Getrag gearbox models Questions?

[Aaron from Aus]

Im looking at buying a parts car as my brother needs parts for his 528i and i need parts for mine..(luckily not the same parts)

Any way i noticed on Decoding the VINs that my car has Getrag 260/5 with special remarks stating it is a close ratio gearbox of 0.61...my car was built in october 1984

Any way i decoded the Vins of the cars i was looking at buying and they came back with Getrag 265/6 yet they where alot earlier models than mine.. produced from 1981 to 1982.

The question is which is the later and better gearbox??? i thought i had read in previous posts that the 265/6 was the stronger box if you want more power?

Which is the best one? (mine seems to have the special remarks of eing a close ratio gear box...so id assume that is beter?? yes/No?

Cheers.

[Dan]

I'm not an authority, by any means, however here's my take:

The gearbox that is commonly thought to be the best in terms of longevity is the G265. The 260 is supposed to be less desirable. I'm not entirely sure where that opinion comes from, but the 265 was available in the 82 528e and the 85 e28 (maybe both eta and 535i, but definately 535i). The close-ratio transmission, commonly referred to as a "Dog-Leg" tranny, is even more desirable, due to it's rarity. First gear is down and to the left, then second-fifth are in an H-pattern. This tranny is a close ratio tranny, and is considered an upgrade.

Icehaus said his wife's dog-leg started making some noise, so it's been removed from her car to be rebuilt. I have a 265 with unknown mileage (a used tranny put in my parts car at 210k, pulled at 350k+some due to broken odometer, and installed on daily driver) with a bad third gear synchro.

Where that puts you: If you truely have a close-ratio (first is down and to the left), that is the most valuable transmission. The g265 is next, followed by the g260, because it came in every other e28. I'm not addressing the g280 that came in the m5, because I don't know much about it. I can't help you make a decision. Good luck.

Dan

[Aaron from Aus]

Thanks,
I dont have he dog-leg box but it is a close ratio box according to the VIN..so im not sure which is better.

Ive heard of 260/5 265/5 and 265/6 whats the diffrence between the last 2?

[Guest]

Aaron,

Here's what I've found during my research to retrofit the G265 into my deceased 533i which had the 260/5 transmission.

The 260/5 was Getrag/BMW's first attempt at developing a single piece case transmission. In the US cars, the 260/5 was used in all M20/M30 engined cars (with appropriate bellhousing/bolt pattern for engine type) from '82 through '84. It was found that the 260/5 wasn't strong enough to deal with the M30's torque output.

In the '85 model year, all 5-sp equipped M30 engined BMWs received the G265/6 without the speedo drive and a bellhousing setup for the Motronic speed/reference sensors.

From '86 till the end of production, BMW installed an improved G260/6 in all M30 engined with manual 5-speeds. The G260/6 is basically the G265 internals inside of a one piece case and is every bit as strong as the G265. In all reality the single piece case is probably stronger from a rigidity standpoint.

Ive heard of 260/5 265/5 and 265/6 whats the diffrence between the last 2?

The G265/5 is an OD transmission, where as the G265/6 is the Sport version. I believe the G265/6 is the highly sought after E30 M3 transmission and is close ratio with a 1:1 final.

The ultimate transmission if you can find one in good condition would be G280 used in the E28 M5 and later E24 M635Csi/M6. This is a semi-close ratio 5-speed OD transmission. My research indicates that Getrag may have changed the synchro material from brass to moly sometime in it's production life. The earlier brass synchro'd version is more desirable than the later moly synchro'd version. You can tell the difference by looking at the lubrication type specified. If the G280 has a Green label specing Special Oil with a BMW PN, I've been told this is the brass syncro'd version. If the trans has the pink/red label specing ATF it's the moly synchro version. I don't have any hard evidence about the synchro material, only what I've pulled together from various websites and also Redline Tech Support. It's possible all G280's utilize the moly synchros and a switch was made to ATF to improve the shifting qualities.

HTH

Rich
'85 Euro M5

If the G280 has a Green label specing Special Oil with a BMW PN, I've been told this is the brass syncro'd version. If the trans has the pink/red label specing ATF it's the moly synchro version. I don't have any hard evidence about the synchro material, only what I've pulled together from various websites and also Redline Tech Support. It's possible all G280's utilize the moly synchros and a switch was made to ATF to improve the shifting qualities.

Update: I checked the ETK in regards to the Brass vs Moly synchro issue and found that the early G280 from 10/84 through 6/86 have completely different synchro PNs, for the gears and cones than those produced after 6/86. When checking the reverse retrofit, the new PNs do not show as being a retrofit for the older build date synchro set.

[Edit by Rich Euro M5 on [TIME]1120490201[/TIME]]

[Aaron from Aus]

GOLD

Thanks heaps Rich...thats the kind of dirt i was after.

Cheers.