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Thread: Transmission Swap Thread

  1. #76
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    the WHOLE cmc went through the hole?...can't be....the tip of mine sticks out the hole but I could pull the hard line inside the car to connect them and then I bolted the CMC to the pedals

    pretty easy once I finally got this piece of crap....I don't have threads on my cmc which is why mine kept blowing off and throwing brake fluid everywhere...ive got a clip that holds them together


  2. #77
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    No, it was just the tip that went through. I think I know what we did differently. I mounted my CMC with the pedal assembly. I just put EVERYTHING that went inside the car together and then shoved everything through the holes in the firewall. I also used those rubber grommets to keep the firewall from cutting through the hose or wearing down on the CMC, and getting those on was a PITA. SO, once the pedal ass'y was mounted with the CMC, it didn't really move, so I didn't have the option to push it back inside.

    As long as it took me to take that pedal assembly out of the M3 and reassemble it, I would rather have put it all in as one piece rather than try to rebuild it in the car.


  3. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by PHARMDVIPER View Post
    im still confused as to why you keep messing with the brake booster....my clutch master cylinder is NOT behind the brake booster...you sure you are putting that in correctly?....just making sure...but there is a hole right behind the clutch pedal where the CMC and hard line connect

    I could easily connect the CMC and hard line from the floor board
    Yea, I thought I was the only one lost. I thought it was as simple as hooking up the brake line to the clutch from the resevoir, and connecting the CMC to the tranny. It doesnt sound so intimidating.
    Quote Originally Posted by PHARMDVIPER View Post
    is the last bolt to the starter?....you should get someone to give you a hand and reach up into the front of the tranny where the starter is and play with it some....there was plenty of room when I was aligning mine back up

    if thats not the one try jacking the tranny up some to where its more level...the bolt might be having resistance b/c the tranny is hanging lower than the motor
    Yea, I tried both while the tranny was jacked up amd while it was lowered. Both of them were hard enough. What im planning on doing is having myself hold that nut stationary while a bud uses a ratchet and extention to take it out. That should do it.
    Quote Originally Posted by espguitarist View Post
    Really? My CMC went through the firewall at that hole. This is exactly how it was installed on the '95 M3 that I pulled the pedal ass'y, CMC, and hard line from. Coupe and Sedan shouldn't matter, the M3 was a coupe and my car is a sedan.





    If you can get it off without taking off the manifold, that would probably save a LOT of time...but it would still be easier to get to with it off.
    Yea, I dont think I want to get that deep into work.

  4. #79
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    would have been easier to take the CMC off and screw it on the hard line...then bolt it back up to the pedal assembly...just for future reference

  5. #80
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    In some ways, yes, it could have been. But taking off the master cylinder essentially means disassembling the entire clutch pedal which I didn't want to do. I don't like springs. At all. Haha.

    In the end it doesn't really matter anyway. I got mine in, you got yours in. Two ways to solve the same problem.


  6. #81
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    Shit, now its my turn . I might have to PM you guys if I go through any problems (hopefully I dont).

  7. #82
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    Quote Originally Posted by espguitarist View Post
    In some ways, yes, it could have been. But taking off the master cylinder essentially means disassembling the entire clutch pedal which I didn't want to do. I don't like springs. At all. Haha.

    In the end it doesn't really matter anyway. I got mine in, you got yours in. Two ways to solve the same problem.
    you don't have to mess with any springs...its 2 bolts and a clip


    work smarter not harder

  8. #83
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    Quote Originally Posted by PHARMDVIPER View Post
    you don't have to mess with any springs...its 2 bolts and a clip


    work smarter not harder
    I know it is, but when I took those two bolts out when it was in the M3 the whole damn thing exploded, parts went everywhere. I hate springs.

    Either way, it was a good experience for me to remove all that stuff. I had fun.


  9. #84
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    Got my transmission, driveshaft, and differential in today. I'll update with pics tomorrow.


  10. #85
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    awesome...almost there!

