Help! E36 Rear Subframe/Diff Removal

I suspect those front bolts are getting wedged in there because the subframe is basically hanging from them at this point.  Make sure you have the subframe/diff properly supported from below  Have you disconnected the trailing arms from the body already?  If so try reconnecting them as they can help keep things aligned as you lower the subframe.

Those studs don't come out.  I would just remove the driveshaft altogether to get it out of your way.

The rear trailing arms are off currently. Had to take them off since the axles were rusted in place requiring a 20 ton press to remove them. Took the opportunity to change all the bushings and clean them up.

I'll remove the exhaust and drop the driveshaft. It's crazy to me that in all the diy articles I read, not one mentioned dropping the driveshaft. They pretty much glossed over the diff separation like it was a non-issue. But since I have asked the question here and on binmerfest, everyone has said it needs to be removed.

Thanks for all the help! Guess I'll take the opportunity to replace the driveshaft center bearing and the flexdisc/guibo. Any advice on replacing those?

It wasn't underwater as far as I know, but it was obvious to me in the 23 years that car has been around, the rear end has never been taken apart. There is quite a bit of rust on the undercarriage. Everything has been taken out and run through a parts cleaner and resprayed with undercarriage spray paint. Brand new hubs/bearings, new bushings, new axles/cv joints, and reinforced painted rear sub frame going back in. Wish I could go with an LSD, but I'm out of money!

Our undercarriage was (is) rusted pretty bad but no issues with the axles like you describe.  I did snap off one of the trailing arm bracket bolts about 2 weeks before our first race.  That was... stressful.  Kudos to you for doing all that clean-up work - ours still looks like garbage.

We got very lucky in that literally the only factory option added to our rusted out clap-trap $350 E36 happened to be the cold weather package with that all important LSD.  I also re-purposed the heavier-gauge seat-heater wires to run our cool-suit pump.

Where do you plan on running?

I had a focus that I couldn't budge the axles on, destroyed the axle nut as well, had to hack it off with a cutting wheel. Took it to a shop and he said his 12 ton wouldn't budge it even with it glowing red from an acetylene torch. He got it out with a 30 ton, and the splines were almost unrecognizable in the hub since they were so galled. That car lived through 15 Ohio winters by that time, so it might as well have been parked in shallow salt water for an extended period of time. I've since moved south, and my 60 year old vehicles I've bought here don't fight me anywhere near as a hard as that car ever did.

Buy everything you can from fcpeuro.com - They have a practically unbelievable lifetime replacement warranty on every single part they sell - even wear parts like oil, filters, rotors, pads, etc.  Yes, that means free oil changes for life.

I will never again have to pay for rotors, belts, hoses, radiator, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

All these comments and no one mentions Haynes manual or Bentley? This is craziness! Makes me question the cars I'll be out on the track with. Why would you not follow the manual and do things properly?

***Honest question. I am a very n00b but if this is what Lemons is I'm not sure I want to go forward with building a car. If you need to take something apart and put it back together you need to do it the right way. If not you are ignorant or negligent. Event organizers knowing this is common practice makes the whole event scary. This is the first time I've ventured outside of the newby section so maybe bad sample size but what's going on here?

** Full disclosure: I own six e36's.

You do realize that most factory manuals are not that good right? Example, the mazda manual for a 1988 RX7, when getting to the engine removal section, takes a page to say "remove this list of items from the engine" and then lists a ton of accessories with no details on how. Several have weird tricks that take a second to see. I'm mostly unimpressed with the e36 manuals I've seen. Lines like "disconnect the driveshaft" with no further details are common. They assume you are a trained master tech familiar with the car. Do not attack people because they showed up asking for help from people who likely have done this job before.

Re: rusted in axles. It's not that uncommon. My 2012 WRX, when I replaced a rear wheel hub at 125k miles the axle was stuck in there good. Had to get a big gear puller and an impact gun to put enough force on the shaft for it to pop out.

FYI - At this point, you have much knowledge and experience that you can lend the OP.
On this forum, Lemons Bushido requires that you share you experience and knowledge freely.

Asking if they have read a manual is counter-productive.

Since you have everything dropped are you planning on installing the rear sub frame reinforcement kit? This was installed from the factory on the M and iS models, you should consider doing this as there is a lot of lateral torque that eventually can rip the 4 upper mounting bolts free from the unibody, these are the ones directly above the rear diff.

you can buy the kit here:   https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw … uYQAvD_BwE