Blackknight530i’s 530i6 6-speed swap build thread

[Redshift]

This project turned out to be the hardest we've had so far, and that's saying a lot given our last 12 months worth of serious wrenching. Get this damn car out of here!

[dk500]

This project turned out to be the hardest we've had so far, and that's saying a lot given our last 12 months worth of serious wrenching. Get this damn car out of here!

when you have the beast wagon a manual swap is nothing haha

[TerraPhantm]

So everything fit okay otherwise then? Seems like this option would be a decent bit easier than the ZF 6-speed (assuming you buy all the right parts the first time around lol). Though I'd be tempted to use the E60 auto front-half driveshaft and keep the stock rear end.

[blackknight530i]

So everything fit okay otherwise then? Seems like this option would be a decent bit easier than the ZF 6-speed (assuming you buy all the right parts the first time around lol). Though I'd be tempted to use the E60 auto front-half driveshaft and keep the stock rear end.

Yes, all the questionable stuff worked great and fit perfectly. If it wasn't for that bolt being crossthreaded and missing the giubo bolts, it went great. I'll be posting a final parts list in the near future when I've recovered.

[Aryana]

We need a pic of the lip stitches.

[angeleye540i]

Those roller bearing look beefy.
Are you doing your axles too?
Should be easier than the one on B's sled.

Was just thinking the same... deadly serious bearings

[JimLev]

Paul, good to hear you got it done.
A crow bar.....you animal. Didn't know that was a tool in the trunk tool kit.
Hope you don't get too big of a fat lip.

[auaq]

Hey Paul, don't worry if you're still bleeding. Just suck your own blood while you're on your way back home. You won't turn into a vampire.

[AquilaBMW]

Sorry to hear about the lip. ER room though? What happened to the mandatory tube of SuperGlue? Glad you guys got it sorted out. Bravo!

[dk500]

Phu$$y with the lip. Do what my friend did. Broke his arm swapping his transmission with me. He kept saying and persisted that we were going to finish the job, so we did cause he wanted to drive himself to the ER . He isn't the smartest but when we got there and he told them why he took so long their faces were priceless.

[blackknight530i]

Paul, good to hear you got it done.
A crow bar.....you animal. Didn't know that was a tool in the trunk tool kit.
Hope you don't get too big of a fat lip.

So, it was actually a very large pry bar and the end with the bent forks is what hit my lip right in the corner of my mouth. It hit it just right so that every time I open my mount, it separates and starts bleeding profusely. If it was like 1/4" either up, down, left or right, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but since it hit where it did, putting pressure on it would not stop the bleeding very well. It also caused a bit of a split on the inside of my lip that wasn't helping either, but felt more like when you bite the inside of your cheek and take a chunk out, so I figured it would heal pretty quick and stop bleeding, which it did. It wasn't an ER, but rather urgent care. Thing is, I get there in about 10 minutes from Brian's, wait about 10 minutes once I get there while filling out paperwork), then get taken to the room in back. She takes my blood pressure and heartrate, etc. and says the doctor will be in shortly. I kid you not, an hour or so later, the doctor comes in and tells me he has a detached retina and doesn't have any depth perception, so he can't do the stitches, but tells me that it will take about 1 to 2 stitches due to the location of the cut. He calls around to a couple other places and tells me there is an ER about 20 miles away that has a 15 minute wait or so (Yeah, so did this one, but I know how that can be), so rather than go to the other place, I go back to Brian's since the bleeding had pretty much stopped and it was getting late and I wanted to go home. I got back, took a shower and headed out. This was my first drive in the car and the first time it had been more than about 35 MPH on the new gearbox, so I was really testing my faith in the car.

So, the drive back went very smoothly. The first 20 miles or so the clutch was making a strange "whirring" sound that changed with engine speed, but it seemed to be driving fine, so I forged on. As soon as I got on the highway and was accelerating somewhat hard, the gas pedal acted like it was in normal mode on a M5 before and switched to sport mode in an instant and the throttle all of a sudden had much better throttle response. It felt somewhat like it had with the EU2 auto tune before, but not quite. Still, it was a huge improvement over the feel when I first left Brian's, so I couldn't complain. The shifting with the UUC Evo3/DSSR and ECS teflon shifter arm bushings is amazing! The shifts are so crisp and feel so easy to engage, but I left the Evo3 at the height it was out of the box, and I'm definitely feeling like it needs to be lowered. I also plan to put the manual EU2 tune on to get rid of my SAP check engine light and code since I removed the entire system. Hopefully it will restore my previous throttle response. I also discovered that I definitely need a clutch stop. The length of the clutch pedal throw right now is way too far and makes shifts really jerky. It took me several shifts to find a good spot and adjust my seat to accommodate it properly, so having the proper stop will really help. Other than that, the car drove great! I also averaged 27 MPG on the highway for about 150 miles. That's pretty close to what I could get on the auto, and the RPMs are nearly identical to what they were with the 5-speed auto with 3.46 diff ratio since the new setup is a 6-speed manual with 3.15 diff ratio. This was pretty much confirmed in Stuck's 6-speed swap thread, but he was going from 5-speed manual to 6-speed manual, so he already had the 3.15 diff ratio.

