So I don't even have my car yet, one more day... (!!!)

Anyways, reading all this stuff about limited slip differentials has me thinking my base model is in some ways unsafe as an all year car. I hate to mod things until I try them first but I have a feeling I will have big problems with even a flake of snow or a touch of ice.

I have been researching but cannot find the answer to the following: Is it normal for a vehicle made in 2004 to have no LSD system in place? From what I see this seems uncommon...

I think I can live without traction control, but that's another thing I am confused how common it is to not have it in newer cars, seems like almost every new car has it.

From what I know about the base model and from what I have read, without an LSD installed I will basically be spinning the wheel with less traction and the wheel with grip will get less power, meaning I will get stuck easily. It also seems that I might have issues with the way my tires wear from cornering, I may be wrong, this is just what I gather from a bit of reading tonight.

Looks like a Nismo LSD is almost $1,000- any cheaper alternatives that are comparable or better? How much to have this stuff installed at a dealer (rough estimate)?

I think I just need to get the damn car and drive it, I think I'd rather buy snow tires than a LSD. I am fine with this thing not driving good in the snow but if I happen to get caught in some unexpected flurry I don't want to be stuck on a flat road. Any thoughts?

I love the base model because it's just 'stripped down' and 'raw' but at the same time how much difference does an LSD make? FWIW as a teen I piloted a crappy '87 Camaro through some crazy snow storms and obviously lived to tell about it, actually never had a problem with it but from what I read tonight it seems this is the same type of differential as that car had.

I know when the road is dry this damn thing will be so much fun but all this reading is probably making me too paranoid, I have a tendancy to 'over-research' things...

 

In bad weather...if I had to chose between a LSD with stock tires vs no LSD with good snows - I'd chose the snows all the time.

Little story....I had a '01 X5 4.4 w/sport pkg. Giant 19" wheels/tires. AWD. HORRIBLE in the snow. It was like it had SKI's, not tires.

Having said that, an LSD is a good performance 'enhancement' - able to put down more power, etc. Although - I never heard of different tire wear due to lack of one...

 

there are plenty of cars that dont come std with an LSD. i own a base model and from my experience in rain.....not much snow in the south , your right foot plays a big role in how much the tire spins. if it starts to spin just lift off

 

Yeah, I am thinking my head is so flooded with information I might have gotten the tire-wear part mixed up, most likely I was mistaken.

I think I'll go with a set of snows- should I remount or buy some cheap steel rims? (can you tell I never bought snows before?)

I might see how bad it is in the first storm, I live across the street from a tire place so it's easy if I can't get up my hill I can just pull into their shop and buy the tires

I cannot even explain how bad I just want to drive this thing. When I test drove the car it rode a hell of a lot better than the Enthusiast and the GT package, but that was due partly to the condition of the other vehicles not being as good and the fact the others were all AT while this was MT. Based on my test drives though I felt the base with the MT was more impressive than the higher level packages with the AT, the perfect find would have been an MT Enthusiast package but the price I paid never would have allowed that type of deal.

I will say though, I thought the AT models felt "scary fast"- it was like that delay between stomping on the gas and then the slight pause and subsequent automatic downshift just felt, scary. I felt like I was much more in control of the MT and the throttle response put a huge smile on my face, I do know the tires light up pretty easily. I cannot wait, it better not frigging snow this week!

 

With a LSD, it's actually easier to have the back end come around and spin out.

For regular driving, even in inclement weather, you'll be fine without an LSD.

 

Good to know this, I am guessing my old 1995 325is did not have an LSD, it did have traction though. I think I'll be fine, time will tell, minutes feel like hours at this point.

 

You must have limited slip differential. Otherwise its going to slip and spin.

 

i had an open lsd after i got my car back, it spun one tire and never grabbed.
now with the lsd it spins both tires, and likes to get sideways.

 

i have the nismo btw
its very loud

 

eesnas,

What price are they asking for the car?

 

I think a lot of bmw don't even come wiht lsd. They're good to have when your pushing the car to its limit, but from a safety standpoint, you don't have a problem.

 

Tough to really nail down the "asking price" because I already bought it and there was a lot of negotiating and trade in. You know how it goes, the number between the trade and the purchase, the margin, is all that matters. The price they had on the lot was $16,900, the price on the web was $15,900 so that was where we started, I traded my car and got them down to $13,800, my original goal was $13k and they wanted me over $14k but I liked the car enough to meet in the middle. I should mention my trade in was a 1995 325is with 150k, needs tie rod ends, new tires all around, and possibly some transmission work (slips bad in reverse) but otherwise will run strong, but make no mistake my old car is not worth fixing at this point and one of the small dealers actually would not even take it as a trade. After paperwork started they had all these dealer fees that started to add up to over 14k, I expressed that those fees should have been in original numbers but at that point we were splitting hairs over $100 here or there and I was in budget enough to be reasonable, so the cost of the car balance went to $13,600 but the dealer fees pushed it to $14k.

So if you look at the paperwork it looks like I got a $3300 trade in and a $1500 markoff or something from a high starting price, but I really look at it like they gave me $1,500 or $1,000 for my old car, I paid a total of $14k even after all dealer fees, add it all up or pretend I had no trade-in and I got the Z for $15k or $15,500... It's a 2004 base model, silver metallic, MT, 34k miles on it, by far the best condition and best driving of the bunch I have seen (it's really a beautiful car, so much better than the rest I saw), I don't even think I found a scratch (although I am sure I will notice a few once I get it under the microscope).

I guess the short answer is the asking price on the lot seemed high, the internet seemed like they had a more realistic price, I used my trade in and negotiated to get it into my goal spending range, I think I got a good deal, seemed like the other ones I looked at were driven harder, this one just seemed far and away in better condition than the others. I'd say my car was worth $1,500 trade in, maybe only $1,000 though because of the work it needs, for this example sub out the dealer fees, $13,600car + $1,500trade = 15,100 is about what I would say is my total cost, realistically if they only gave me $1,000 for the trade then that means total cost was only $14,600. Private party sale I would have let my car go for $1,500 "as is" just to get it out of my life. I promised myself I would not get sucked into leather seats or navigation stuff if the car seemed beat, I could have gotten an enthusiast at the same price but the miles were higher and I kept finding questionable aspects on them, like knocking suspension, curbed rims, and repainted bodywork, so I stuck to my guns and bought the best condition Z in my price range- I am very happy to have the MT as the others I looked at all had AT, would be nice to have TCS system but I'll have to manage without, to be honest I wasn't impressed with the leather so the seats make no difference to me. The low miles were also a bonus because I knew if I bought something with 50k I would need to do a timing belt next year, with only 34k on it I have plenty of time before my belt comes due.

You asked a straight question but I could answer it 10 different ways...


Yeah I am almost certain my 1995 325is does not have a LSD...