E30 Manual Conversion

[Rohil 30]

Hey guys,

Would you happen to know if a E28 full manual conversion kit would fit on an E30? One has popped up for sale from an M20 powered car, and kinda want to jump on it ASAP cause its a steal. Getrag 260 box btw.

Will the pedal box etc all fit in?

Thanks for your input.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Rohil

[will 169]

Box will bolt up, pedal cluster will not. The gear linkage might also not fit. Propshaft is also questionable. I would pass on it.

[Rohil 30]

Cheers man! Damn, i was really hoping itd work. Not the easiest thing finding a whole conversion haha

[Rohil 30]

Also, if i was to get a Getrag 260, would it work on my M20B23? And then in future on a M20B25?
Alternatively would my current 4 sp Auto box from the 323i work with a M20B25? Just need to know options and interchangeability for the boxes. I understand the bellhousing might be different so wondering if theres certain boxes and engines which go together,

Thanks

[will 169]

You can fit any gearbox off a M20 motor onto another M20 motor, regardless of capacity. So your 323 auto will bolt up to a 325. However, you need to bear in mind that early 325 motors use sensors on the flywheel/bellhousing to run the early motronic system. If you do go for an early motor, it is preferable to use the later 1.3 motronic system as it is more advanced. This uses sensors on the crank pulley/spark plug lead so solves the issue of flywheel/bellhousing sensors.

In your position, I would go manual first. Dont forget that you only need the clutch/brake pedals, not the whole cluster. You should put new clutch master/slave cylinders on when doing the swap, so dont need those either. There is also nothing wrong with a 240 box, so dont get fixated with a 260 box.

[Rohil 30]

From what iv read the doesnt the 240 only bolt onto the 4 cyl E30s? Because if it will work on an M20 then thats great! Because theres a lot more of them around and for cheaper.

So just getting this straight, go for the manual conversion first on the 323i. And preferably find a later M20B25 and we should be golden.

I hear that the B23 and B25 bellhousings are different though?

[will 169]

e30 320/323 mostly came with the G240.

The M10 4 cyl box can not be used directly behind the M20 as the bellhousing bolt pattern is different, but it will bolt up to any M30 motor.

The G240 will bolt up to ANY M20 whether it be M20B20, M20B23, M20B25 or M20B27 eta motor. Likewise, the G260 will also bolt up to any of these M20 motors.

Just to expand the topic a bit, the G240 and the G260 will also bolt up to the M40B18, M42B18, M44B19, M50B20/B25, M52B20/B25/B28, M54's, S50/S52 etc. They will sit at about 10degrees off vertical behind any of these motors due to these motors sitting slightly more vertical than the M20 motors. Likewise, any gearbox off any of the M42/44/50/52/54 will bolt up to an M20, but will be off vertical by the same 10degrees in the other direction. All can be made to work in an e30 by manufacturing a specific crossmember and modifying the linkages slightly.

So, theoretically you have a huge pool of manual gearboxes which will bolt up directly to your M20B23 and also to any M20B25, and will work with the right tweaking/accessories.

[Rohil 30]

So iv tracked down a whole manual kit its about an hour away from me and iv got a quote for install as well. Just getting a price from Ray hopefully for him to install and get the parts required so i guess ill weigh up the options.