Re: New M535i Website (archive)

Nice site Rob you have put in a lot of work.
C. Graff is not quite right on his description of the "dog leg" box though in that he says it isnt very robust.
This box is a close ratio box that was originally used for racing and is noted for having a tall first and a 1:1 5th.
It actually is a big very strong heavy duty box and over the years people have used them on all sorts of cars like E type jags for racing because of it.
Anybody who has seen one in the flesh will notice they are bigger than the later overdrive five speeds (although the early 5 sp used by Alpina on B9 etc were also strong ) and are modular so bell housing etc can be taken off. Different ratios were available I think in the late 70�s when this box first appeared on various Aplina cars with hot big sixs in them ,B7 turbo for one. It was used in the E12 M535I with a 3.07 diff to match the 1:1 5th. I think BMW used it in some cars (option on the E28) mainly because it was there and available and good for marketing. It is really setup for left had drive and takes a bit of getting use to for R/H drive. A 1:1 5th is also mechanically more efficient and is still used on some late modem BMW�s.
On the track having effectively an extra gear between the "normal" 2nd and 3rd
is fantastic and enables even a torque motor like the big six to "stay on the boil" and be a lot faster in a lot of places. The overdrive box with a shorter diff is probably the best option for the street.
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Please come and visit the revised M535i SIG and Registry web site.
Hope you like it,
Happy New Year

Rob A
M535i SIG Technical Advisor

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