just stumbled across this old thread... anyway, the E500 and E420 diffs are basically the same for models with ASR. The E420 without ASR has a different housing that has a hole for the ABS sensor on the pinion shaft. Yes you can swap diffs pretty easily. If you want limited-slip, that's a whole separate problem though and not cheap either. I'm trying to search for info on the ABS sensor for non-ASR models, the number of teeth vary with gear ratio. I think if you change gear ratios on a non-ASR diff, like 90free's car, it can screw up the ABS computer because it will be getting an incorrect speed signal. (BTW - the 500E does have a 2.82 diff, ASR only.)
90free, how does your car do on panic braking with the new 2.82 diff installed?
