1989 325is Manual Transmission

[TheKidLechi]

Good evening gentlemen. I am new to this forum and in a desperate search for a manual transmission for my 1989 BMW 325is. My father, his close friend and I usually pull parts from local yards and this works just fine for us. However, on our last visit to the yard, we spent all day wrestling and tugging on a 1988 325e manual transmission. At the time we did not know of the incompatibility between the i/is & the e model. Now we are stuck searching for places that could have this transmission. Could anyone point me in the correct direction please? I live in the southwest area of Houston, TX.

Thank You.

[jlevie]

That transmission can be made to work with the M20B25 single mass flywheel. The bell housing is deeper and you need a different throwout bearing.

[Spitfi-r]

Check out: Euro 323 throw out bearing pn 21511204525

[Wanganstyle]

That transmission can be made to work with the M20B25 single mass flywheel. The bell housing is deeper and you need a different throwout bearing.

incorrect info jlevie; a very rare occurance!!

From my own 87 car with matching to body vin number on its transmission I learned:

the 87/88 325E have shallow bellhousings. They are identical to the 325i units and have a DUAL MASS flywheel from bmw; they have a clutch stack height identical to a e34 525i dual mass and can take a 325i M20 flywheel and clutch and standard throw out bearing happily.

in my 6 speed conquest I had all the variations side by side to compare WITH CLUTCHES and flywheels also;

m20 deep bell
m20 eta shallow bell
m20 i normal bell with no sensor holes

zf5 speed

e46 gas zf 6 speed
e46 disel zf 6 speed
e46 m3 getrag 6 speed