Firstfives.org

Hi everyone!

A relatively new owner of an E12 here. I haven't formally introduced myself on this forum yet, which is something I will set straight soon.

In the mean time, I have a number of questions about a tranny swap.
I've racked up about 5000km these last few months, using the 528i as a daily driver. Now that a company car has arrived, the BMW will be more of a weekend car.
It's far from an economic car (I'm getting 17l/100km or 16MPG in city traffic) so I don't see any reason to stick with a gearbox that is there for economic reasons.

As far as I understand from browsing these forums, the main difficulty is finding a 265/5 that has a speedo fitting. Am I correct?

Anyway, if you guys could help me with avoiding standard pitfalls, I would really appreciate it.

Also, having never driven a 528i mated to the 265/5, can someone tell me if it's a big difference, dynamics and performance-wise?

Thanks in advance!

I had a couple of the "dog leg" gearboxes and they are fun to drive. Acceleration is a bit faster but on the highway it is like with a 4 speed or driving in 4th gear with your current gearbox. If you find one without the speedo drive you can put one in pretty easy.

Do you want to sell the current 5 speed? I might be interested.

I've got a dog-leg, I upgraded from a 4-speed. It's not very civilized compared to the smooth 4 speed, as far as changing gears is concerned. Perhaps mine is just a bit special, but searching on the web I found similar opinions, so it might be something generic. It is fun though if you don't mind having to change gears more often.

So a 265/5 from an E30 M3 wouldn't pose a problem, provided that I get the right bell house? Would that be all I'd need?

@Jelmer:
I would consider selling my OD box, but frankly, I don't know when exactly I'd do the switch. If it's done, I'll be sure to let you know.