E30 trans help

[jRonin]

I'm sure this question has been asked/answered somewhere, but I'm new to E30's and clearly this forum, so I haven't found it.. lol


Anyhow, I just got my '84 318i from up north. Its been sitting for about a year and a half, so my step father looked at it for me before I flew up to drive it down and replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders. On the drive down however, the bleed valve on the slave was either not tightened well enough or vibrated loose and caused pressure loss. So I stopped and bled the line again and retightened the valve and got back underway. About an hour later, after stopping for fuel, the trans wouldn't shift into 2nd or 3rd gear (and would pop out in the event it did get into gear). So clearly something went wrong, but I want to get her back on the road ASAP, so considering just replacing the trans altogether and putting the current one on the bench.. SO...


Question: What transmissions will bolt up to the 4cyl in the 318 and which cars do they come out of?


Any help is appreciated

[msservices]

Welcome to e30s. On a complexity scale of 1-10, Swapping the trans with a different model of trans could be seen as an 8,9,10 if you have not tackled one before.
The bolt up aspect that you are asking about has to cover not only the trans bolting up to the engine (easy part, IMO)but also the flywheel, clutch, shifter, crossmember, bellhousing sensors (if applicable to 318i), and possibly the most costly, the driveshaft. For that reason I would not attempt a trans swap unless I had a donor vehicle, otherwise sourcing the parts individually would make it not cost effective. I would recommend first eliminate ANY chance that you have bleeding issues with the hydraulics. The fact that the slave cylinder is lower than the master cyl makes forcing the air out harder/trickier than one would think. There are write ups here specifically on that. Next, change the trans oil/fluid. You would be surprised how many issues that can resolve, for both auto and manuals. Finally, if you are 100% sure the trans is shot, replacing it with the same stock model is a walk in the park compared to a swap, and I would imagine 318 manuals are just as plentiful as anything else. Save your money for a motor AND trans swap if you become that ambitious

[jRonin]

Thanks for responding.. I’m definitely going to try flushing fluids and rebleeding the hydraulics like you suggested, but I’m planning for worst case scenario as far as replacements.. But I’m not looking to upgrade exactly, I’ve just been told that other model bmw’s use the same trans, not just from a 318.. There are several local e30’s being parted out, but no 318’s 😔

[msservices]

Well, if they were willing to sell you everything you need to get back on the road for not much money, that would be a consideration. Around here, salvage yards are one of two types: the kind that let you pick/pull your own parts for wholesale prices, and the kind that do their own dismantling and inventory parts, selling for retail. The former being the only cost effective option for us gearheads looking for a package deal.
Once you eliminate the other two (simpler) possibilities, I would then find out which parts in your existing trans could be causing your symptoms, and then source the replacement parts, gaskets, seals, etc (rebuild kit basically) for your existing trans, and dig in. The money you would consider spending on new/used junkyard parts will go just as far, or farther in rebuild parts, gaskets, clutch kit, carrier bearing, shifter bushings, repair manuals, etc. plus you gain the experience, and subsequently confidence
Autorepairmanuals.biz is where I got my auto trans clutches, gaskets, etc.

[superj]

Your trans is the same as an 320 e21 used. And if you get lucky to find one of those, maybe you can get that m10 becuase it could be a 2.0 instead of a 1.8

[hotdish]

Your trans is the same as an 320 e21 used. And if you get lucky to find one of those, maybe you can get that m10 becuase it could be a 2.0 instead of a 1.8

The 83 320i trans is the same (g240), the earlier ones were different (g242 4spd or g245 5spd)

[superj]

yes, that's true. I should have noted that their were also early 4 speed models that would be a bit different.

if I remember right, the e21 trans had a hole for the speedo so you could not use an e30 trans in the e21. but the e21 can be used in ours because our speedo pick up is in the diff.