Transfer Case Swap

[DoubleAIm]

Long story short, my 02 3.0 front diff blown, made it run on rear wheel drive only but fucked up the transfer case (nv125), just wondering if the newer ATC500 is a directly bolt on and leave it unplug and have it just rear drive only will work without screwing up the transfer case again? Otherwise have to source out a front diff and transfer case... awd isn’t that all important since I’m just using it around town and not worth spending $$$$ to fix it

[andrewwynn]

Is there some direct modification to eliminate the transfer case ?

[SlickGT1]

Short answer is no, you need to use the same transfer case. Newer ones are meant for the 6 speed.

You can makes your old one rear wheel only by removing front drive shaft.

[andrewwynn]

I think what he's saying is he tried that and it didn't work out well.

[lo_jack]

Nv125 was only in e53 for the first year or so of production. I don't think it's true that atc--the one with the little motor in it-- is only for 6 speed. I have a manual 5 and definitely have an nv125...but they didn't use nv125 for even the entire pre-facelift era.



Furthermore, I am pretty sure I read on here that if you disconnect the motor on an atc500 you can go 2wd rear. Search on here about that; I know someone posted on that a while back and managed to limp it around at least, whereas Nv125 cannot tolerate any driveshafts being the slightest bit disconnected, because it's pure chain drive and the diffs are open.



On a positive note, diffs for 3.0s are all the same ratio...4.10 I believe, and they aren't that expensive.



I am not sure if atc500 is a direct bolt up for an nv125. I imagine it will connect to the trans fine but I don't know if the propshafts are the same. You could check realoem.com and see if the part numbers for all that stuff are the same.

[SlickGT1]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

Nv125 was only in e53 for the first year or so of production. I don't think it's true that atc--the one with the little motor in it-- is only for 6 speed. I have a manual 5 and definitely have an nv125...but they didn't use nv125 for even the entire pre-facelift era.



Furthermore, I am pretty sure I read on here that if you disconnect the motor on an atc500 you can go 2wd rear. Search on here about that; I know someone posted on that a while back and managed to limp it around at least, whereas Nv125 cannot tolerate any driveshafts being the slightest bit disconnected, because it's pure chain drive and the diffs are open.



On a positive note, diffs for 3.0s are all the same ratio...4.10 I believe, and they aren't that expensive.



I am not sure if atc500 is a direct bolt up for an nv125. I imagine it will connect to the trans fine but I don't know if the propshafts are the same. You could check realoem.com and see if the part numbers for all that stuff are the same.

I’d like to see you swap transfer cases from NV to ATC. I’d like to see you bolt it up. And then I’d like to see you get the software to work. Then you can bust in here and say you can do it. For now, we will have to disagree. And I hope no one listens to what you suggest above that you can make xdrive work on a non-xrdive car. Good luck if you do.

It may be doable if you throw enough money in it, but I will guarantee that buying another used NV, rebuilding it, and putting it back in will be cheaper than what you suggest by orders of magnitude. Better yet, the one in the car can be rebuilt.

And I know you can make the atc rear wheel. I’m the one that did it after I realized that the car became rear wheel when my actuator failed.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

Nv125 was only in e53 for the first year or so of production.

Research indicates that the NV125 was used in all pre-facelift cars until 2002 or even into 2003, when the LWC500 made a brief appearance. The NV125 and LWC500 appear to be similar enough to allow interchange - and neither is xDrive. The ATC500 (xDrive) was introduced on facelift models only, starting in late 2003.