3.46 LSD on a 328 - would YOU spend the money on a 6-speed?

[bigbilly]

I'm wondering if a 6-speed tranny would be worth it for an upgrade. I have a 3.46 LSD courtesy of diffsonline.

I put a lot of highway miles on my car. Not that I want to, but it's my only car...

Looking at Zionsville's $4600 conversion kit, this seems like a steep mod!

Any thoughts from someone who has a 3.46 or higher rear drive?

[Jeffrie]

Not worth it other then for the "Bling"
1-2 geared too low IMO and ratio's are too far off.
E30 gear box is far cheaper and a close ratio gearbox.
RPM's drop by about 800 RPM's between each gear change with my 3:91 diff,
I'm now reving @ 3200 rpm doing 75MPH. With your 3:46 dif your car would be reving @ around 2800rpm @ 75mph.

Another bonus for me is I can now do 24MPH in revearse instead of the old 12mph.

[OptionlessM]

probably not since thats almost enough money to turbo your car.

[1996 328ti]

I'm now reving @ 3200 rpm doing 75MPH. With your 3:46 dif your car would be reving @ around 2800rpm @ 75mph.I'm almost 4000 rpm @ 80 mph.
Pretty much my tach and speedo needles are pointing straight up.
It gets tiring on long trips. I'd love a overdrive gear but wouldn't spend that kind of money.

[Jeffrie]

I'm almost 4000 rpm @ 80 mph.
Pretty much my tach and speedo needles are pointing straight up.
It gets tiring on long trips. I'd love a overdrive gear but wouldn't spend that kind of money.

With my old E36 tranny I was reving @ 4000rpm doing 75MPH in 5th.
I still have that gear except now it's 4th.
I really do enjoy the extra TQ from a high ratio diff and the much lower revs from a OD.

[BL4CK-OUT]

Not worth it other then for the "Bling"
1-2 geared too low IMO and ratio's are too far off.
E30 gear box is far cheaper and a close ratio gearbox.
RPM's drop by about 800 RPM's between each gear change with my 3:91 diff,
I'm now reving @ 3200 rpm doing 75MPH. With your 3:46 dif your car would be reving @ around 2800rpm @ 75mph.

Another bonus for me is I can now do 24MPH in revearse instead of the old 12mph.

E30 gearbox with that diff? Please elaborate!

[Jeffrie]

E30 gearboxes were close ratio as in between each shift the rpms would drop the same as per each gear.
Meaning your always in the powerband when playing hard.
E36 have bull low 1-2 then a far strech for 3rd with a quick 4th and a not so quick 1:1 5th with the low geared diff the e36's came with.
E30's came with 3:73+ diff ratios and they were alot of fun to drive.
E36 came with a 2:93+ ratios wich are not fun to drive but are alot more economical.
Throw E30 gearing and diff with the e36 powerband and what you really end up with is pretty close match to a E30 M3 to toy around with that is modern but a little heavier.

[pat92]

E30 gearboxes were close ratio as in between each shift the rpms would drop the same as per each gear.
Meaning your always in the powerband when playing hard.
E36 have bull low 1-2 then a far strech for 3rd with a quick 4th and a not so quick 1:1 5th with the low geared diff the e36's came with.
E30's came with 3:73+ diff ratios and they were alot of fun to drive.
E36 came with a 2:93+ ratios wich are not fun to drive but are alot more economical.
Throw E30 gearing and diff with the e36 powerband and what you really end up with is pretty close match to a E30 M3 to toy around with that is modern but a little heavier.

What kind of work is required to put an e30 gearbox in an e36? Or is it a direct swap?

[Jeffrie]

4 mains bolt right up, although the tranny mounts & linkage have to be modified. Need to use E30 slave cylinder and swap the revearse switches.
Other then that yah it's pretty much a bolt up.

[328iJunkie]

The six speed is just like the E36 M 5sp ratio wise isnt it? cept for the OD of course.