    I seriously couldn't stop smiling when it was all said and done...it feels so good

  11. #86
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    Damn, good job! So you will finish before me . I took this weekend off from working on the car, so Monday we'll get back to work. I got that rubber boot in yesterday and all I need now is the rubber hose that goes from the slave cylinder to the clutch pedal and the line that goes to the tranny. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY evrything goes smoothly for the both of us . I plan on finishing everythin up by Wednesday. And by that, I mean driving it out of the lot!

  12. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by PHARMDVIPER View Post
    awesome...almost there!

    I seriously couldn't stop smiling when it was all said and done...it feels so good
    I know, I can't wait. I'll tell you what though, I'm ready to be done with the work. I'm sore and tired, haha.

    Quote Originally Posted by bimmer speeder View Post
    Damn, good job! So you will finish before me . I took this weekend off from working on the car, so Monday we'll get back to work. I got that rubber boot in yesterday and all I need now is the rubber hose that goes from the slave cylinder to the clutch pedal and the line that goes to the tranny. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY evrything goes smoothly for the both of us . I plan on finishing everythin up by Wednesday. And by that, I mean driving it out of the lot!
    I just need the output flanges for my 3.15 open diff. The ones from my 3.91 won't work. Outside of that though, the entire drivetrain is in. We just have to put the engine bay back together and then we're going to start it up (without the midpipe or muffler ). Once we listen to everything, inspect everything, make sure she's running well we'll put everything back in and be done.


  13. #88
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    Nice! I ran the motor after I took off the cats, and I honestly didn't like the sound. Congrats tho

  14. #89
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    Quote Originally Posted by bimmer speeder View Post
    Nice! I ran the motor after I took off the cats, and I honestly didn't like the sound. Congrats tho
    Lol, I've run the car without the muffler on it before...I actually have a video somewhere. I like the no muffler sound, it's just a bit too loud. I love the gurgling it makes when you let the RPMs drop though

    Does anyone know why the output flanges from my 3.91 won't fit into my 3.15? That's the last thing I need to do under the car other than the wiring.


  15. #90
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    Yea, I've done the no muffler, and jus recently done the no cats. I like the no muffler sound way better.

    Anyway, wish me luck on the droppin the tranny, I might get started today.

  16. #91
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    Sweet, I'll pay for that. 15 hours in a good BMW shop is probably going to cost me, but still. I don't want to tackle this one. Rebuilding the entire top end 3 times is enough for me.
    Oh btw, it started today! and runs pretty damn good (sunday)
    Intake?

    Your progress rules, can't wait to see the car!
    NEED SCREEN PRINTING? PM me

    Not Going Anywhere Fast...


  17. #92
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    Quote Originally Posted by bimmer speeder View Post
    Yea, I've done the no muffler, and jus recently done the no cats. I like the no muffler sound way better.

    Anyway, wish me luck on the droppin the tranny, I might get started today.
    Well we'll see how it sounds. It's just to check everything and make sure it's mechanically sound before we drop it off the jack stands. [I think we're leaving it on the stands...not sure].

    Quote Originally Posted by RascalKing View Post
    Sweet, I'll pay for that. 15 hours in a good BMW shop is probably going to cost me, but still. I don't want to tackle this one. Rebuilding the entire top end 3 times is enough for me.
    Oh btw, it started today! and runs pretty damn good (sunday)
    Intake?

    Your progress rules, can't wait to see the car!
    Lol, it's not a hard swap, really.

    How's it feel as far as power goes? Any gains? Or do you even remember what the car felt like before, haha.

    Intake? Uhh...how about Wednesday? I'm off that day. Shoot me a text. Only problem is that I still have not gotten the two filters that I ordered, so I won't have a filter for you. Unless it comes in the next few days, that is.


  18. #93
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    Man, the power is great. I missed it ha. So much nicer then the Oldsmobile, for sureeee. I just got a chance to open it up and my god, it's nice. Lower compression (head is decked ALOT), M3 valves and springs, and all new seals, chain tensioners, perfect timing...it feels great.
    NEED SCREEN PRINTING? PM me

    Not Going Anywhere Fast...


