarket, but are not sure of the luck we are going to have. The bearings can be re-installed but eventually they will start making noise. I couldn’t estimate a time on how long the bearings have left, but they are just starting to show signs of wear now. We tried contacting EVOsport about 3-4 times throughout the week about the install and still nobody has called us back. I wanted to know what you wanted to do since we are at a standstill with the car at this point until we can sort this bearing thing out. Everything else besides the LSD is completed."


Thanks,

OLDSCHOOLRICE

Sound's fishy.
I've done 3 quaife installs(c32, c55, and clk55). I reused the bearings each time, but I ordered the bearings in advance for both 55's. So I've had the bearings in my hands. The reason that I reused the bearings was that they were in great condition and when reusing the bearings there was less chance of having to worry about adjustment. All three diff's are running strong to this day, with one having heavy track use.
I do remember there being an option of two sizes when ordering the bearings, but it doesn't make sense that this would scare a shop into trying to sell you a whole diff.
There is the small possibility that the bearings aren't currently available, but that sounds like a very small possibility.
Good luck with everything.

c55asleep?

Marc when my buddy first installed the Quaife in my car it did do a little humming but I lived with it. That being said for piece of mind if you can get the bearings get them and prevent future breakdowns. My buddy has installed several quaifes and none of them have needed adjustments (shimming) just r&r. You can take the chance but who knows who long it will last. If you can get just the bearings go for it but if it is the complete diff maybe I would just take the chance as to the complete thing might be pricy plus if your not really going to keep the car to long. Btw can he send you a pic of the bearing to see how bad they really are?

Tump43

Hey guys -- I told my guys to reuse the old bearings if they couldn't get my aftermarket warranty company to pay for a new MB differential and the labor. Apparently, these bearings cannot be found separate from the entire MB OEM differential -- I even called merecedessuperstore.com. We will see. Thanks for your advice, it seems like the best thing to do would be to reuse the old bearings, however, OldSchoolRice, where did you get the carrier bearings separately? Let me know.

Note on my shop -- they are cool, just exceedingly particular about their work. They recommended reusing the old bearings if we couldn't get the insurance co. on board.

I'll keep you posted.

c32AMG-DTM

Are you getting a Quaife because your stock diff failed somehow? If not (i.e. if it's purely an "upgrade" mod), how could you get the aftermarket warranty company to pay the tab? (Insurance fraud notwithstanding... lol)

boohooramblers

Shush now !

Tump43

No fraud at all. Insurance pays for a new OE diff. and R&R labor. I pay for and to have the LSD installed in the new pumpkin.

Update: the insurance adjuster agreed that the carrier bearings are shot, just need to get the new OE diff. (tomorrow), insert the Quaife, reinstall in car and I'm good to go.

c32AMG-DTM

Nicely done!

Not sure if there's much of a market for a NIB, OEM C55 open-diff, but you might be able to get something for it (if you want to defray some of the Quaife expense)

Look forward to hearing your feedback of driving your C55 post-install of the Quaife - keep us posted

Tump43

Ok after lots of down time and insurance co. wrangling, I got my car back today with the Quaife LSD installed, and AMG paddle shifters custom installed (total cost for the LSD and installation of LSD into the OE pumpkin, about $1,900.00, with shipping). Both are very worth while modifications. While the paddles are mostly cosmetic, the LSD changes the car entirely -- it feels planted and absolutely sure of itself no matter whether its accelerating through a curve or in a straight line. Strangely, the LSD has improved the car's handling so much that I feel as if I put a new suspension on the car. I can't wait 'till Spring when I can truely test out this modification. With the paddles, shifts are crisp and secure (with no likelihood of hitting the original shift button by mistake and down shifiting at an inopertune time). The paddles have also made shifiting much easier when the wheel is halfway turned and my hands have moved. I need to get the AMG shift program installed to be able to compete with "S" automatic mode -- any leads on this front?

wawy

Good write up Tump43! I think an LSD is something I'd like to do in the future although the bearings issue worry's me a bit. Just to get this straight - the paddle shifters are the OEM AMG ones not the VRP ones correct?

Tump43

wawy -- Correct, they are the AMG paddle shifters from the C63. Once the wheel is dremmeled correctly for them to fit, they are plug and play (instructions are in this forum at https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...ed-05-c55.html). I had my mechanics do the the custom install -- they did a great job, looks absolutely OEM and works perfectly. I wouldn't worry about the bearings, everyone who chimed in said that they reused their original bearings with the same slight signs of wear and had no problems, even when racing. I just replaced them because I had insurance, otherwise I most certainly would have reused the old bearings.

c32AMG-DTM -- I'm not selling the OE differential, I'm keeping it and all the other OE pieces I replaced (headers, wheels, diff., pulleys, airbox, climate control, cd player, rear calipers, door pins, etc.) incase I sell the car, or, should it become necessary or desirable, I keep the car long enough for it to become a classic. Original factory parts specific to your car are always a plus in the future.