6-Speed Gearbox

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Bravo!!!!! , Well done those men, congratulations on sorting this out, are there any benefits?
We bought a 320d a few years back & when I compaired final drive ratio's between 5 & 6 speed they turned out to be the same
just closer between ratio's

[Doggy]

Excellent news!
All driving well i presume?

Yes, all seems good.
I've only done the return journey from Lancashire so far. The motorway bits were really good, 2000 revs at an indicated 70 and it still easily handles the steepest of m-way hills in cruise control without any sense of labouring or losing speed. I took the pretty route over Snake Pass, but having a spare gearbox sliding around in the back tends to curb your enthusiasm a bit. Despite this, I could appreciate the slightly shorter 5th gear makes this an ideal 60+ overtaking gear with noticeable sharper response than the old top gear. It can pull 6th from about 1400 / 50 mph, (if you don't just floor it).

The gate takes a bit of getting used to - my first 5th to 4th downshift wound up in 6th, but I realised I was in the habit of pulling the lever toward me, so easy to adjust your technique, didn't happen again. Similarly, it's easy to go from 6th to 3rd.

Early days, but I'm pretty pleased so far.

[GingerMagic]

Very well done, looked relatively pain-free in the end.

[jasper5]

It was fairly straightforward in the end thanks to some good, solid teamwork

The subframe doesn't need to be removed completely, the bolts on the gearbox side come out completely and the other side bolts drop down a little way to give a bit more clearance for the gearbox.

[jonsowman]

Fantastic, I'm really glad this worked out! Well done both of you

[Doggy]

Fantastic, I'm really glad this worked out! Well done both of you

Thanks to you for spotting the 'box in the first place, much appreciated.

[Welly]

Very impressive! did you need to replace the selector cables with a C5 mechanism?

[Doggy]

No, the 406 one's are the same at the gearbox end.

It ought to be starightforward, the ML6 is a development of the 5 and would have found its way into 406's if their days hadn't been numbered.
The C5 was destined to offend the eye for several more years, so got the new 'box albeit only in a few models and only some countries, hence the 20MB04 'box is a rare as rocking horse poo and sometimes fetches 7 - 800 €

[Welly]

But what creates the new 'gate' required at the gear stick end?

[jasper5]

But what creates the new 'gate' required at the gear stick end?

The "gate" at the gearstick end is already there It matches up with the gate in the gearbox perfectly.

[plod]

Well done guys

[puggy]

Well done guys , John do i take it you did it in the garage where you did
my clutch ? Eric i wish you had said you were going up north i would have
popped up for a chat this relentless quest for more speed can stop
now doggy i have conceded that your's is the quicker one

[steve_earwig]

Outstanding job guys

The C5 was destined to offend the eye for several more years

You no like? Ok, I thought the original looked like a badly sucked choc ice but the X7, me want Especially the estate...

But what creates the new 'gate' required at the gear stick end?

The "gate" at the gearstick end is already there It matches up with the gate in the gearbox perfectly.

I didn't think there was a gate at the gearstick end, doesn't it flop about when it's not connected to the 'box?

[jasper5]

Outstanding job guys

The C5 was destined to offend the eye for several more years

You no like? Ok, I thought the original looked like a badly sucked choc ice but the X7, me want Especially the estate...

But what creates the new 'gate' required at the gear stick end?

The "gate" at the gearstick end is already there It matches up with the gate in the gearbox perfectly.

I didn't think there was a gate at the gearstick end, doesn't it flop about when it's not connected to the 'box?

Yeah, that's what I meant, there is nothing stopping use of a 6 speed box as there is no "gate" as such.

[Welly]

Sorry, I must have been thinking about a Ferrari type gear shift