From 4 speed to 5 speed

SamiA

SamiA

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Dear friends,

So also I have planned and even started the project to change the 4 speed gearbox to 5 speed one in my E9. The project has truly started as I've not only read several write ups in this great forum but I've also managed to source the 5 speed gearbox. The targeted selection is the 265/6 i.e the OD one. That is what I bought on last Saturday. The gearbox is from E23 728i 1981. The gearbox came with the bell housing and shifter platform, but not with the speedometer drive.

Even if I've read about the gearbox swap from experts such as Carl Nelson, Gransin and sfdon there are still some unknown areas to me. But I will learn when the project proceeds. Though the actual swap part will take till the cold and especially dark winter months.

By my knowledge I'm not able to utilize the shifter platform. It might be too wide as it is from 728i. On the other hand I'm hoping I'm able to utilize the speedometer drive from current 4 speed gearbox. Which bell housing should I use, is not known. In the bell housing that came with 5 speed gearbox, there seem to be rotation speed sensors. For which engine management system, I do not know. My car has M90 engine with L-Jetronic, not with Motronic.

Any advices and guidance is more than welcome.
 

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Keep the bellhousing
Throw away the sensors
 
You can reuse the speedometer drive from your 4 spd. Shifterplatform from E12 (528i) should fit or a custom made one.

There are some good info in these threads that you might have seen already:

bmw30cs.blogspot.com

5 Speed Conversion

CS REGISTER - Five Speed Conversion for CS - Carl O. Nelson Many times in the past I have been asked about the difficulty of installi...
bmw30cs.blogspot.com bmw30cs.blogspot.com

BMW E9 Auto to 5SPD manual Conversion

Hi. I thought I would document the 5SPD manual conversion I am performing on my 1971 BMW 2800CS. This is intended as a reference only, please only work on you vehicle if you are confident and able, I assume no responsibility for anyones actions. BMW Parts: Transmission: Getrag 265 5SPD...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com
 
MortyBMW said:
You can reuse the speedometer drive from your 4 spd.
Click to expand...

If the 4 speed is a Getrag, then yes!
If it's a 4 speed ZF, then nope.

Sami, you need to check inside the 265/6 if it has the worm gear that spins the speedo drive. You can see it through the hole for the speedo drive.
 

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Last edited:
Stevehose said:
That depends, my stock 4 speed cable fit.
Click to expand...
I've seen postings about the 4 speed cable working. Was your old 4 speed a Getrag or ZF? Mine's a ZF and I've bought the $75 auto tranny cable even though I'm not ready to install yet so I won't find myself short when the time comes.

One possibility is that the 4 speed cable can be made to fit, at the cost of increasing the bending such that it will fatigue and fail sooner than otherwise. Just a guess.
 
mulberryworks said:
I've seen postings about the 4 speed cable working. Was your old 4 speed a Getrag or ZF? Mine's a ZF and I've bought the $75 auto tranny cable even though I'm not ready to install yet so I won't find myself short when the time comes.

One possibility is that the 4 speed cable can be made to fit, at the cost of increasing the bending such that it will fatigue and fail sooner than otherwise. Just a guess.
Click to expand...
Original tranny was a Getrag 262, no speedo cable issues.
 
Our shop has done so many of these jobs- never needed an automatic cable.
Do the math- front section gets cut to 16”.
Guibo changes from 45mm to 35m.
 
That appears to be a Getrag 265/6 from a Motronic Euro car.
 
I also was able to use my original Getrag 4 speed cable and gear drive with a 265 OD. The bellhousing gives you some options if you ever need a flywheel pickup, but I prefer using the Motronic 1.3 system that gets the same info from the crank pulley personally.

I take it you will also replace the clutch, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, clutch secondary cylinder, front and rear seals, and the shift selector end? Those are all annoying parts to change later.

I do not remember right now if you can re-use the external throw out arm or not with the new bellhousing, but I don't think so.
 
In the process of doing this to my RHD CSi. Does anyone know if this differs for a RHD? Is the Getrag 262 speedo drive cable still usable when changing to a 265/6?
 
SamiA said:
Dear friends,

So also I have planned and even started the project to change the 4 speed gearbox to 5 speed one in my E9. The project has truly started as I've not only read several write ups in this great forum but I've also managed to source the 5 speed gearbox. The targeted selection is the 265/6 i.e the OD one. That is what I bought on last Saturday. The gearbox is from E23 728i 1981. The gearbox came with the bell housing and shifter platform, but not with the speedometer drive.

Even if I've read about the gearbox swap from experts such as Carl Nelson, Gransin and sfdon there are still some unknown areas to me. But I will learn when the project proceeds. Though the actual swap part will take till the cold and especially dark winter months.

By my knowledge I'm not able to utilize the shifter platform. It might be too wide as it is from 728i. On the other hand I'm hoping I'm able to utilize the speedometer drive from current 4 speed gearbox. Which bell housing should I use, is not known. In the bell housing that came with 5 speed gearbox, there seem to be rotation speed sensors. For which engine management system, I do not know. My car has M90 engine with L-Jetronic, not with Motronic.

Any advices and guidance is more than welcome.
Click to expand...
Hello do not worry for speedometer you can spend $250 and install a speed box under dash and connect the cable from your clock to speed box and you are good to go
 
Frankie123 said:
In the process of doing this to my RHD CSi. Does anyone know if this differs for a RHD? Is the Getrag 262 speedo drive cable still usable when changing to a 265/6?
Click to expand...
I changed from getrag 4 speed to 5 speed on my RHD csi, I used the original speedo drive cable, no issue at all.
I also used the original bell housing, clutch system etc, but i did replace the wearing parts eg clutch, pilot bearing etc. In earlier cars I understand that the the bell housing needs some modifications, but later eg csi it is a straight fit.
 
Cornishman said:
I changed from getrag 4 speed to 5 speed on my RHD csi, I used the original speedo drive cable, no issue at all.
I also used the original bell housing, clutch system etc, but i did replace the wearing parts eg clutch, pilot bearing etc. In earlier cars I understand that the the bell housing needs some modifications, but later eg csi it is a straight fit.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight. One less part to hunt down :)
 
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