Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on things to check when looking for used ZF transmissions? In the last year, I've bought a couple ZF transmissions, and the "grimy" zf320 that went into my e36 with ~170k miles from a 98 M3 has worked quite well (the original zf320 in the car lasted 270k before 3rd gear got noisy). On the other hand, I bought and installed a similar mileage zf310 from a 95 M3 that went into my 24v e30 has been nothing but overly noisy since installing it (more than just single mass flywheel noise), and difficult to shift (tried recommended ATF at first, now Redline MTL which is more clunky and notchy). My friend's s52 car with a 310 is rather noisy as well, granted shifts a little smoother.
Are later zf320 units just generally better than the earlier 310's (aside from the need for the detent service)? Nowadays most of these transmissions are 20 years old with higher miles, so should I just find a low mileage unit, or are there things to check for aside from excessive output shaft play? Or is there a place that rebuilds the ZF's for a reasonable price? The only places I found were diffsonline and metricmechanic, but they wanted well over $3000 to refurbish an e36 ZF...that's moving into 6-speed swap territory.
I'm all ears for any pointers or suggestions. The car has an m20 clutch/flywheel combo with a 3.25 diff if it makes any difference.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on things to check when looking for used ZF transmissions? In the last year, I've bought a couple ZF transmissions, and the "grimy" zf320 that went into my e36 with ~170k miles from a 98 M3 has worked quite well (the original zf320 in the car lasted 270k before 3rd gear got noisy). On the other hand, I bought and installed a similar mileage zf310 from a 95 M3 that went into my 24v e30 has been nothing but overly noisy since installing it (more than just single mass flywheel noise), and difficult to shift (tried recommended ATF at first, now Redline MTL which is more clunky and notchy). My friend's s52 car with a 310 is rather noisy as well, granted shifts a little smoother.
Are later zf320 units just generally better than the earlier 310's (aside from the need for the detent service)? Nowadays most of these transmissions are 20 years old with higher miles, so should I just find a low mileage unit, or are there things to check for aside from excessive output shaft play? Or is there a place that rebuilds the ZF's for a reasonable price? The only places I found were diffsonline and metricmechanic, but they wanted well over $3000 to refurbish an e36 ZF...that's moving into 6-speed swap territory.
I'm all ears for any pointers or suggestions. The car has an m20 clutch/flywheel combo with a 3.25 diff if it makes any difference.
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