Torque converter differences r2 and w2?

[orville22]

My 88 cabrio has a W2 t-converter almost all the other e30's have an R2 and if you go to buy a remanned one they all say they work for the R2 or the W2. Bentley manual lists both? What the hell is the difference. My W2 t-converter is full of crap and don't function properly so I am not gonna put it back on with my rebuilt tranny(yes I actually went through and rebuilt my auto- not as hard as you would think).
So could I just use an R2 for mine or should I get the W2 and does that mean i can't buy the remanned ones because they can not specify which. The weather's gettin nice and i just can't stand seeing this thing on jacks another day.

[jeffnhiscars]

My 88 cabrio has a W2 t-converter almost all the other e30's have an R2 and if you go to buy a remanned one they all say they work for the R2 or the W2. Bentley manual lists both? What the hell is the difference. My W2 t-converter is full of crap and don't function properly so I am not gonna put it back on with my rebuilt tranny(yes I actually went through and rebuilt my auto- not as hard as you would think).
So could I just use an R2 for mine or should I get the W2 and does that mean i can't buy the remanned ones because they can not specify which. The weather's gettin nice and i just can't stand seeing this thing on jacks another day.

The torque converters are the hydraulic pump for the gear box and is the only part that is model specific due to the weight diff fences among models. Can you swap them around and be fine...yes. Will it be ideal...probably not. Will you care ? Depends.

[orville22]

I had figured since the reman people call them interchangeable that it had something to do with the stall point or the rpms required to build pressure for lock up so i guess unless someone has a real cheap W2 their sittin on willin to ship I'm just gonna throw in the R2 that I have access to and give it a shot

[jeffnhiscars]

I have one :)

It's heavy though so may not be worth shipping.