Parts for a Getrag 6 speed?

[conrod]

I was given a spare gearbox for my project car, it is a 6 speed Getrag out of an E36 M3 EVO. Problem is, the synchros on 2nd and 3rd are stuffed.(it was free, so not complaining!) I want to rebuild it as spare, but am told by BMW that parts for this are not available. Anyone managed to source bits from anywhere?

[Turbo-Brown]

Be interested to know if they are available as they're sealed these gearboxes aren't they?

Also, I believe that 1st and 2nd gears each have 3syncros each, 3rd and 4th have 2syncros each and 5th, 6th and Reverse have a more normal 1each!

So god knows how you knacker them!

[conrod]

Thank you for your reply.This box came out of a car that was used for endurance racing, and has seen many hard miles, and I cannot tell you if the driver is easy on the gear or not, I would say probably not! I have pulled apart the "good" one that will be going into the car without too much difficulty, to repair a crack in the housing, so I am not sure what you mean by "sealed". My BMW parts man tells me that there are only a few parts available for these, a couple of switches, and a seal or two. I am wondering if it uses the same synchros as the 5 speed in the 328/M3, as these have the same ratios from first to fifth, and use multiple synchros on each gear. Parts are available for this (5 speed) box, but are bloody expensive, so I would want to be sure they are the same before ordering them. A new exchange gearbox is pretty horrendous, about NZ$5-6K, so really I am trying to get a cheap spare by rebuilding this spare box.

[GermanGorilla]

Hi Conrod,

What's this have you given up on S14.Net ?

You will find it almost impossible to source replacement Gears and layshafts for the Getrag 260 6 box.

There is a guy in the UK who rebuilds them, but parts and spares are his biggest problem.
Its the same gearbox as the E34 M5 6 speed, E34 540i Manual, E36 3.2 Evo, and the E46 M3.

They are available in the UK, secondhand from around 500.00 pounds upwards, about 1300 + NZD, plus the deraded shipping.

They are available in OZ, so getting one shipped from there to you would be a lot cheaper.

Reagrds,

The Gorilla.

[conrod]

Hello Gorilla,good to hear from you, and no I haven't given up on S14.net! But you know how some of them feel about non S14 engines, and as I'm fitting this lot into a standard bodied E30, I am trying to keep my "contributions" on that site to things that are relevant to to E30 M3's. How is that carbon intake/plenum coming along? I am onto a guy here who has the NZ agency for "Superchips" - says he can supply a better (generic)map for my engine, and even do custom mapping for it, I will do some dyno runs once it is a runner, then get him to do his stuff, so I can get a "before and after" comparison- could be good! Do you have any experience or knowledge of the Schrick cams for the S50? I am thinking this could be my first upgrade once it is a runner.I would be interested to know where your gearbox man gets his parts for the 6 speed, although I am sure he would keep this info close to his chest! I may pull aprt a 5 speed to see if there is any parts commonality, if no one can tell me- would be a worthwhile excercise I think. Anyway, thanks and keep in touch.
cheers Conrod

[GermanGorilla]

Conrod,

The 5 Speed and 6 speed share nothing internally.

The Guy who rebuilds the 6 speed boxes, has parts that he saves from various rebuilds.

In some ways the 5 speed is the better box, some say its stronger, there seems to be less problems with 5 speed boxes than 6 speed thats for sure.

I am going to use a Carbon Airbox with Alpha N so that I can delete the MAF, should be able to get somewhere near 330-350 hopefully.

I think you are wasting your time and money on shrick cams for this engine.

That money would be better spent on Brakes, Suspension, etc, as the 15 BHP that you may gain is hardly noticeable at the levels your talking.
Keep it fairly standard, easy to replace parts, etc,

Still hope it all goes well.

Regards,

The Gorilla.

[conrod]

Hello again Gorilla, I'm getting off topic here I know, but too bad, its my thread so I think I can hijack it! On your car, when you go to the carbon intake and delete the AFM I take it you will be changing the management system? If so, which one will you be using? I know what you are getting at about the Schrick cams, and bang for buck they probably don't look too smart. But I will be spending the money right from the start on BIG Ap brakes all round, and at this stage I will probably go with Reiger suspension, so the car will be fairly well specced to start with. Thinking more for the future engine wise,(I will run it stock to start with) and trying to figure the best order to fit modded parts- I am thinking that cams would probably just require a remap of the existing ECU. I was looking at a bare head today that I was given, the ports look like a full race spec. - dead smooth and a straight shot at the inlet valve- you would be very hard pressed to improve on it I think! Compared to an S62 head I was looking at last week, still very nice, but not quite the same level of finishing on it, there were a few lumps in the inlet tract where the cnc cutter met the casting edge that looked/felt like it could use a bit of finishing. Pulleys should be finished now, I went from 125mm on crank down to 100,(and deleted outer pulley) and up from 50mm on alternator to 80, so a 20% underdrive on water and power steering pump, and from 150% overdriven on the alternator down to 25% overdriven, which should hopefully be about right for what I intend using it for.
cheers conrod

[GermanGorilla]

Hi Conrad,

Your statement on the S52 Head, is absolutley correct, so why play about with it ?

When I switch to the Carbon Airbox and delete the MAF, I will have to switch to Alpha N.

Alpha N acts as a 'TPS' [Throttle Position Sensor], and gives more power.

Alpha N does not replace the ECU it piggy backs onto it, but allows you to map the engine.

The S52 engine is best left standard in my view, unless its an out and out race car, and even then, a Guy here has just won the Khumo series in the UK, in S52 M3 Engined E36, which was absolutely standard.

If you want real power, lock down the Vanos, Carbon Airbox, Alpha N, remove the cats, and your talking 350-360 BHP and about 6 to the Gallon.

Your pulleys sound interesting, please keep me informed on how the underdrive pulleys perform.

As a tail note I have just purchased some CSL cams which when fitted with the VAC uprated Valve Springs, Motec or Pectel ECU and a Carbon Air Box, should give a reliable 370 BHP with no cats, but thats about as far as I would want to go.
This spec is for the Trackday / Weekend project car, not the road S52.

Regards,

The Gorilla.