[mike saunders]

I believe the axles are from the 9-5. I was talking to my local mechanic at SAAB and he said they were from the 9-5 and it was mostly the driveshaft and stuff that was beefed up. I will ask him though, if there is a difference.

This what I've heard too. The Viggen shares some of the tranny internals with the 9-5 Aero, as well as the thicker driveshafts...

I don't know if the tranny is an exact bolt up. When I mated my F25 tranny to the B205R engine, I had to grind down about a half inch of metal from the block to be able to fit it properly ...

 

[mike saunders]

Curioser and curioser...

Here's where the confusion comes in. The Saab-edu site says the 9-3 tranny was strengthened in the 2000 model year for the B205 and B235 engines, which are based on the 9-5 engines. So maybe all of the post 99 manuals have the beefier parts...

Transmission
An improved manual gearbox has been
introduced for model year 2000 which provides,
among other things, improved shifting
performance during aggressive driving and
greater wear resistance.....

A new engine was being introduced on the 9-3 for
model year 2000. The B205L engine replaced the
B204L in the 9-3. Principally, the engine is a
modified 9-5 B205E basic engine. Just like on all
"generation 4" engines, the engine management
system is Trionic 7.

http://www.saab-edu.com/brochures/tort_section_9_MY2000.pdf#search='b205l%20engine'

 

[mike saunders]

Mike, was that on the stock tranny, or have you done any upgrades to it?