Anyways, the conclusion of this swap is that everything worked as it should once we made sure we were using the right parts All of the parts that weren't confirmed to fit before starting this project ended up fitting properly and everything basically bolted up like it was installed that way from the factory. I'm actually not sure why BMW didn't just go ahead and install the S6S-420g in the 530i as an option, because it feels great. Now, regarding the 540i and M5 parts in the rest of the drivetrain, the common consensus was that it was going to not only add a lot of static weight, but rotational weight and that it would make the car considerably slower, but that's not really the case. I didn't really notice any reduction of power to the ground compared to the auto before. If there is a difference, it's not that much. Could the car use a blower or S54 swap? Of course, but it's not necessary to have fun in this car. Once the clutch is broken in and I feel confident that it's not going to blow up on me around town, I'll see how much fun it really is. The M5 axles were mainly as a matter of convenience and preparation of doing some kind of power adder in the future, plus I also knew that I would be getting good parts from Adam. The diff was from Brian's wagon and I used it because it had low miles (around 86k or so), was a 3.15 (good for the 6-speed), and Brian made an offer I couldn't refuse along with the driveshaft to go with it (Thanks Brian!!!). This made the parts required for this particular swap come from at least 4 different models (e46 M3 SMG, e46 M3 6MT, e39 M5, e39 540it) excluding my 530i.

Using brand new OEM and OE parts in the flywheel, clutch, shifter, selector rod, etc. made the car feel like new and how it should have from the factory, so I highly recommend doing the same for anyone considering this swap in the future. I of course would have liked to have used a brand new guide tube, but Leith BMW couldn't get one for a few days, and that just wasn't going to happen, so we reused the SMG tube and it seems to be fine.

Ok, I'm rambling now, but I'll be posting some more updates over the next few days or so while I get used to the new mods.

[auaq]

Now I want to drive your car. Whenyacomingback???

[Aryana]

Congrats man. Glad it all worked out and you didn't get too hurt!

[blackknight530i]

Now I want to drive your car. Whenyacomingback???

Might be a while... I think Brian has suspended my visiting time until further notice

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats man. Glad it all worked out and you didn't get too hurt!

Thanks! Yeah, not really hurt, just annoying. Of course, it might feel pretty awful in the morning, but we'll see. I've still got to go by the local urgent care in Charlotte to get the stitches put in, because I didn't today. I'm just glad the car made it home safely without any issues.

[TerraPhantm]

Awesome, sounds like it's pretty much how the 530i should have come in the first place. I think this is the first documented 420g swap into a 530i.

I have a friend whose 528's torque converter seems to be failing, and we may end up going this route with how cheap the SMG transmissions seem to be online. Though we would probably try to retain the I6 rear end.

[blackknight530i]

Awesome, sounds like it's pretty much how the 530i should have come in the first place. I think this is the first documented 420g swap into a 530i.

I have a friend whose 528's torque converter seems to be failing, and we may end up going this route with how cheap the SMG transmissions seem to be online. Though we would probably try to retain the I6 rear end.

Yeah, I think you can do the same swap with the hybrid driveshaft Stuck used (e60 530i 6-speed front section and e39 rear section) to keep the I6 rear end. The main advantage is that you don't have to custom make a transmission crossmember since the e39 540i6 one works perfectly. Once I post the parts list, you'll be able to pick and choose what you need based on the type of swap you're doing. I've separate parts into different groups in the spreadsheet for which model car they come from. I also will be providing the part numbers for everything as well as the RealOEM and ECS prices for them. The links to the RealOEM diagrams will also be provided for each grouping so you can see the context of the parts as well. The spreadsheet also has formulas to calculate total prices for multiple quantity items as well as a total cost for RealOEM prices and ECS prices at the bottom. This should easily let you know if it's a project your ready to take on financially. Any parts you can source for free or included in a package deal can just have the quantities set to 0 so they aren't included. You can also choose your own parts provider and insert their prices if you desire. I did a couple extra columns for my Morristown parts costs and came out to around $1500 without the transmission, differential, driveshaft, axles, and 6MT bellhousing, but the price did include my UUC Evo3/DSSR, which made it about $355 more than it would have been with a stock shifter.

