cmoore_

I notice in 6th gear at 80mph the car turns approx 2600-2700rpm. Seems kinda high givin the low 2.81 final drive. My guess is a slightly aggressinve tranny gearing to make up the differemce....anyone got actual numbers?

bulldozer

From the brochure found in the "5 Series Information Network"....


2004 545i 6-speed

1st: 4.06:1
2nd: 2.40:1
3rd: 1.58:1
4th: 1.19:1
5th: 1.00:1
6th: 0.87:1
reverse: 3.77:1


final drive ratio: 2.93:1

cmoore_

Thx, 2.93 is a little better than the 2.81 that I thought it had lol....

cmoore_

I figured the transmission was geared pretty aggressively.....but wow, more aggressive than say a 2001 zo6? (2001 zo6 is more aggressive than the current zo6) Take a look at the 2001 zo6 tranny gearing:

LS6/M12
1st Gear 2.97:1
2nd Gear 2.07:1
3rd Gear 1.43:1
4th Gear 1.00:1
5th Gear 0.84:1
6th Gear 0.56:1
Reverse 3.28:1
Final drive 3.42:1


Based on how aggressive the 545i tranny gearing is, a final drive swap would really turn the rpms, maybe a little to high.

SilberGrauE60

I used to drive a '93 Corvette with 6MT, and I appreciate having a 6th gear that I can really use in the BMW.

cmoore_

I also used to drive a 98 6 speed corvette and enjoyed the 6th gear cruising. But im sure you recall that at 80 in 6th gear in a vette you only turned 1800-2000 rpm due to the very tall 6th gear. Not so with the manual BMW, 80mph yields approx 2600-2700 rpm. Still nice to have as the engine is designed to rev much higher than the small blcok chevy.