Questionunfortunitly this car is sentamentale tomy wife and will remain an automatic because i have seen your reply to a guy wanting to do the standard swap. is there i slightly newer auto that would perform a little better than the one i have? on another note if i was going to put a 325i head onto my 87 325e would only need a new ECU to match the head? or is it more complex than that?
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hello. i have a january '87 325, 2.69L automatic 4 door. the transmission is getting a little jumpy. by that i mean it does switch gears so easy anymore. it only has 85000km on it. anyway i am wondering if there is a newer model that uses a similar block at trans set up w/ shiftronic. my wife wants auto but i like a little more hands on. a newer shiftronic trans would solve it all. i mean at least the tranny prob.
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Jordon,
That bodystyle BMW was made for a long time. For over ten years it remained unchanged. So by the time the next generation 3-series was unveiled technology had grown by lightyears. BMW did not start with steptronic/shiftronic transmissions until about 2000-2001. So you would have to retrofit a late model transmission into a much less complicated package. That's just to get the transmission in. You need some sort of adapter to make the tranny fit to the back of your engine as well, and would likely need to be custom made.
To be honest steptronic transmissions are not the best (in my oppinion). They are just an automatic that will shift when you push a lever. And then they dont shift how you would want them to. If I had to recommend an option I would tell you to stick with a Manual transmission. Manual's dont break, the only thing that happens is the clutch wears (every 150,000 miles). So you can guarantee no transmission problems, and the only expense is the clutch ($300). Automatics have the clutches INSIDE the transmission, and require the whole tranny to be disassembled to fix. No matter how you drive it, the Automatic WILL break... no matter what. To fix and automatic it costs north of $1000.
In summary, there is no practical way to retrofit a steptronic tranny into the car without alot of money, mechanical know-how, and time.
Good luck,
Josh
AnswerJordon,
I have never seen another transmission that will bolt up to the M20 (your engine). There were different make 5-speed gearboxes, but they were the same transmission... only manufactured by two different companys (ZF and Getrag). Simply put, unless you are adept at modification and metal work, there is no way to drop in a later transmission into your car. Like I said in the previous email, you would have to get a later model tranny (which will likely need complex electronics to shift properly) modify the bell-housing and input shaft to adapt it to your car. Then you would need a new driveshaft, as I'm sure the transmission is not the exact length as the original. Believe me, it would be an expensive nightmare, and completely not worth the effort.
The 325i and 325e use completely different electronics to manage the engines operation. Since the "i" head naturally belongs in an "i" car, its easy to do this swap. But putting this engine into an "e" car would require installation of the complete electronics and ECU from a 325i. This isn't an easy swap either, the instrument cluster will have to be changed, all the wiring, it's a job to swap this into an "e" car. I have this engine in a 325i, so it was as simple as dropping an engine in and plugging everything up. Sorry to rain on your parade, as I do respect people who are willing to try new things and make their cars better. The engine would be a big bump in performance (from 120hp to 170hp), but I dont know if its worth it. Thats what you have to decide!
Good luck,
Josh
