E30 Zone

Just wondered if anyone knew how to identify a geniune sport gearbox from just looking at the external body ?

PM E30Adam mate. he found that the sport boxes have a different stamp on the front face of the bell housing. i cant remember what the difference was, even though i wrote it down somewhere

Thanks Scott pm on its way

anyone help please

no luck off adam mate?

No Scott , i.m afraid not , i'm after one and it would be nice to know what i'm looking for

If i could get my sport box out of the house without my parents knowing id flog u mine! Im pretty sure my dad would miss my gearbox if it disappeared from under the bench tho.

A bit cheeky of me , but i've got a 325 box hanging around if that could help make your mind up

it could do, but getting both of my rents out the house for you to come up would be a PITA.

ok Scott no problem , just a thought ,nothing ventured nothing gained

i would mate, but ive had nothing but earache over selling e30 bits lately... worse than being bloody married i swear!

Hey guys,

i have swaped over many 325 and sport boxes and havent noticed difference! they all feel like the same rations, correct me if im wrong but the only difference with a sport model in drive train is it has a different ratio lsd differential. a 320i box will fit but that is smaller and weaker.

i had a 320i box on my 2.7 turbo till i blew it (startted wining after doing 140mph for a minuite, lol) and had to drive home in 4th gear and then i put on a box from a sport and it was ok for a while till i reversed up my driveway on day and when i put it back into neutral and let go of the clutch, the car stalled and basically it stayed locked in reverse!!!, but now have a normal manual 325 box and its fine.

your not talking about a m3 dog leg box are you??

g57yle wrote:Hey guys,

i have swaped over many 325 and sport boxes and havent noticed difference! they all feel like the same rations, correct me if im wrong but the only difference with a sport model in drive train is it has a different ratio lsd differential. a 320i box will fit but that is smaller and weaker.

i had a 320i box on my 2.7 turbo till i blew it (startted wining after doing 140mph for a minuite, lol) and had to drive home in 4th gear and then i put on a box from a sport and it was ok for a while till i reversed up my driveway on day and when i put it back into neutral and let go of the clutch, the car stalled and basically it stayed locked in reverse!!!, but now have a normal manual 325 box and its fine.

your not talking about a m3 dog leg box are you??

325i sport has it's own box, only difference is the ratios in 1st 2nd and 3rd.

Sorry to jack the thread.

But is the sport box worth having over a normal 325i box?

chu346 wrote:Sorry to jack the thread.

But is the sport box worth having over a normal 325i box?

Probably not!

not really i used to be able to pull on sports with nemo

sport boxes are stronger apparently.....

all the boxes are gertrag hardly weak anyways
its the diffs that are weak

OllieB wrote:sport boxes are stronger apparently.....

Yeah, can't see there being any difference in strength.

Just the 1st 3 ratios.

For the record..

Sport ratios

1st - 3.35
2nd - 2.03
3rd - 1.36

Non sport

1st - 3.83
2nd - 2.20
3rd - 1.40

Out of curiosity what's the advantage of the shorter ratios on a sport box? Quicker accelration? First seems pretty damn short on my standard box anyway!!!

with the standard box when giving it beans, from 2nd to 3rd it drops u out of the power band.

sport box keeps u in the power band. i think they are worth it. Especially if u want to build the fastest e30 possible. With a 3.91 diff too u have the best start. Unless u want to go 323 dogleg box for an M20! and M3 diff ratio 3.25 or something, but i only know one person with this as they are so rare. The dogleg box has a direct final drive. I'm not even sure if this is any quicker than the other setup

If sport boxes didn't work howcome the m-tech 1 sport on an autocar road test in 1896, tested a sport and standard 325 both with 3.64 diffs from 0-60 and the sport was 0.5 a second quicker? proof in the pudding me thinks.

But each to their own

Most people who say don't bother with sportboxes have never driven a car with them! apart from Simon

Simon13 wrote:
If sport boxes didn't work howcome the m-tech 1 sport on an autocar road test in 1896

apart from Simon

Bloody hell, didn't realise they've been making the E30 that long!!

We all know how the press cars were tuned up a little, it was probably a C2.7 in disguise!

ive driven both phase 1 and 2 sports simon13 so im basing my opinions on that

but in real world driving are you really going to feel .5 of a second

nope

Richy325iTouring wrote:ive driven both phase 1 and 2 sports simon13 so im basing my opinions on that

but in real world driving are you really going to feel .5 of a second

nope

of course u are richy! they did it for a reason..............

0.5 of a sec to 60 is a bi difference when u are drag racing up at santa or by your local halfords at da cruz! might be the difference between being a hero or losing to a Saxo with a peco backbox

Si I thought for a sec u were upto the editing trick again!

The only reason a standard 325 box gives a better 0-60 time is because u can hit 60mph in 2nd
you can't do that with the sport box so have a extra gear change hence it ruins the 0-60 time
But
the sport ratio's with the 3.9 lsd are perfect for a tuned M20 it will always be in the sweet spot
i tracked mine and the gearing was spot on always felt like u were in the right gear

Simon13 wrote:
Si I thought for a sec u were upto the editing trick again!

Simon13 wrote:

Richy325iTouring wrote:ive driven both phase 1 and 2 sports simon13 so im basing my opinions on that

but in real world driving are you really going to feel .5 of a second

nope

of course u are richy! they did it for a reason..............

0.5 of a sec to 60 is a bi difference when u are drag racing up at santa or by your local halfords at da cruz! might be the difference between being a hero or losing to a Saxo with a peco backbox

Si I thought for a sec u were upto the editing trick again!

i said real world not santa pod

dlatch33 wrote:The only reason a standard 325 box gives a better 0-60 time is because u can hit 60mph in 2nd
you can't do that with the sport box so have a extra gear change hence it ruins the 0-60 time
But
the sport ratio's with the 3.9 lsd are perfect for a tuned M20 it will always be in the sweet spot
i tracked mine and the gearing was spot on always felt like u were in the right gear

And what Duncan says is totally opposite to what Simon13 is saying?

I remember a long winded topic about this before...

stop arguing for the sake of it

So what would a 325i touring with a 3.91 LSD diff have then? Maybe I'm driving it wrong but 60 only comes up in third but she pulls like a fcuking train with no discernable drop in power while getting there....

Simon13 wrote:stop arguing for the sake of it

whos arguing

just stating real world is different to the strip

i am right and everyone else is wrong lol

sport deffo only manges 55mph in 2nd on the limiter well my old one did.

and i have driven a boggo 325 and that deffo did just over 60mph in 2nd

325sme

your touring has very low gearing. thats why it feels so quick, but in the real world no quicker. your car is best suited to a 3.6 diff.

the sport box is a really nice box, first gear is lovely. much longer than that standard box.

Get an M30 not a sports box, short shift up at 5k and it will still be pulling like a bastard when the next gears in

Andy335Touring wrote:Get an M30 not a sports box, short shift up at 5k and it will still be pulling like a bastard when the next gears in

lol thats true but it feels like its not trying hard enough mikes E28 535 trackcar still feels like your popping down the shops even when your flat out round a racetrack