Help with undercarriage

[sixseries]

I'm looking at a potential car and they seller sent me a bunch of pics, and I wanted to run by what I noticed.

On the first pic, is that rust on the support beam that sticks out, towards the front of the car?

On the second pic, is that cross member messed up under the rear of the transmission?

For context, this is a 1980 euro 635.

And if anyone else sees something noticeable, please chime in.

Thanks!

[wogden700]

Non standard exhaust. Cats have been removed.
It does look like a little surface rust. And that xmember does look funny, but I dont know for sure.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[carsnplanes]

Did I miss where the pics are?

[sixseries]

Non standard exhaust. Cats have been removed.
It does look like a little surface rust. And that xmember does look funny, but I dont know for sure.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Yes, sorry for the lack of context but its a 1980 euro.

Did I miss where the pics are?

were you on mobile? I can see them find on my desktop but the pics were not there on my phone. I'll see if i can change the hosting location.

[carsnplanes]

Yes, sorry for the lack of context but its a 1980 euro.



were you on mobile? I can see them find on my desktop but the pics were not there on my phone. I'll see if i can change the hosting location.

I'm able to see them now..Thanks.
Regarding the trans mount, there might have been a few versions depending on your manual transmission type. I took all of the 5spd pieces from my old 85 and used them in my 88 5spd conversion. The mount is aluminum as seen the photo. The tranny is a 265/6 so again, if you know what the tranny is, maybe there is a specific mount, for example a different one for the Dogleg tranny. It does look a little banged up though.
E24 Trans mount.JPG

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Also looks like a portion of the floor pan was replaced on the left side.

[sixseries]

sorry I'm really struggling today. I also forgot to mention that apparently the floor boards were rusted so they were replaced by current owner.

Regarding the trans mount, it's not a dogleg 5 speed, but not sure what stock transmissions were used in 1980, and of course it could have been changed out. Owner doesn't have PO records.

Doesn't it kind of look like the actual mount attached to the transmission on the left side, is empty?

[Bert Poliakoff]

Looks like alot of road grime and surface rust. Doesn't look rusted out. Exhaust looks strange

[DesktopDave]

Apparently the early versions of the 265 only had a single ear. If it was swapped with a later casting it'd end up like what you have. I have the same aluminum later-style mount as carsnplanes, found it on an '82 Euro 635CSi.

I'm guessing that header was a European aftermarket part installed when the car was new. When someone decided to import it to the US, they would have welded in a catalyst to "federalize" it. I'd guess the catalyst eventually burned out, then it was jury-rigged with a few off-the-shelf pipe bends. I've never seen a header like that, really long-tube setup. Might be an older European design? Designed for the M90? Old Motorsport part? Anyone know of one like that?

[carsnplanes]

I bet you have the 265/6 transmission as it looks very similar in that it is a 3 piece tranny. Look at my pic and compare to yours. I bet if you found the same cross member mount as mine which is used quite commonly, you would see that the left mount ear would be used as you can see the left side of the newer mount rises up to meet the ear on the left side of the tranny where the one in your pic does not.
tranny mount 1.JPG

[sixseries]

Apparently the early versions of the 265 only had a single ear. If it was swapped with a later casting it'd end up like what you have. I have the same aluminum later-style mount as carsnplanes, found it on an '82 Euro 635CSi.

I'm guessing that header was a European aftermarket part installed when the car was new. When someone decided to import it to the US, they would have welded in a catalyst to "federalize" it. I'd guess the catalyst eventually burned out, then it was jury-rigged with a few off-the-shelf pipe bends. I've never seen a header like that, really long-tube setup. Might be an older European design? Designed for the M90? Old Motorsport part? Anyone know of one like that?

It is allegedly an M90 engine and apparently has 'Stahl' headers

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I bet you have the 265/6 transmission as it looks very similar in that it is a 3 piece tranny. Look at my pic and compare to yours. I bet if you found the same cross member mount as mine which is used quite commonly, you would see that the left mount ear would be used as you can see the left side of the newer mount rises up to meet the ear on the left side of the tranny where the one in your pic does not.
tranny mount 1.JPG

Gotcha. So essentially b/c the 265/6 transmission doesn't have a spot for the left mount, your crossmember supports it itself, without an actual rubber mount that is bolted in?

