E30 M20B25 Manual Gearbox issues

[Phatputer 3]

Few questions, first give you a bit of history,

Purchased a 1987 327i manual a few months back with plans on swapping engine and gearbox / everything else into the E30 coupe.

Prior to doing this I thought I would first get this 325 operational / legally on the road so I could fix anything that needed doing / maintenance due to unknown previous treatment.

So anyway, various belts have been replaced, rubber fuel lines and various other engine stuff.

gearbox was a bit sloppy and shifting into third was problematic, most suggestions on the net pointed to shifter linkages and various bushing replacement.

Did all these, and things definitely tightened right up, third however still being stubborn

1x 17mm hex allen key type socket later and a hellava lot of work to get out stupidly tight gearbox filler and drain plugs

about 100 mil of gearbox oil drops out, so no idea how long it has been since this was replaced / if it has ever been replaced or topped up, new oil and it still looks like it is stuffed.

What is my next best step.

1) Have a missed anything else I should be looking at, all other gears engage properly but gearbox does have a nice supercharger type whine to it.

2) Is this a case of gearbox not worth repairing / what are my repair options for this?

3) do I just replace the gearbox, what am I looking for a replacement gearbox vs repair?

4) What should I be replacing if I am dropping out gearbox, other than the might as well do clutch.

Cheers guys

[Forrest 35]

Solution: turn the radio up and or wear earplugs. Mine whines like a bitch alot like my GF in the passenger seat, and with no radio either, I just ignore it.

Can't indulge you with any better solutions sorry ha

[Phatputer 3]

Solution: turn the radio up and or wear earplugs. Mine whines like a bitch alot like my GF in the passenger seat, and with no radio either, I just ignore it.

Can't indulge you with any better solutions sorry ha

Cheers,

The whine did reduce greatly with the helpful addition of oil, wonder why

Also didn't completely secure the rubber cover and it popped out thus increasing volume coming out of gearbox 10 fold.

I would put up with the sound happily if 3rd gear engaged properly, if it doesn't engage it grinds and if it does, it gives an audible loud click before locking in place, once it is in place it doesn't pop out.

[Forrest 35]

^ I have never checked the fluid on mine so mine could be similar.

For future reference a E30 wheel-nut head fits in the drain plug hole just double nut the other end of it and undo that way instead of buying a specific tool

[Phatputer 3]

Awesome, that is an interesting piece of info, although to get the idea of how right these were

We ended up welding the piece onto a couple feet of pipe and this had to struggle to get it off.

reinstalled with slightly less passion than previous mechanic

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

^ I have never checked the fluid on mine so mine could be similar.

For future reference a E30 wheel-nut head fits in the drain plug hole just double nut the other end of it and undo that way instead of buying a specific tool

haha i found that too! i measured the plug to find out what tool to buy and then noticed it was 17mm and thought brainwave lol! best $50 saved ever