I finally did it! (e36 with Getrag 260)

[RahgBag]

Finished my 5 spd swap today. Man, the car is 100x more fun now. Thought I'd give you guys some details on what exact hardware I used since I didn't go the conventional route.

The 260's gearing is great with the 3.91. Lots of pickup in 1-3 gears, good gas mileage in 4-5.

BMW M50 Engine
Getrag 260 Manual Transmission, part number 260.0.1346.90
Manual Driveshaft from the e36
Manual Flex Disc from the e36
Differential from the e36, ratio 3.91; limited slip
Dual Mass Flywheel from the e36 and new bolts
Clutch kit and Pressure Plate from the e36
Pilot bearing and throwout bearing from the e36
Clutch Fork, pivot pin and Clutch slave cylinder from e30
Pedal box from any manual e36
Clutch master cylinder from the manual e36
Brake light switch from the automatic e36 (clutch switch is unnecessary)

I decided to use stock parts for reliability and cost purposes. Perhaps in the future I will go with a LTW flywheel, but I couldn't justify the cost.

Here's a few pictures explaining the fabrication required.

This is the transmssion brace viewed from the passenger side:



This is before I bent the selector rod and carrier, you can see how it sits too far to the right:



And here you can see that all the bellhousing bolts won't line up. The major ones do though.

[Jeffrie]

Good stuff, nice to see another who has gone this route .

[RahgBag]

Yeah, it's fun to do something that most other people don't. Thanks for all your help man, your advice was spot on!

[downeaster1]

Remind me to do this one day. How hard do you think the whole process was in retrospect? I might want to do this eventually.

[RahgBag]

Really, it's not very mechanically difficult. Just make sure you have everything you need and a few days to do it.

[Matheus]

very good..

The performance increase i think is the best of it.

but, the diff of auto using 5 speed box is very good to drag performance, it´s uses 4.11 ratio i think.

[Bimjam96]

wow nice job....its about time

[RascalKing]

Have pictures of the clutch install?

[RahgBag]

Um...yeah I do. I'll upload them tomorrow, don't have my camera with me right now.

And Matheus, the diff is 3.91, it's nice.

[RahgBag]

Well I lied, couldn't find any pictures of the clutch with the alignment tool in it. Here's the flywheel...

[thedude60126]

Major props man congrats

[ducky328i]

great to see a fellow swapper, but...what transmission did you use? whats the differences here?

[RahgBag]

Getrag 260, it's from late e30 6 cylinder cars. 5th gear ratio is .83, so it matches up well with my 3.91 LSD from the auto.

[ducky328i]

sweet! i miss my OD from my auto, but i WILL NOT give up my 3.91 rear end..im already spoiled with the false sense of torque ...i'm just holding out for a 6spd.

is first gear absolutely useless in your car now?

[jmo69]

Getrag 260, it's from late e30 6 cylinder cars. 5th gear ratio is .83, so it matches up well with my 3.91 LSD from the auto.

So you end up with an overdrive trans, great idea with a 3.91.

[RahgBag]

Really, it's not as bad as I was expecting. But then again, I'm used to driving my Jeep, whose 1st gear is REALLY useless.

Also, my 1st gear ratio is 3.83, as opposed to your 4.23.

The 3.91 is great though, makes me feel like I've got like 300rwhp, haha.

[bmxludwig]

I wanna see some 0-60 speedo vids!

[dogg325i]

RahgBag,

What is the large red button just in front of your shifter?

[bmxludwig]

RahgBag,

What is the large red button just in front of your shifter?

You know exactly what it is, you just don't want to come to terms with it now do you?

[RahgBag]

Haha. Don't ever press the red button!

It used to be a push button start, but now it's just there for people to ask about. I don't have another blank piece of plastic to fill the hole in with, haha.

[NAHSAYN]

Lets see it all. Show off now...please. Sexy time.

[ghambino]

Quick question: are the auto and manual engine wire harnesses the same? are they interchangeable? I'm converting from an M50 without vanos to an M52 and picked up an engine wire harness from an automatic vehicle. Just wondering if I could still use the auto harness since I have a manual car.

[RahgBag]

As far as I know the harnesses are the same.

[RascalKing]

Where'd you pick up your transmission? I would love to keep my current gears when I do the swap, I think these gears with a 5 speed would be nasty, yours sounds like it is.

[E36HB]

Where'd you pick up your transmission? I would love to keep my current gears when I do the swap, I think these gears with a 5 speed would be nasty, yours sounds like it is.

Your freeway mileage will go to poop too.