if you decide to go with the M47 try and get the M47II ...which was redesinged with a filler hole higher up on the case. the earlier ones suffered from Underfill due to the location of the filler. And they changed the bearings at the 5th gear part of the box to tapered bearings. Earlier the underfill and the bearing design caused the bearings to faill...putting metal flakes into the fluid and chewiing up the syncros adding more metal...

the orginal M47 on my 87 was toast before 100K in the hands of the PO and his family as drivers.


There were not that many M47s in the US as they were introduced at a time when Volvos were getting pretty pricey....my 87 wagon with a 5 speed --- the org owner paid over $19,000 new. And traffic was getting heavy so Automatics were what was wanted...plus as Nanny Wagons...the help could easily drive them.

For the M47 you also need a different front piece for the drive shaft as they use a Flex Disc(Guibo in BMW speak) instead of a U Joint.