Trans took a big ol' poopie

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Hartselle, AL
#1
so I'm driving up hwy 31 here in town and see this cloud behind me, I think that its either the the car next to me or my rear window needs to be cleaned, so whatever. When I stop at the next light a few seconds later, I can clearly see that the smoke is comming from my car, I look at the dash and see no check lights ar anything, its all fine. So I turn off on the next road and pull over, get out, look under my car and see tranny fluid pissing away out of the bell housing, !@#$%^&*!. "Well, damn." is all Im really thinking right now. The smoke I was seeing was tranny fluid being burned off of the cat (smells nice). And what really gats me is that i just changed my tranny fluid 2 weeks ago and used Amsoil, ya know, the kick ass synthetic stuff that costs $80 for 2.5 gallons thankfully my friend and I just finished our turbo project car last week, so I at least have something to drive for the next few weeks. Well, 5-speed conversion, here we come!
 
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Location
Hartselle, AL
#5
thats what im thinking, what made it go is what worries me. I didnt get time to tear it all down at work today. BUT. My boss got ahold of a friend just south of us that is co-owner of a junkyard and he says he may have a complete 325 5-speed, if he does, I could get all the parts for the conversion for around $400-$500 plus the price of the clutch kit. Wish me luck!
 
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Location
Canada
#6
What kind of mileage on it? It was an auto i take it?

Ours has 280 000 KM on it.. origional tranny.. has been clunking a bit louder lately, but still shifts HARD (sometimes chirps the one wheel) when matting the pedal.

Is this a ticking time bomb or what? Were you hard on the tranny? Manual shifted at all?
 
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Location
Hartselle, AL
#7
140,000 miles, i changed the fluid 3 times in 14,000 miles, and i gave it a bit of a ride. I tore everything out today. the center support bearing and rear u-joint were shot to shit, this is sefinatly what killed my trans, when i pulled off the torque converter, the front seal stuck to it, theres my leak. took me a lil more than 2 hours to get the front exhaust, heat shields, drive shaft, trans, and gear selector out of the car, only thing i have left to pull is the pedel assembly. HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed) i will have my donor car this weekend to swap it to 5-speed, 87 325. WISH ME LUCK!
 
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Location
Pittsburgh, PA
#8
poboyis said:
140,000 miles, i changed the fluid 3 times in 14,000 miles, and i gave it a bit of a ride. I tore everything out today. the center support bearing and rear u-joint were shot to shit, this is sefinatly what killed my trans, when i pulled off the torque converter, the front seal stuck to it, theres my leak. took me a lil more than 2 hours to get the front exhaust, heat shields, drive shaft, trans, and gear selector out of the car, only thing i have left to pull is the pedel assembly. HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed) i will have my donor car this weekend to swap it to 5-speed, 87 325. WISH ME LUCK!
converting to a 5-speed? best thing that could have happened to you then! Its going to be great.
 
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Hartselle, AL
#10
you have no idea how anxious i am, all i hear are good things about these cars being 5-speed and ive never had the privelage to drive one, the tension is killing me
 
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Location
Ventura CA
#12
First BMW I drove was an automatic and I just didn't like it. Very sluggish. Then test drove a 325es with a manual and it drove so well I bought it. Won't ever look to buy a slugomatic again. You give up too much.

Steve
 
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Location
Hartselle, AL
#13
well, talked to the guy with the donor car i wanted, got the car and all extra parts for less than $400. So im going to Elgin, IL tomorrow to pick it up and trailer it back. he said the body has mostly been restored and all the trim is off because the body was ready for paint and the interior is apart, but i get all the peices for it. if you need any E30 parts (excluting anything to do with the trans) you can PM me. im gonna have more parts i know what to do with. let you know now, the right rear bumper plastic and hood prop assembly are mine, other than that i think it will get rid of the rest, or its going to the bone yard.

PS, I am in the process of writing up complete instructions for this swap, will post the completed write up when the project is complete!
 
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