  19. #94
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    Cool!

    I bet my manual will be faster .

    Time for an update.

    Day 5 - 2 hours-ish
    Work done: Pedal assembly and hard line installed.

    So I've realized that it would have been easier to just feed the hard line up through to the CMC hole and attache them inside the car and then attach the CMC to the pedal assembly, and for more reason than one. We'll get to that later though.

    This is how I did it.

    First I removed the brake master cylinder. Two bolts keeping it on the booster and two lines that go to the ABS unit are all that's holding it in place.



    Next I removed the ABS Unit. One nut on the side closest to the front of the car and five brake lines attached to it. Once those are loose you lift it up and pull it out of the rubber mounts.







    Next was the brake booster. The four nuts that mount it from the inside should have already been removed when you removed the old pedal assembly.



    Once those were out look at all the space that provides.



    In that picture the lines are actually already installed, but you get the point.

    So now. To install the pedal assembly and all the lines, I first went and shoved the pedal assembly into place and pushed the hose that goes from the CMC to the brake fluid reservoir through the firewall. Once it was in place I attached the one bolt that mounts at the top of the bracket. At this point the entire pedal assembly is installed as one piece so you don't have to worry about putting it together while upside down and sideways in your car.

    Here's the bolt at the top of the bracket



    Here's the soft line that goes through the firewall from the CMC to the reservoir.



    Here's the connection between the CMC and the hard line.



    If you install it by removing all of that stuff it makes putting in the hard line a no brainer, it just sits right into place without having to thread it up through and around all of the wires and pipes in that area.

    Here's the other end that connects to the clutch line



    After that I put the Brake booster back in place. The hardest part about that is actually getting the studs on the booster to go through the firewall and then through the pedal assembly. If they're not lined up exactly right it can be frustrating. What I did was I went and loosened the top bolt on the pedal bracket just a bit so that the assembly could move just enough to allow the booster to slide into place. Once that was bolted in I reinstalled the ABS Unit, and then the brake master cylinder.



    I also cut the end of the little nipple on the reservoir to open it up for the soft line that I ran earlier from the CMC. I put a clamp onto it for good measure but it isn't necessary.



    And here are the pedals installed.



    NOW. With all of that being said, if you decide to remove the ABS unit and detach all of those fluid lines make GOOD AND DAMN SURE that you tighten up the lines. It was midnight when I reinstalled everything and apparently I forgot to tighten the two lines that go to the brake master cylinder...if you've ever bled brakes, you know why this is a problem. More on that later.

    Day 6 - I don't remember how long we worked.
    Work done - Transmission installed (among other things)

    We started off by replacing the rear main seal as mine had been leaking. I did not do this, my father did it, so I really have no suggestions. After that he put in the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate. Long story short, if you do not have a BMW specific clutch alignment tool and you're doing this in your garage, don't even bother. GET THE RIGHT TOOL. We installed the clutch and pressure plate and everything, and then went to lift the tranny up into place, and of course the clutch wasn't lined up properly. Universal clutch alignment tools are not that great for these cars. I had to go out and pick up a new crossmember (I got the wrong one for some reason) and I went and borrowed the alignment tool from a friend of my dad's. Once we had all that figured out and we got the clutch aligned properly next we went to install the tranny.

    To do this the engine needs to be tilted back slightly, it makes it much easier. To tilt the engine you need a jack. We only have one jack, so installing the transmission consisted of me and my father getting underneath it and lifting it up into place. Not the best method, I'll admit, but it got the job done. If you do it this way, make sure to put the tranny in gear and turn the tailshaft when putting the tranny in place so that the input shaft can line up properly. I apologize for not having as many pictures as usual for this part, but it was a little hectic...and extremely hot outside.

    Here's the tranny installed.



    Next step is to install the crossmember and level out the drivetrain so you're not stressing the motor mounts. After that I put in the driveshaft, and then after that we put in the differential. Assuming that you took these out at the beginning of your project, it's not that hard to put them back in, however the diff does require two people.

