I finally completed my manual swap! (e28 inside, image heavy)

[madatthe]

It can be done, stop talking about it and GO GET YOURSELF A DONOR CAR! :D

A few months ago I found myself a beautiful 1987 535i. It was almost perfect cosmetically, the drivetrain was solid and driving it was a sublime expirence. My girlfriend was gracious enough to drive me nearly 300 miles to pick it up and I fell in love driving it back home.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/535i.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/535i.jpg/view/)

It had one very severe problem, however. It had an automatic transmission.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/auto.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/auto.jpg/view/)

My brother also has an '87 BMW. He's got a 535is.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/brother.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/brother.jpg/view/)

His car is great and it's in decent shape (nothing compared to mine, however). His car IS a manual and it's a helluva lot of fun to drive. Unfortunately, the suspension was trashed... shocks were shot and all the various rubber wear parts that wear out on E28 BMWs had worn out on his car. When he was quoted nearly $2000 for new parts and installation for all his necessary suspension components, I was put to the task of finding a less expensive solution.

I conataced a buddy of mine in Melbourne, FL who knew a guy with a race prepped '85 535i with a manual transmission. It had all new upgraded suspension components but the interior was stripped and the body was ugly as all hell. We agreed on $600 and it was on it's way to Orlando!

[madatthe]

HERE'S WHERE MY STORY GETS INTERESTING:

My brother paid for this car... every cent. I agreed to do work on his car and sell some of the parts (Racing Dynamics sway bars, aluminum tower bar, adjustable camber plates, very wide wheels and tires, wheel spacers, etc.) to pay him back partially for my share. My other payment, was, of course, the components necessary to convert my car from automatic to 5-speed!

We started out by delicately removing the exhaust from the parts car (with a plasma cutter).
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/plascut.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/plascut.jpg/view/)

We proceeded to remove the manual transmission...
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/dirtyman.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/dirtyman.jpg/view/)

and the 3.73 limited slip differential
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/lsd.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/lsd.jpg/view/)

[madatthe]

In case you hadn't noticed, the transmission was not in the best cosmetic shape. The goddamn thing was coated in 20 years of dirt, grime, grease, sand and seashells. I'm not kidding, there were bits and pieces of seashells in this damn thing. Using some degreaser, some Dawn dish soap, a toothbursh and about 15 of the 50 shop rags I bought we started cleaning...
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/cleanerman.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/cleanerman.jpg/view/)

And cleaning...
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/cleanman.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/cleanman.jpg/view/)

Until you could see what was important :)
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/getrag.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/getrag.jpg/view/)

It's almost as clean as my engine!
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/engine-960937.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/engine-960937.jpg/view/)

The guide I was reading online suggested that we remove the glaze from the flywheel with a "ziz" wheel. We didn't have a ziz wheel, but my friend said that an angle grinder would do instead.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/grind.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/grind.jpg/view/)

Since I was doing this project for as cheap as possible, I used the existing clutch and pressure plate from the parts car. You can see the flywheel here, sans glaze.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/deglazed.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/deglazed.jpg/view/)

The clutch seemed to catch fine when I was driving the parts car and it looked like it had enough life on it to put into my car, so we went ahead and installed it as is. Does anyone know approximately how much life is in this clutch plate?
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/clutchlife.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/clutchlife.jpg/view/)

The hardest part of this project, for me, was tearing apart my interior to get to various wiring bits. Trust me, it was painful.
http://www.supload.com/thumbs/default/interior.jpg (http://www.supload.com/free/interior.jpg/view/)

I'm sorry to say I didn't take any more pics after this. The swap took about three days counting taking parts off the donor car and the two days my car was in my friend's shed undergoing surgery.

My car drives great. It's fun to finally shift my car. I love finally pressing a clutch in my car and there's nothing more exciting than chirping second AND third when you hit the gear changes just right. The 3.73 LSD blows the 3.25 open diff I used to have installed out of the water. My only complaint is that I didn't buy a new shift linkage assembly... I want to get a short shift kit and install it to get rid of the play I have in gear. I HATE SLOPPY SHIFTERS!

Well, I'm open to any questions about the swap and I'd be glad to post more pictures if there's any interest. I spent a couple hours today getting all the grease and dirty fingerprints off of my interior and cleaning the various tools and crap out of my car. I take pride in my car, I love a clean car.

More info on the swap and a photojournal of someone elses swap can be found here: http://www.e28planet.com/DaveKanTransGuide/

[535beater]

i have a quick question do you still have the extra exaust

[supark]

awesome! stuff like this makes me want to get an old E30 and start tinkering on it.

[madatthe]

i have a quick question do you still have the extra exaust
No. The bolts were rusted on and it was a cheap-o muffler shop hackjob anyway. Believe me, using a plasma cutter to remove it was the quickest and most fun way to get rid of that horrible monstrosity of metal tubing.