basically:
the bolt on e39 M5 rear LSD swap only works on 6 speed e39 cars.
you have to have: 1997-2003 540i-6mt, or convert your 4eat and inline 6 to v8 and 6mt.
the M5 diff is larger and longer, M5 uses identical transmission and diff/driveshaft mounting points as 540i-6, thus the M5 driveshaft is shorter.
Rear M5 axels are plug and play, if you have them avail to you for inexpensive, they are an upgrade in durability only.
IF you want to keep your existing 540i axels in place, all e39 540i rear diff stub flanges are plug and play interface wth e39 M5. you simply remove the stubs and swap them into the M5 rear diff. the M5 axels have a slightly larger bolt diameter, but are the same length as 540i.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh … p?t=943805Tolkar det som att du inte behöver byta drivaxlarna, bara flytta över "medbringarna" från din 540-klump till M5-diffen.
Edit: såg i posten under att det kunde bli lite dum geometri att göra så, bättre skaffa medbringare med artikelnummer 33131214087.