Hi Skip,
I'll leave the gear ratio discussions to the guys that know and or build them. I'll give ya my personal experience in about 5 weeks. (right Jay?
)
I have had alot of people say the 5 speed with the final drive of .82 is nice (especially if you are going to track it).
I got my rear here:
http://estore.websitepros.com/139711...103cb27e798804
There were also some decent deals on e-bay at the time on the 3.46 LSD. Just type in e36 LSD and see what comes up.
this next site appears a little older-but might be worth a look/call
http://www.diffsonline.com/product/used.htm
Hope that helps in your search.
-Sean