    Here's the DS and crossmember with UUC red tranny mounts.



    Other end of the DS



    And the diff.



    I couldn't install the half shafts because the output flanges from my 3.91 don't fit into the 3.15 for some reason, so I'm still waiting to find a set of output flanges before I can do that.

    After that the next step for us was to bleed the brake system. This is where we ran into trouble. Bleeding the brakes and the clutch is a PITA to begin with, but it's even more difficult if you forget to tighten all of the brake fluid lines and you end up with a leak. So here I am sitting inside my car in a garage that is 110*+ pumping away at the brakes while my dad is at the brakes bleeding them. It took us an hour and a half to realize that it was leaking, and then another half hour after attempting to tighten the brake lines and stop the leak to give up. Needless to say it was not a great ending to a saturday evening.

    Day 7 - I don't remember how long we worked yesterday...it was a lot
    Work done: Brakes and clutch bled, engine compartment reassembled.

    So I spent the morning retightening all of the brake lines, making sure there were no leaks and then double checking all of it. Once I was sure everything was fine, we bled the brakes in about 20-30 minutes. Go figure. The clutch was a bit more difficult, but still not bad. I had to pump the pedal with my hand at first because it was going to the floor. When doing this you'll start to feel pressure building up in the system and then it will seem to disappear. This is when you refill the reservoir. After that you'll get more and more pressure building, but then it'll stop building and just kind of plateau. Add more fluid. Once you've filled it all up and the pedal returns instead of sticking to the floor you're done.

    After that we spent the rest of the day reassembling the engine compartment. If you took all of this apart at the beginning, it's pretty self-explanatory as to how to put it all back. The only places we ran into trouble were getting the manifold back on because there were a lot of hoses in the way, and my dad dropped one of the nuts that holds the manifold down into the engine compartment, and of course it didn't fall through. We stopped for few hours and watched the F1 race, and then went out to eat with the rest of the family for fathers day. When we got home I went and fished out that nut and then finished putting most everything back together. This is how it sits now.



    I want to refinish my intake before I put it back in and there's one more nut that we're missing that holds the plugs onto the injectors (fuel rail).

    Once my intake is back in and I've gotten the new output flanges we're going to start the car up and make sure she runs right. We'll finish up the wiring after that, reinstall the interior, and put the heatshields and exhaust back in.

    So close I can taste it...
    Last edited by espguitarist; 06-22-2009 at 04:40 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost


  20. #95
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    So to prove that I'm NOT insane and that the flanges from the 3.91 WON'T work in the 3.15 - here are some pictures.

    Here's the 3.91. The first pic doesn't have the diff seal in it, the second one does.





    And here's the 3.15. Both sides have the seal in them.





    Here's what the output flanges from my 3.91 look like.





    Now. If you look closely between the two green lines you can see where there's an oil ring around the shaft of the output flange where the circlip in the 3.15 was touching it.



    Here's what the diff itself looks like.





    Anyone have any suggestions?


  21. #96
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    I think your just having a problem with the output shaft hanging up on the circlip as you're trying to install it. In order to test this theory, remove the circlip and check fitment without, if it slides right in, then don't be such a girly man!


  22. #97
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    its got to pop on.....stick it in...lay a wrench across it and tap it with a hammer

  23. #98
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    Quote Originally Posted by PHARMDVIPER View Post
    its got to pop on.....stick it in...lay a wrench across it and tap it with a hammer
    this. and if that doesn't work, use my motto, "when all else fails, use a bigger hammer"
    -ducky


  24. #99
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    Ya'll need to look at those pics again. The circlips are located in different spots. In the 3.91 they're about 1/8 of an inch from the seal, and in the 3.15 they're about 1/2 an inch from the seal. I will try the bigger hammer after work today, and frankly I hope that I am just being a girly man. I'd much rather these work than have to go get new ones. But like I said, they're completely different.

