/5 /6 starter compatibility

[ePaulekas]

i have a 1972 BMW R60/5. starter has been on the way out for a year or so and finally gave up. i have been searching for a used started (on ebay mainly) and was wondering about the compatibility of the /5 and /6 starters. only difference i see is that the /5 starter was 5ps and the /6 was 6ps. i assume this is the torque of the starter.

i wanted to know if the 6ps starter will work in a /5 or if it will be trying to pull too much juice for the electrical system to handle (or any other pitfalls im not thinking of). thanks in advance, and if anyone happens to have a function starter laying around they are trying to offload please be in touch with me.

-e

[srb]

/6 fitment should be fine, change occured in /7. If you can't find good used you may want to check out here

http://www.motoelekt.com/starter.htm

[20774]

Steve's right, the change in number of teeth and match with flywheels started in 1977...read more here http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/boschvaleostarter.htm. Also, Snowbum has some information about alternate sources for starters on his site; not sure how current or applicable it is. Rick at Motorrad Electrik is a good source too.

You might consider a Valeo although I recall some early problems with magnets staying put. Later versions have been "fixed" and might be a reasonable choice.

[ePaulekas]

thanks for all the great info. quick response too, makes me even more happy i joined the BMW MOA.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3APIC&viewitem=&item=150194481499&rd=1

thats the starter im looking at, seems like it should work fine based on the advice i got here and the reading i did. if for some reason it does not i may take my old starter somewhere to have it rebuilt. i started the rebuild process and got probably 80 percent of the way there before realizing i was missing a spacer and could not get the clamp back on the shaft.

thanks again for all the help,
-e

[20774]

I've never had the opportunity to R&R a starter, but I understand that, for the most part, it's not rocket science. Any good starter repair place should be able to handle it. I located a small starter repair shop that specialized in Bosch starters...seems like a good place for me if I need that. You might also check around with some of the European car repair places. I'm not sure, but they might have some ideas on where to repair starters of the Germany variety.

[ePaulekas]

i live in los angeles, so im in the heart of german aircooled country. lots of vw shops out here. maybe i will look around a bit in the next couple days.

[Isamemon]

I owuld be really surprised that a quality shop in LA that does Bosch starters can not help out
of course it might be a little bit different and might make someone to have to think about what they pulled apart and how to put it back together

[woodgrain]

How different can it be? The starter was initially the same as the one on the 1600 BMW car (predecessor to the 2002 model, Whispering Bomb). IMHO, I would think in LA there would be lots of shops that could re-build the starter.

Woodgrain