bhamg

I stopped by ACG for a fluid change for the Wavetrac after 8K miles and to have two of these magnetic drain plugs installed ($34.95 per). They're made by Dimple Products and are generally regarded in the automotive community as the best (by far) magnetic drain plugs on the market, not to be confused with any others. The plug is an "M24X1.5 tapered" drain plug with a 17mm head, made for BMW transmissions. It's just a hair longer (maybe 1/4") than the OE plug so no problems with fitment. I used one each to replace the OR drain and fill plugs..

We used Permatex High Temperature Thread Sealant (PX #59235) and Permatex Surface Prep Activator for Anaerobics (PX #24163) to ensure no leaks. Fluid was MOTUL 75W 140 Gear Competition diff fluid for limited slips. Between the plugs and fluid I doubt this fluid will need to be changed out again.

deadfission

I don't get what these do. Could you explain please?

AMG893

OP Correct me if i am wrong, but a magnetic drain plug is great, as when (in this case the Diff) is working, minute metal flakes wear off the components, and instead of floating around the diff, and grinding away at the working parts, the magnetic drain plug will attract the particles.

I remember one of my old cars, in the tranny pan, had a magnet in the corner (not the drain plug) and when we were doing the tranny flush, there was fine slithers of metal on the magnet.

Simple but effective.

Good call OP.
Im actually going to do fluid change on my LSD next week, along with tranny flush, and a few other preventative maintenance items. Ordered all my bits from ECS.

bhamg

Exactly right. When you look at the shape of the pumpkin and the location of the plugs as well as the relatively small quantity of fluid, I think for the Quaife and Wavetrac gear-type LSDs the Dimple plug will be very effective. Much more so then when used in an engine. Using two may be overkill for most but as long as I was at it....

For some reason I couldn't paste these links earlier but here they are.

Info on the plug, scroll down to M24.

http://www.drainplugmagnets.com/bmwautomobiles.php

Info on the fluid.

https://www.motul.com/us/en-US/produ...iscosity%5D=59

Ingenieur

Good idea although I would do drain only since the debris settles
These are std on most BMW's and Audi's
Would be nice to see the drain had it been magnetic for the 8k break-in

I agree they are broken in now and the fluid should be good for 100k miles which is a good ways towards life-time, the plugs will capture and minimal debris

Girard@ACGautomotive

Thank you again for making the trip down! Always great to see you and catch up

For those wondering, these plugs are a great find especially for anyone wanting to do a differential upgrade or any of the routine maintenance on their rear end.

Sometimes (like in bhamg's case) we have to modify the pumpkin to accommodate the Wavetrac LSD's by removing some material to slip them back in. These plugs ensure to collect any metallic material left behind and also the material worn off by normal use and wear/tear.

Good find!

bhamg

Tal - It was well worth the drive down. Particular thanks to you and Jay for the incredibly meticulous job you did with the preparation of the threads when we decided to go the Permatex route just to ensure there would be no leaks. The extra half hour of watching oil drip out on both drain and fill, repeated wipe-downs etc. to get a clean, dry oil-free mating surface by you guys was most appreciated! And thanks for stocking the Motul fluid too. I never expected the Wavetrac to make this kind of difference over the OE LSD...wish all mods could work out so well, great job again, guys.

ToXicXxX

You all should also get a magnetic oil pan plug. If the filter misses anything the plug will catch it, and on an engine this high performance, little bits of metal can knock bearings out of spec pretty quick.

Though there's always the non ferromagnetic's that can be an issue... I once had part of a hydraulic cam chain tensioner explode off on a VW, and the fragments fell into the pan, and got thrown around the engine causing massive damage.