[Jeffrie]

E36 M3 has the same gearing (tranny) as every other e36 and low end e46's.
The Euro evo M3 was also the same except 6th is an OD that cost 5g's for some unknown reason.

[bmw4wmb]

Check out bimmerworlds price:
http://store.bimmerworld.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?CS=bimmerworl&RowID=23&All=

Also, I have seen these trannys go for $2k+ in the forum. Thats before shipping though :(

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the zionsville kit uses the e46 6speed tranny which requires a few more parts to convert to the e36. It bolts up, but driveshaft and other pieces need to be sourced.

I believe the e36 euro tranny requires less extra parts, but will most likely be used with more miles on it.

BTW - UUC has some great info on the topic too:
http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/98M3/upgrades/E46M3_6SPD/index.htm

[Tuff Guy]

dude with a stock m52? get a better engine for that money or go forced induction

[bigbilly]

Jeffrie - Do you have the gearing ratio info for the e30 tranny offhand?

Looks like the 6 speed and 5 speed are close but not exact (0.03, 0.02, 0.01, 0.01, and 0.00 difference in the gearings) so I'm guessing the only benefit would be the 0.83 overdrive to get the buzzing down on the highway.

Tuff Guy - I hear you, and that's partly my reason for asking. I'm not quite stock M52 (I have S52 cams, M50 mani, software for both) but I'm a far cry from FI.

I'm wondering if there are any people out there who just rave about a 6-speed, or if I'd be better off putting the money for this into another car for the highway...

[325iklu]

If you are seriously thinking of getting a 6spd, i would go WAY deeper out back, like 3.91 or 4.10.

[bmw4wmb]

^^^Exactly. Then he can sell the 3.46 to me :) There is a guy in the forum that is about to sell his 4.10 LSD. Let's make a deal!

[Jeffrie]

Jeffrie - Do you have the gearing ratio info for the e30 tranny offhand?



E30
1 3.83
2 2.20
3 1.40
4 1.00
5 0.81

E36
1 - 4.20
2 - 2.49
3 - 1.66
4 - 1.24
5 - 1.00

[jehuflores]

E30
1 3.83
2 2.20
3 1.40
4 1.00
5 0.81

E36
1 - 4.20
2 - 2.49
3 - 1.66
4 - 1.24
5 - 1.00
WOW, to see it like this makes it easier to understand the advantages...

[bigbilly]

Thanks Jeffrie - you may have just sold me on that. I just tossed the numbers in a gearing calculator and almost fell out of my chair.

What do the e30 trannies go for? I've seen some examples for $1250 is this about right?

Is this *any* e30 gearbox (forgive me, I've had my e36 since 2000 and don't know much about the e30)? Do they all have the 0.81 overdrive 5th gear?

Any guess what a decent tuner would charge for this?

Damn, you've got me all excited. Doing this for less than $3k would be niiice.

Thanks!

[328iJunkie]

E30 trannies are cheap <500$.
You realize most will have a ton of mileage on them and also cant hold a ton of power/abuse?....

[Deeze555]

^^yeah thats what i was thinkin

[Blackedout325i]

Good idea, Imma do everything suggested in this post....

[Jeffrie]

Beleive all the e30 had the 260/5 getrag but may want to throw up a post in the e30 section to be sure, I only researched the one I had.
Do not know the pricing for a used e30 tranny but I'd image it wouldn't be much, mine was free since I had my old 1986 eta engine and tranny under my work bench.

[bigbilly]

E30 trannies are cheap <500$.
You realize most will have a ton of mileage on them and also cant hold a ton of power/abuse?....

Yeah - that was a concern. It makes finding the right one all the more important, and was the reason I asked if the gearing was the same for *all* e30's.

[Franchise]

this looks awesome considering i have a 3.91 not yet installed on my e36.... and an e30 5 speed... not sure about my tranny tho... 86 325e with 187k....