Also known as: 420g, 560g, getrag 420g, getrag 560g, g420, g560
Getrag's big rear-drive six-speed manuals — the 420G behind BMW's V8s and the 560G behind the V12s.
⚑ The number is a TORQUE rating, not a model year or a size in the usual sense: 420 and 560 are newton-metres. That is why a 560G sits behind a twelve-cylinder engine and a 420G behind an eight — and why fitting the smaller unit to a modified car is a well-known way to break it.
They are heavy, long and cast in iron, built for torque rather than for shift feel. The characteristic complaint is weight at the lever and a deliberate action, which is the design rather than a fault.
Fluid specification is the item that decides one's life. Getrag specified its own oil, the interval is longer than most owners assume, and a general gear oil produces exactly the notchy cold shift that gets diagnosed as synchroniser wear.
Parts are scarce and specialist. These were fitted in small numbers to large cars, and a rebuild is a specialist job rather than a dealer one.
Cars fitted with this gearbox
1 generation. Only where a source names the model and the generation together — a gearbox is documented as a product far more often than as a fitment, so this list is deliberately shorter than the truth.
BMW
Information, not instruction
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Community experience
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