Quote:
Originally Posted by davintosh
The transmissions are different because of the transfer case attachment. The cross reference check on the trans only comes up with the X5. But I wonder if the manual transmissions for the e46 330Xi would work... I've never seen the underside of one of them in person, so  |
I can't say for certain about the 330XI, but the 325XI that we have has a NV124 transfer case and the attachment points look to be different then the NV125. I don't know if the NV 124 case would hold up to the demands of an E53 vs the E46 for which it was intended. Even if it would, you would probably have to relocate your support mount and modify front and rear prop shafts to the new lengths. A lot of work to change fly wheels.
Or, the difference could be made up if the transmission rear housing case could be modified to bolt up to a S5D 320Z (E46 manual) off of a S5D 280Z (E53 manual). Of course the only benefit of that would be if the length of both transmissions were the same that way you could keep the NV125 and current prop shafts.
These examples are based on and early E53, if you have a late model the transmission maybe different.