318i driveshaft...useless?

[highoutput]

OK, Im in the middle of my M50 swap......and today, I found out the hard way that my trans is no good, and wont mount up. I searched and searched, but couldnt find any soild info telling me if My M10 trans and driveshaft were any good or not. Apparently there's about an inch gap between the bellhousing and block....and now I'm up shit creek.:drink:

SO!
Now Im going to hopefully pick up a Getrag 260 tomorrow. The question is.....will my exisiting 318i driveshaft still work???or do i need a new one?

Seeing that almost everything from my M10 and "whatever" transmission I had dosent work, Im guessing there'll be some problem with the original shaft as well.

anyone??

[Matt-B]

you need a drive shaft, that came with the trans, a 318is wont work

were you using a late or early 240 getrag btw?

[highoutput]

yeah, im not talking about the G240, i know u need an 36 driveshft for that one. I dont have that.

I have a regular old '84 318i........i assumed it had a G260 in it, but that was incorrect

Anyway, Im finally getting a G260 tomorrow, and I dont know if i need the 325e driveshaft that came with the G260, originaly from a 325e? Or if the one on my 318i is going to work.

[Adrian_Visser]

you need a drive shaft, that came with the trans

[highoutput]

Just out of curiosity, whats differnt about them? legnth I assume?

and what trans IS in my 318i then?....i'd love to know.

Thanks for the answer btw

[Matt-B]

early 240, 318is, late model 240

[highoutput]

I jusy copied and pasted this directly from the "24v swap read this thead"

"E30 Getrag 240
Use E36 325i driveshaft, stock crossmember, stock mounts"

So..........why dosent my trans work if its an g240??

This is where i got the idea it would be ok in the first place, so obviously i dont understand something here.......

[The Humjet]

They are referring to late g240 which has a bellhousing that matches the m50 motors, yours is different it can only fit on m10 and m30 engines

[agile30]

My question is why doesn't the late model g240 driveshaft work on an m50 swap? Isn't it technically just adding 2 cylinders on front of the m42. That's always bothered me. If the tranny mount lines up the same and bolts up why would I need a new driveshaft if its still in the same location.

[Eecen]

The back of an m42 sits farther forward than the back of an m/s5X. Farther forward means longer drive shaft.

Transmission cross brace is adjustable forwards/backwards.

[Matt-B]

/\ this, my m50 is damn near touching firewall, the m42, i could get both hands back there