Transmission question?

[wayne adesso]

I recently checked the ZF transmission charts to see which tranny is installed in my 1998 528i e39 with I6. The chart specifies that the trans.
is a A4S270R. On the other hand if I run my VIN on the VIN decoder it
says the transmission is a A4S310R.
So I went to Europeantransmissions.com it also says A4S310R.
Receving conflicting information I had another forum member run the option package for my VIN and that just specifies (HECK).
It is an automatic transmission.
So the question is, were both types installed?
What,if any,is the difference between them.
One more thing,the option package also specified (special engine), I am
not aware of any (special engine options), its a 2.8.
If anyone can shed some light on these issues I would be gratefull for
the information.Thanks in advance.

[BimmerE39]

I think both transmissions are the same in all honesty. I went to realoem.com and it says your transmission is a A4S270/310R. However, according to the PDF I'm looking at it says that the 270R was used on E39 528i's and the 310R was used on E34 525i's.

I'm also pretty sure these are GM transmissions and not ZF's

Click Here For Real OEM Link
Click Here For PDF File

[wayne adesso]

Thank you for your reasearch,the ZF chart did list both ZF and GM. You are right, the
A4S270/310R are both GM models. It seems the PDF file is calling for a A4S270R IN 1998
528i. I will attempt to get the numbers off of the tag on the tranny itself. Thanks again
BimmerE39. I will post the results.

[marti5]

You could try putting the last 7 digits of your vin# in:

RealOEM.com Online BMW Parts Catalog

when you navigate to the gearbox section and get the diagrams up click on the pic then scroll down to see parts list, if there are two diagrams of boxes click on each one and scroll down it may come up "No parts found for your vehicle" then you will know its the other one....

[BimmerE39]

Originally Posted by wayne adesso

Thank you for your reasearch,the ZF chart did list both ZF and GM. You are right, the
A4S270/310R are both GM models. It seems the PDF file is calling for a A4S270R IN 1998
528i. I will attempt to get the numbers off of the tag on the tranny itself. Thanks again
BimmerE39. I will post the results.

No problem man. During my search I found that you also posted on Bimmer Forums as well. On Google it showed only the text and I figured it was someone else asking the same question. When I went to the link I saw that you had been over there as well. Definitely let us know what you have but I'm banking on the fact that you have a 270R.

[wayne adesso]

Marti5; thanks for your imput on this matter.As you suggested I went to realoem.com
ran the vin and looked up the transmission. At top of page,heading states, A4S270/310R.
Below it states between 01/1997-03/1998-A4S310R was used.although the gasket set is
listed as A4S270R. The production date for my E39 was 10/97 so it look like I fall in that catagory. I will crawl under and try and see the tag. Will post.Thanks

BimmerE39;Yea I was trying to enlist all the information I could on this. You know it may be these trannys are interchangeable or something like that,but Ill let you know what the end result is either way.Thanks