E30 M52 Short Gear Linkage Guide [M50 with Getrag g240] Z3 1.9 Shifter Upgrade + New Bushing | 050
In this BMW E30 build video I explore the options for shift linkages and gearlevers.
With this car being an M52 engine swap build, utilising the Getrag 240 gearbox found on n E30 318is, we're limited on our gearbox shifter linkage and selector rod options.
Here's what I used in this video:
BMW Gearlever Pivot Bushing: ebay.us/o5aHrI
The original shifter linkage that came on this 4-pot 316i E30 originally will not work, despite the fact it was originally equipped with a g240 Getrag gearbox, identical to the 318is one I'm using in case shape.
The reason for this is that it's too long. If you connect up the front of the linkage you will find that the gear lever will sit too far back in the transmission tunnel and won't poke though.
The 4-pot E30 engines are smaller than the 6-cylinder engines, and BMW mounted them slightly further forward in the engine bay, so the box isn't pushed quite as far back in the transmission tunnel as it would be mounted to a 6 cylinder engine.
The M20 6-cylinder engines are as far back as possible, almost touching the firewall to improve weight distribution. The M52 engine is mounted in the same position on it's Condor engine mounts.
So there are two options for shifter linkages in this application.
1. Use what you've got - It's commonly suggested that you can chop the original gear shifter linkage and stick it back together shorter. For the selector rod, this seems fairly straightforward as its made from steel. Once you know how much you need to shorten the linkage, you could shop this section out and weld it back together, using a vice to jig it ensuring its kept perfectly straight.
However, the shift linkage itself poses more of a problem because its made from cast aluminium. Unfortunately I am unable to tig weld aluminium. It's quite a specialist skill using specialist equipment.
Alternatively, there are suggestions of chopping it and connecting it back together with a steel bracket and some rivets. My reservation on this is that it's very unlikely to be as solid as it was as a single piece of aluminium, and I'm building this E30 as a drivers car, so spoiling the shift feel with a Frankenstein linkage seems like a very bad idea.
From my measurements, you'd need to shop 6cm out of the shift linkage and selector rod to get a perfect fit. However this might vary a bit on you build depending on the engine mounts you are using and how far back the engine sits.
2. Use an E30 320i shift linkage and selector rod. Interestingly, the manual 320i E30 also used a Getrag g240 gearbox, but of course paired with the 2 litre 6-cylinder M20 engine. In theory this should be an exact and perfect fit part for an E30 M52 swap using a g240 gear box as its shorter by 6cm from factory.
They are quite hard to come by now, I was lucky enough to pick one up on ebay. Unfortunately, because they are fairly rare it was quite expensive.
However, upon inspecting the sellers images, I noticed that the linkage came with a Z3 1.9L gearlever, which was another thing on my list of mods for this E30. I don't think the seller realised that it was an upgraded shift lever so made no mention of it. These are fairly expensive in their own right, it made the linkage much better value so I pulled the trigger on it.
This is the perfect opportunity to upgrade the shift lever to the Z3 1.9 item as changing the lever in situ is a real pain, or at least it was when I did it on my E46.
There are a few good OEM options for a an E30 gear lever upgrade. Many people use the more aggressive Z4 3.0 or Z3m gear levers which give a much shorter and more aggressive throw. However, the tradeoff for this is a notchy gear change.
The Z3 1.9 shifter on an E30 is said to be the optimal compromise, a shorter throw, but still a positive feeling shift, making the gearbox feel tighter.
When selecting an upgraded shifter for a BMW, its important to pay particular attention to the length below the pivot ball, this is the key factor in changing the ratio of how much the top of the lever needs to move to engage gears. Effectively changing the leverage and shortening the throw.
I showed how to switch the shifter bushing that the pivot ball sits in, I also showed the method of connecting the shifter linkage and selector rod to the gearbox and the E30 chassis. I opted to stick with the rubber bushing rather than poly, hopefully I wont regret this.
Now the shifter linkage is installed on the M52 E30 build, I'm pleased to report that I can shift gears, the 318is gearbox does in fact select all 5 gears + reverse. I can't wait to see how it feels on the road.
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