5 speed or 6 speed?

i recently got a 1995 540i as a project and want to swap out the automatic for either a 5 speed manual from a 1990 525i (which i have) or get a 6 speed manual which as far as i know actually was an option in the 540i. what i want to know is whether or not it would be better or worse to use the 5 speed

I have heard that 5 speed from a 535 or 530 will work.

Ok it's the 5 speed from 530i that works. I met this guy this fall at 4ngiefest down in Atl, this was his first e34. He now has a sick federalized e34 m5. Super nice dude!
Edit:I forgot to link to his thread

Originally Posted by green95

i recently got a 1995 540i as a project and want to swap out the automatic for either a 5 speed manual from a 1990 525i (which i have) or get a 6 speed manual which as far as i know actually was an option in the 540i. what i want to know is whether or not it would be better or worse to use the 5 speed

The 5 speed you have from the 525 won't work, the bell housing is totally different and the gear ratios won't suit the torquey-ness of the M60B40 you have. Best thing to do is either to save up for a proper 6 speed swap or find a wrecked or donor 530/5 and swap all of the hardware into your 540. If you're on bimmerforums, there's a user who just had his car hit. It is a 530/5. I would take a look through the E34 sub forum to see what I mean.

540i/5 swap thread http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1096518

of course, make sure its a V8 530i you buy, not an I6 one.

the one from a 525i definately wont work. sell it or maybe trade it for one that will

Lol we only got the M60b30 in 530i's over here...

Originally Posted by costa

the 5 speed you have from the 525 won't work, the bell housing is totally different and the gear ratios won't suit the torquey-ness of the m60b40 you have. Best thing to do is either to save up for a proper 6 speed swap or find a wrecked or donor 530/5 and swap all of the hardware into your 540. If you're on bimmerforums, there's a user who just had his car hit. It is a 530/5. I would take a look through the e34 sub forum to see what i mean.

+1