[TerraPhantm]

Agreed, main advantage would be that you don't need a custom cross member, and 540i/M5 shift linkages should all fit. It's also nice that the 420G has a slightly taller 6th gear than the ZF 6MT (.83:1 vs .88:1). Advantage to the ZF box would be that it's definitely a smoother shifting box. I do also think Stück's driveshaft will work since the M3 driveshaft works fine in 330is that switch to the M3 rear subframe and diff (so any differences in length are marginal at best).

Looking forward to your spreadsheet, thanks for going through all that work

[Chisum]

Well done looking forward to the spreadsheet.

Chisum

[BMW540san]

Hats of to Blacknight and Redshift. I enjoyed reading this thread and here is the proof that it's not just about HP, cool upgrades or whatever. It's about satisfaction of job well done and battle scars.
I suggest new name for Blacknight: Blacklips.
Sorry, JK. I hope you recover all and welcome to 6 speed club.

[blackknight530i]

Hats of to Blacknight and Redshift. I enjoyed reading this thread and here is the proof that it's not just about HP, cool upgrades or whatever. It's about satisfaction of job well done and battle scars.
I suggest new name for Blacknight: Blacklips.
Sorry, JK. I hope you recover all and welcome to 6 speed club.

LOL, don't think I'll be changing it to Blacklips anytime soon

I appreciate the introduction, but it's not my first 6-speed. I already had one in my S62 swapped e38, which is why I wanted one so bad in my e39

[BMW540san]

LOL, don't think I'll be changing it to Blacklips anytime soon

I appreciate the introduction, but it's not my first 6-speed. I already had one in my S62 swapped e38, which is why I wanted one so bad in my e39

My bad. I forgot all about your other awesome project.

[blackknight530i]

My bad. I forgot all about your other awesome project.

LOL, no problem. I did just drive it after not driving it for a while and OMG, the clutch is SOOOO much heavier than the e39's clutch. Also, the bite point of the clutch on the 7 is higher up than the 5 and is a bit more difficult to modulate.

I noticed that I had a bit of a deadzone in the manual throttle pedal I bought for it right at initial throttle, so I put the old auto pedal back in (was in my e38) and it got rid of it. I put the manual pedal in my e38 and it seems to have made it a little less twitchy at initial throttle, so I think I'm going to keep it this way. Who woulda thought that a 200k mile auto throttle pedal would work better than a brand new manual one?

So, another update on the clutch. At idle and a low gears, there is a bit of a whine that changes with engine speed coming from the bellhousing area. It's the same sound I heard when I initially left Brian's house last night. I don't notice it when I get to higher speeds though, but that could just be due to an increase in road noise. I would normally attribute it to a bad throwout bearing or something, but it's a brand new OE one and it didn't show any signs of damage from the mishap with the guide tube, so not really sure what it could be.

[TerraPhantm]

LOL, no problem. I did just drive it after not driving it for a while and OMG, the clutch is SOOOO much heavier than the e39's clutch. Also, the bite point of the clutch on the 7 is higher up than the 5 and is a bit more difficult to modulate.

I noticed that I had a bit of a deadzone in the manual throttle pedal I bought for it right at initial throttle, so I put the old auto pedal back in (was in my e38) and it got rid of it. I put the manual pedal in my e38 and it seems to have made it a little less twitchy at initial throttle, so I think I'm going to keep it this way. Who woulda thought that a 200k mile auto throttle pedal would work better than a brand new manual one?

So, another update on the clutch. At idle and a low gears, there is a bit of a whine that changes with engine speed coming from the bellhousing area. It's the same sound I heard when I initially left Brian's house last night. I don't notice it when I get to higher speeds though, but that could just be due to an increase in road noise. I would normally attribute it to a bad throwout bearing or something, but it's a brand new OE one and it didn't show any signs of damage from the mishap with the guide tube, so not really sure what it could be.

The 420g is a bit of a noisy gearbox. On the M3 there's a vibration damper attached to the transmission brace; otherwise you get some extra gear whine. Maybe try adding #5 from here if you don't already have it: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=22_0033

[blackknight530i]

The 420g is a bit of a noisy gearbox. On the M3 there's a vibration damper attached to the transmission brace; otherwise you get some extra gear whine. Maybe try adding #5 from here if you don't already have it: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=22_0033

Yeah, mine does have that #5 damper, but I noticed the one that came on the transmission originally was quite a bit beefier, but wouldn't fit with the 540i crossmember, so we couldn't swap it over. It was a lot heavier. I won't really worry about the noise then.

I don't have the same noise on my e38 with the same transmission though, which is why it concerned me in the first place, but who knows why. The sound is definitely there on the 530 at idle with the clutch pressed in or out in neutral.

[TerraPhantm]

If it's there regardless of whether the clutch is pressed in or out, it's probably not the throwout bearing. Is it loud enough to capture the whine on video?