E30 Zone

manuals as my dad is looking at one and am just wondering if any came in 5 or were the all 6? or was it an option etc.

A mate had an 03 plate and that was 5sp manual.

I would image all the face lift ones are as my mates 320D (2004 facelift) is a 6sp and a rapid one at that

my 02 was a 5 speed

6 speed is available, seems to have come in later than the facelift. 5spd is perfectly adequate I've never found it too revvy/noisy on the motorway and 5th is all you need for most overtakes. 6spd really suits the M62B44 though....

My daily driver is a 5 speed 330ci (for sale btw ), tbh I'd quite like a sixth for motorway cruising, it would be nice for improving mpg and general cruising.

Probably not a vast amount of help, but the diesels are 5 or 6 spd. Facelift cars '53' onwards are 6.

6th gear on my E30 is like icing on the cake, 37mpg over a 100mile journey at 80-90

DanThe wrote:6th gear on my E30 is like icing on the cake, 37mpg over a 100mile journey at 80-90

I can only manage 34mpg avg on a motorway run.Mostly avg 30.7mpg on the commute(100 miles)
But the E39 is about 1/3 ton heavier

Facelifted saloons (august 2001 onwards) have six gears. Facelifted coupes (2003 onwards) had six gears. Pre-facelift cars have 5 gears unless they where orded with 6 gears as a cost option.

BadDave wrote:

DanThe wrote:6th gear on my E30 is like icing on the cake, 37mpg over a 100mile journey at 80-90

I can only manage 34mpg avg on a motorway run.Mostly avg 30.7mpg on the commute(100 miles)
But the E39 is about 1/3 ton heavier

Whats the final drive ratio on your 5 Dave?

DanThe wrote:

BadDave wrote:

DanThe wrote:6th gear on my E30 is like icing on the cake, 37mpg over a 100mile journey at 80-90

I can only manage 34mpg avg on a motorway run.Mostly avg 30.7mpg on the commute(100 miles)
But the E39 is about 1/3 ton heavier

Whats the final drive ratio on your 5 Dave?

2.93:1 IIRC

Didnt expect it to be that tall TBH, im using an M3 diff 3.25:1