m42 -> m50 question

[edacosta]

I've got a 94 318i. Can I use the transmission in my car, for now, with a 2.5 litre engine?

[Joey325i]

no you will need the 325 tranny also

[WJones]

Uh, aren't they the same Gertrag tranny.

[myred318i]

I think you can use the old tranny. I just saw a website this a.m. (from an old thread) that advertised doing swaps, and it specifically indicated what was included in price, and old tranny was part of the equation. www.koalamotorsport.com is where I saw it.

[Joey325i]

i am almost positive that the tranny id different, if it was the same tranny then why would AA sell 2 different short shifters?

http://aatuning.com/short-shifter/e36shifter-LEVEL1.asp :rolleyes:

[WJones]

Originally posted by Joey325i
i am almost positive that the tranny id different, if it was the same tranny then why would AA sell 2 different short shifters?

http://aatuning.com/short-shifter/e36shifter-LEVEL1.asp :rolleyes:

Brah, you must have had good fun last night because your still sleeping. I wish I had your life. :beer:

AA sells the same shifter for the 318/325 and another one for the 328/M3. 318/325's have a Gertrag tranny and 328/M3's have the ZF tranny.

[Joey325i]

lol ok damn ive been proven wrong :D

dont gotta get too harsh 'brah' im actually pretty awake, and i dont drink im only 18 :stickoutt :D

[WJones]

All in good fun

[myred318i]

You are correct, they are definitely different tranny's for 318, 323,325, 328, & M3. Not positive about the 2.3/2.5/2.8L being different, but at least I'm sure between 1.8/1.9, and the I-6's, and the M3, the tranny's are different. Now everything I've been told & read is that you can use the same tranny that came with your car when you bolt in a new engine (including the 3.0/3.2 M3). Also, if you do change your 318 tranny to one of the others, you'll also need to change driveshaft, diff, & axles, so keeping the 318 tranny is definitely easier & cheaper. As far as what the differences are between them, I only know that they have exactly the same 1:1 drive ratio in 5th gear over all of them. I think that almost all the gears have the same ratios, except maybe 2nd (Bentley's explains this somewhere in the manual). I imagine that most of the differences has to do with engine power, i.e. an M3 tranny is going to be built to handle more torque than the 318 tranny. Knowing how BMW engineers the hell out of their drivelines, I think the 318 tranny will hold up unless your tracking the car or otherwise putting an extreme use to it.

I know when I get to the point of swapping an engine, I don't plan on going through all the added expense and headache of replacing said items.