E46 5 speed to 6 speed conversion

[FFMan]

i have recently bought a 2002 325 witjh 41k miles on it and am very pleased with it. i do mostly motorway miles (110 each day) and whilst mpg is on a par with my saab 2.3 turbo, the engine revs seem a little on the high side when cruising.

I'm told 5th in the 5 speed box is 1:1 and in the 6 speed top is .85.

But is the 6 speed a straightforward swap and would i ever get my money back ?

[MattOz]

Wouldn't have thought it's worth the hassle. Sell it and get a 6-spd model if you really need that slightly longer gearing.

[anonymous-user]

The difference between 5th and 6th at 70mph is about 6-700rpm. I guess it does make a fair bit of difference to economy, but probably really not worth the hassle and expense of changing the box......

[Johnboy Mac]

FFMan said:

I'm told 5th in the 5 speed box is 1:1

I'm a bit surprised, would have guessed it was higher geared than that. Anyway, personally I wouldn't bother with a swap to a 6sp, might be worth looking at just changing the diff?

[Matt UK]

Seems like a lot of work to save a few humdred cruising rpms...

Unless that is you have a good 6 speed knocking around and would do the work yourself

[911Fiddler]

Prop shaft needs to change too. Clutch is same. That's what I found out.