M20 and Getrag 240

[Beau B]

I know this topic has been covered before and I have searched but I have yet to find someone who was actually running this setup. Long story short in one of the local BMW parts pages on facebook a guy pulled his M42 and drivetrain and was selling it. Someone jumped in and said "Many 325 owners swap the 240 trans for a little shorter 1-3 gears" anyways went back and forth; I finally just stopped responding after he said "Literally the same trans with different gearing on the inside so there is no power handling differences since it was someone's for sale ad and did not want to take away from the ad.

Now I have been away from E30's for a few years but not that long and I just wanted to make sure I did not go stupid while I was gone.. but I have yet to see or hear anyone doing this with their M20. Have many M20 owners been swapping out their 260's for 240's, I still do not see any benefit with the amount of work that needs to be done to a) make it work and b) for a smaller tranny when a rear end swap is easier and cheaper.. anyways.. just curious like I said I have been away from E30's for the past few years.

[Swanny]

Only in dire straights would I consider doing it. Only people I've heard of asking were usually too cheap to pony up the extra cash for a 260. The usual answer would be that the 240 will work but it's not as robust as the 260 and doesn't like to be overpowered. Just remember that BMW mated it to 4 cyl engines for a reason, and not just for gearing.

[Beau B]

That is exactly what I thought.. thanks like I said just wanted to check my facts since I had been away for a little while.

[Nick_S]

Only in dire straights would I consider doing it. Only people I've heard of asking were usually too cheap to pony up the extra cash for a 260. The usual answer would be that the 240 will work but it's not as robust as the 260 and doesn't like to be overpowered. Just remember that BMW mated it to 4 cyl engines for a reason, and not just for gearing.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But don't the Euro 320i's have an M20 mated to a G240? I have been told and read multiple times that only way to use a G240 with an M50 swap (what I'm doing) is by getting the 320 linkage. Granted the 320 is down on power from a 325.