    By the way, can anyone confirm that only E36 diffs will fit into E36s? I really don't want to find out that I have a diff from an E30 or an E39 or something like that.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I'm not a girly man. I went and checked it without the circlip and it still went in the same distance. It's been going in all the way the whole time, like I figured it was. Now I have to put a new circlip in...that thing was a little bitch to take out with the diff in the car.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It lives!!!

    And not only does it live, but it has power to the diff!!!

    And not only does it live and have power to the diff, but it is extremely loud without the exhaust system!!!

    Edit: I hate automerge.
    Last edited by espguitarist; 06-23-2009 at 09:47 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost


  25. #100
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    Alright so it turns out that E36s with a production date of 1990 actually had different output flanges. I talked to a parts manager about it and he looked it up. I don't recall 100%, but I'm pretty sure the car I got this stuff from was a 1992, which makes perfect sense. SO...don't get your swap kit from a '92.

    I worked on the wiring today...it's REALLY easy. I was really intimidated by the wiring since I have zero experience with anything like that, but I've got it all figured out and I'll have it done tomorrow. The only reason I didn't finish is because I ran out of connectors.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Here we go with the wiring.

    Day 8-9 - A few hours.
    Work done: Wiring!

    So basically the wiring is really really easy for this. If you know how to use wire strippers/cutters, a lighter, and understand a simple electrical circuit, that's all you need.

    On a side note, to remove and install the brake switches you have to pull the plunger out about half an inch and then pull the red sleeve up so that the tabs can be pushed in to remove the switch. It took me some time to figure this out as I've never seen anything like that before.

    The reverse lights are easy and a good DIY can be found on E36-tech.com, there's no need for me to post a reverse lights DIY. The reverse lights are wired in through pins 2 and 3 on the AT shifter plug.

    The clutch switch - for those who want the car to start only when the clutch is engaged and want cruise control to deactivate with the clutch.

    Yes, you can short pins 5 and 7 from the AT shifter plug and clip pin 25 on the cruise control module and be done with it. This DIY is for those who want their car to be closer to stock form.

    1) Start by clipping pins 5 and 7 from the AT shifter plug. It's the green/grey wire and the brown/black wire. Set those aside.

    2) Get the brake switch from your old pedal assembly and use a dremel to sand down the little tab that sticks out from the side. By doing this, the switch will now fit into the clutch switch hole on the pedal switch bracket.

    3) Connect pins 1 and 2 of the brake switch to one wire each. I used 16 gauge white wire that I found at autozone. I'm not a wiring expert so the best way I could figure out how to do this was to use the old plug from the clutch switch I got from the new pedal assembly. I sanded down a corner on that plug and cut off one of the clips so that it would fit down into the brake switch.





    4) I then spliced the two wires coming out of the clutch plug into the two 16 gauge white wires. To splice them together I used weatherproof heatshrinking butt connectors from Autozone. You just put the end of the wire into the connector and then put a lighter to it and it shrinks around the wire.



    5) You now have your clutch switch ready to be installed. I wrapped mine in electrical tape to make it less conspicuous and for extra insulation.





    6) Snap the brake switch into the clutch switch hole on the pedal bracket.



    7) I ran the wire to the right and zip-tied it to another set of wires to keep it up and out of the way.





    8) There's a slot that a bunch of wires go through on the side of the center console that I fed the wires through to get them to the shifter area.



    9) With my white wires in place I stripped the green/grey and brown/black wires from pins 5 and 7 and prepared them to be connected to the white wires.



    10) I clipped the extra white wire, stripped them and then used the red butt connectors to connect them to the ignition wires. I also wrapped these connections in black tape as well, just for safety.



    And that's it. Simple as pie. This is for OBD1 cars of course, I don't know how to do it otherwise. It may or may not be the same.

    Once you have your ignition wired up you can push the clutch in and start up your car. This should also allow cruise control to work and have it cancel out when the clutch is pushed in, but I'm not sure because the car still doesn't have a diff. We'll find out soon enough though.



    If someone sees this, can you please bump it up.
    Last edited by espguitarist; 06-25-2009 at 10:15 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost


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