Posted by Troy Rudolph on January 26, 2000 at 09:57:54:
In Reply to: What are your opinions on 4 spd? posted by Dave P on January 25, 2000 at 15:35:50:
I converted my '79 528i from 4-speed to 5-speed in October 1993. For me, it represented a major improvement in the car. There were two reasons for this.
First, I do some highway driving and wanted better fuel economy. I can get 25mpg on the highway at 80 mph.
Second, I wanted some quiet. The drop in revs at 80mph is not as much as I wanted, but the quiet it provides is wonderful. On long drives, I'm much less fatigued.
Interestingly, the 5-speed makes a little more noise in second than the 4-speed. However, in 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the 5-speed is much quieter. So, in my case, I have an improvement even when driving around town.
As noted by others, the ratios of the first 4 gears in the 5-speed are almost identical to those of the 4-speed. You won't notice any difference in engine revs or acceleration in gears 1 through 4.
If your 4-speed is nice and quiet and you don't drive on the highway much or take trips, you may want to keep the 4-speed. For me, I'm very glad I made the change.