What to look for when buying a used transmission

[Paradox]

Besides fluid and shifter feel is there anything else I can check when buying a used m20 getrag tranny?

[LJ851]

How much play is in the input shaft is a good indicator of mileage.

[TrentW]

I know this may be difficult, but can you give more detail on how much play is acceptable?

[jlevie]

The ounly way to truly know something about what you are getting in a used transmission is to drive the car it is coming out of. Even then you can't be sure how long the transmission will last. If you want a "sure deal" get a rebuilt from drive-gear.com. Those are good and warrantied.

[TrentW]

That's kinda what I figured. The issue here is I can get all the 5 spd swap parts I need from a 130k mile car for $300. It's for my wife's '88 Seta and I'm trying to convince her it's worth doing the conversion since I'll be also swapping in an M20b25 at the same time. I've got a BMW guru local to me that could rebuild it also, which would be less money than spending $850 for a rebuilt trans shipped from Drive Gear--though I've also heard they're very reputable and do quality work. So you see what I'm trying to do here--dump the sluggish and failure prone auto trans without spending too much money and make my wife happy too. :D