engine and drivetrain M20 5 Speed (OD) Costs - long

[Guest Anonymous]

I have my M20 5 speed overdrive trans complete and here is what it cost.

I purchased the last new M20 245 front housing item 23-11-1-206-940 from BMW of SF, $406.88 w/ tax

Next I wanted a good low milage 245 5 speed so I contacted Sherman Martinez and got one for $250. Yeah I could have searched the pay-n-pics and maybe found one for half of what I paid, but I can think of many reasons to pay a little extra.

Then I contacted a good friend that is very knowledgable with these transmissions to do the machining, disassembly and assembly work.

The 323 5 speed front housing needed some machining for the input shaft bearing. This was rather simple, but I didn't want to give directions to a machine shop and be wrong as I could have caused much more work in repairing a mistake. Basically the inner surface needed to be stepped down a bit more, drill and tap 3 holes for the input shaft housing, and a through hole for oiling. Total $150

All new seals and residuals plus labor to assemble $215.

Total $1,021.88

So if you're looking for one of these very hard to find M20 245 5 speed overdrive trans and someone quotes you a high price, maybe you can justify buying it considering how much it took complete my 5 speed. And no it's not for sale.

[Guest Anonymous]

First off Arne, thanks for the detailed post. But I'm confused as to why you needed machining done, or maybe I'm missing something. The only way I thought you would need machining is if you try to put a 4speed bellhousing (ie, e21 323i) onto a getrag 245 (ie, e21 320i 5spd). Maybe I got lucky, but my costs were:

- 5speed 323i bellhousing, beadblasted and cleared - $100USD

- getrag 245 5speed - $200CDN for *entire* '82 320i with about 150k kilometers

- misc seals ..don't remember, but $around 80USD I think

- 2.5 hours labor @ 75CDN per hour. Included tapping the reverse light hole, disassembly of original bellhousin, assembly of new bellhousing, and all materials (ie, sealant)

At a even lower scale, I think Instructor Bill had a 323i 4speed for sale for $150USD a while ago. So all you guys wanting to do the swap....lowball is probably a couple hundred, and I think the high end would be Arne's price.

BUT..of course...Arne's trans will probably last the longest

go big or go home

Matt

'72 02/m20 ~ drivin it like I stole it

[Guest Anonymous]

Matt,

I was surprized as well that the part would need machining. The BMW part # I was originally given was 23-11-1-209-412, but when BMW of SF actually started looking they found this # was either replaced or superceded by # 23-11-1-206-940.

I searched for for a used 323 5 speed for at least 1 month and had no luck. Used 4 speed trans are available for about $300 - $400, and I found a CR for $1000, but no 5 speeds, and certainly no front housings.

With this said, I think if anyone finds a used 5 speed for a responable price then they're damn lucky. Any certainly if anyone can find some kind of "low ball" deal then they should probably buy some Lotto tickets as well.

As for my trans being "high end $$", I'm not so sure. I think given the availability of these that this price could be the norm.

Arne

[Guest Anonymous]

like big 6's, not 245. This would explain the bell housing differences.