"W" markings on speedo

[Tony Hoffman]

Well this makes sense. And, if it's the case with these cars, then you want
the 1650. Both my 85 and 86 4000Q's have that. That much correspond to the
4.11:1 final drive for those.

Both of the '84 4-cyl cars have 1580 on them.

Not too sure why the 84 4kq has 1740, must have been swapped at some point
in time. I'm assuming that's an UrQ one, which has a 3.89:1 final drive.

Tony

On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Mike Arman <Armanmik at earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>
> The "W" marking (a number) on the speedo indicates which final drive ratio
> that speedo should be used with to get a correct indication.
>
> When I was fooling with BMW motorcycles (vintages 1950 through 1969), I
> made a list of the W numbers and the final drive ratios they matched up to.
> Similar lists are floating around the internet.
>
> For instance, a W=1.2 goes to a 27/8 final drive, and the indicated speed
> will then be accurate (or as accurate as can be expected). Those numbers
> may not be correct, it has been a few years, but that's what they are for.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Mike Arman
> 90V8Q
> and a bunch of old BMW bikes