[carsnplanes]

It is allegedly an M90 engine and apparently has 'Stahl' headers

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Gotcha. So essentially b/c the 265/6 transmission doesn't have a spot for the left mount, your crossmember supports it itself, without an actual rubber mount that is bolted in?

No, my 265/6 tranny and associated support DOES use both left and right mounts. I have two rubber mounts and with this aluminum crossmember, it allows the tranny to sit on both rubber mounts. For some reason, the early mount you show only utilizes the right mounting ear. Mine uses both.

[carsnplanes]

I did a search in Realoem.com for a random 633-635 1980-85 tranny mounts.
It came up with the single mount type which you show:
tranny mounts early.JPG

but for some stange reason, I cannot find a car/year listing for the mount that I have which clearly uses two rubber mounts and connects to both left and right ears.

[DesktopDave]

There's another possibility with that single-eared mount. I think the 4-speed manual (Getrag 262) had the single-sided mount; your car was built when the 5-speed was an upgrade option. I seem to recall performance shops selling complete 5-speed upgrades in magazine classifieds, along with the usual headers, suspensions, shorter diffs, etc.. The 265 could have been ordered brand-new from BMW, but it was also a fairly plentiful in salvage yards by the mid-80s.

I'd never even heard of an M90 before I started hanging out here...so I'm a little jealous. One more fun BMW toy to look for...

[jmpower]

The Getrag 262 had a single rear mounting. The rear casing of the 262 four speed is the rear section of a 265/5 close ratio gearbox.
When BMW changed to a 5 speed gear box in some cars they used twin rear mounting.
In the 265/5 they used one mounting point on the centre section of the gearbox. It is a very rough casting compared to the 262 rear.
The single side mount had a stiffer rubber mounting bush.
The problem with the 265/5 close ratio was that with a stiffer bush and the single mount the "ear" could break off.
So up to 1981/82 single side mount and then on twin centre mounts with softer rubber bushes. Later centre castings are smoother.
The main difference in the 265/5 and the 265/6 is that the 265/5 is a 262 with a added centre section to accommodate the additional gear. That is one of the ways to identify a 265/5 close ratio. The bolts line up on both sides of the centre section. If you removed the centre section of the gearbox it would bolt up and look like the 262

[carsnplanes]

The Getrag 262 had a single rear mounting. The rear casing of the 262 four speed is the rear section of a 265/5 close ratio gearbox.
When BMW changed to a 5 speed gear box in some cars they used twin rear mounting.
In the 265/5 they used one mounting point on the centre section of the gearbox. It is a very rough casting compared to the 262 rear.
The single side mount had a stiffer rubber mounting bush.
The problem with the 265/5 close ratio was that with a stiffer bush and the single mount the "ear" could break off.
So up to 1981/82 single side mount and then on twin centre mounts with softer rubber bushes. Later centre castings are smoother.
The main difference in the 265/5 and the 265/6 is that the 265/5 is a 262 with a added centre section to accommodate the additional gear. That is one of the ways to identify a 265/5 close ratio. The bolts line up on both sides of the centre section. If you removed the centre section of the gearbox it would bolt up and look like the 262

Well , now that's something I didn' t know.
When you say "close ratio", you are talking about the Dogleg version?

[jmpower]

Yes, a gearbox with many names.The Getrag 265/5 close ratio "dogleg" gearbox. It has five ratio's spaced so there is a smaller rev drop between changes and a 1:1 direct drive fifth gear.
When they were fitted at the time in right hand drive cars they were not popular as most people found the gear change difficult. The advice in motoring magazines was often to avoid cars with it fitted. The gear change was not as easy as other five speeds. It was an option on many cars that was not ticked. For people driving in left hand drive vehicles you change gear with your right hand which is easier for the majority who are right handed. The E30 M3 was never offered in RHD as it would not have been the same car to drive. To me there is always something special about driving a car with the "dogleg" box.