E34 M50b25tu Auto to 5speed Swap Questions

[e34.Dom]

Hey bf, I have a 94 525i auto I've been dailying for the past year or so, has about 145k miles on it and have been thinking about swapping to a 5speed. I've been digging around forums and havent been able to find a straight answer for what transmissions will mate with my M50.

Basically i am asking:
-Which transmissions will mate well, and which ones to prefer
-What other parts i'll need to do the full swap

Thanks bf,
Dom

[fo3]

What you ideally need is a donor car, because then you'll have everything.
ZF S5-31 or getrag 260/5
You need the exact gearbox from an engine exactly like yours as the bellhousing are part of the gearbox and the shifter, outputs differ, also a ton of 525i manual parts

EDIT: after numerous requests, here is a breakdown of what you need to get.
I will try to keep this generic enough to help m20 m30 and m60 also



Stuff that has to match the trans type:
(on m50s, 91-92= zf, or 93-95 = getrag)

complete trans shifter assembly, guibo, full driveshaft, new DS nuts, complete exhaust hanger,
transmission, trans mounts, trans x-member, slave, slave hardline, Throwout bearing,input shaft bearing, probably the reverse switch wire harness

Stuff from any manual e34:
pedal box, master, master hardlines + softlines. shifter mount, console plate and boot. Grommets for the master-firewall, and the ones in the trans tunnel (one is on the harness, the other I reused the auto and plugged it with window-weld, 3rd is for the manual lever)

Stuff that has to match the engine:
flywheel, flywheel bolts (dual mass and single mass are different), clutch disc and PP. clutch alignment tool.

Stuff that has to match the engine and trans:
yes, the differential. (3.23 for example was ONLY on m50 manuals)


note there are numerous bolts that I don;t have 5 hours to list. they are on the parts car you should get, or the junkyard car you took the parts off of. take them too. basically if it is attached to the trans, or to something attached to the trans, you need it. if it is between the crank, and the Diff's output flanges, you need it.

Seriously, get a donor car.

If you read the forums here the default is "last year", you got to change that to "beginning" to see old posts. That's a quote from an old thread that only shows up when searching "beginning" in the diy and common fixes subforum
The thread is not work linking to because of deletions and photobucket.

[bigsixe34]

There was a dude named "russiankid" that did a manual swap on a 525i probably 7-8 years ago now. Before starting he made a detailed (and I mean meticulously detailed) Excel spreadsheet containing part numbers and prices for every nut and bolt you will lay your finger on throughout the entire process. See if you can get a hold of that. For a couple years there it was the gold standard for those following suit.
Also, as these guys said you really shouldn't even lay into your car until you've got a donor off to the side to steal parts from.

[fo3]

Couldn't find it. Only reference to it so maybe deleted during one of the rage quits.
I found a list by someone else https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/30894308?access_key=key-11d9ffibrllqs9yoqubs

and a spread sheet for a 535 so part numbers maybe not right but gives you an idea of how many parts needed for reco and fit https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9H...1Nmcjdhdw/view