The Official Auto-to-Manual Transmission Swap Thread

[eddoes]

just thought i'd contribute to the forum since i see the last post was quite 2001!
i'm doing an engine swap in my BMW Z3 an thought "might as well upgrade from auto to manual." honestly, this forum helped me a lot in knowing what parts to look out for, but there were some things not mentioned which i would try to highlight.
Firstly, "all hydraulic lines from master to slave cylinder" just dosent cut it! lol. This is all the lines you need:
http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/Z3...lutch_control/
Secondly, i bought a gearbox but certain parts needed changing to give the car a solid,new feel. Parts like the clutch fork lever, throw out bearing, plastic ball pin and spring clip should all be checked for signs of wear. in my case i bought all these an am gonna change it to be on the safe side.
Thirdly, prepare to spend a bunch of money for a new driveshaft. i bought mines off turner motorsports. you will need a new driveshaft since the automatic driveshaft is too short. alternatively, you can go to your local machine shop to have them lengthen it but you NEED to have to balanced as well.
i also bought a new clutch and pressure plate since i did not want to risk using the clutch it came with. i am saving for a lightweight flywheel, but for now i'll just have my machine shop shave the stock flywheel down a bit to save weight.
you will need a transmission mount bracket. you will also need a shifter boot WITH plastic clip to snap into place where the auto gear selector was previously. the only place to get the leather shift boot WITH plastic attached is from the firm. all other places only sell the leather and say you can reuse you plastic surround...but we had auto's before so we dont have the plastic to begin with! :'(
Right now i am acquiring bushings like the stabilizing rod bushings and the gearshift balljoint (these help minimize gearplay and give that chunky feel when shifting) so its still a work in progress for me! i'll update you guys on my progress and take some before and after pics as well. Strength and Powers 8|

*facepalm* last post was 2007..my bad lol
ohh and i forgot to mention.. this conversion should be simple once you have the full ecu and wiring harness of a manual car. i believe to convert to manual and trying to use the auto brain may pose problems with either starting or engaging vanos :\

[johncan]

Can the bmw dealership flash my ecu to that of a manual m3 when I do swap my transmission? Or no?

[silvabmdub]

where do I find wiring diagrams for the auto to manual swap for my 1997 m3?

[alpineBmwM3md]

I recently swapped the 5-speed manual transmission in my 96 M3 for a 6-speed transmission and would like to sell my used parts. All my used parts are oem and were working fine when removed at 103K miles. I bought my M3 CPO and never tracked it. A rubber boot on the shifter rod is cracked and may need to be replaced. I prefer local pickup but can also deliver the parts for free to anywhere in South Florida. Asking $600 for all parts. If interested, please email me at maestro578@yahoo.com.

Parts include:

Used ZF 5-speed manual transmission with all gears working fine.
Used OEM Transmission mount bushings and flex disk
Used OEM Transmission mount crossmember
Used Shifter linkage parts including M shift knob.
Used Clutch slave cylinder
Various used bolts and fasteners for above parts

I can include the used clutch parts and used flywheel if you wish but I strongly recommend buying a new clutch and having flywheel inspected carefully if u are going to reuse it. Please see pics below. What you see is what you get!

[flyfishvt]

So I'm doing this swap in the spring to my 97 328 vert. I really miss my 5 speed that I had in my 325is. Here is my parts list and what it cost me so far. A few small items missing but nothing serious. I found a 93 325is parts car that's still running. I really wanted a ZF tranny like mine would have had from the factory instead of swapping in the Getrag from the 93 325. So I searched and found a guy selling one. Got the tranny, shifter linkage and front half of the drive shaft for $300. He still had the DME so I got that too for an extra $65. All I have to do is align the EWS. I can get all the other parts off my parts car. Ive already sold $400 in parts off it with lots more to go. I should break even on the swap. Its really the only way to go if you can find a parts car at a good price.

I still havent seen a complete write up on this whole swap with all the wiring and pics and details on every step so I'll be doing one when the time comes. There's way too many simple questions that get asked over and over. After spending two days to read this entire thread...it's time to pull it all together and put all that info into one single DIY

I'll edit this list if it changes.

From parts car: $500
dif 3.15 open
tranny cross member
flywheel
clutch kit
shift knob
pedal cluster with clutch pedal switch for Cruise Control
slave cylinder
clutch master cyinder
hard hydrolic line to slave
soft hydrolic line from res to master
manual tranny reverse switch connector and pigtail
Underdash trim panel with slot for clutch pedal
Shifter/tranny tunnel rubber dust boot

Included with ZF tranny: $300
Tranny
Shifter linkage
drive shaft Front Half
tranny to engine dust cover plate (you can reuse the one from your auto tranny)
tranny bolts
shifter surround foam insert
shift boot
tranny mounts
Guibo Bolts

Purchased separate:
OBDII 5 speed DME $65
throw out bearing $45
Shifter bushings $20
guibo $35
Pilot bearing $10
Clutch Fork Pivot Pin $2
Exhaust Gaskets $10

[johnnybayonne]

Ive already sold $400 in parts off it with lots more to go. I should break even on the swap. Its really the only way to go if you can find a parts car at a good price.

I still havent seen a complete write up with all the wiring and pics and details on this so I'll be doing one when the time comes. There's way too many simple questions that get asked over and over. After spending two days to read this entire thread...it's time to pull it all together and put all that info into one single DIY

Cool ^ DIY


Great post...I will be doing it also, this coming April. I got a $700.00 98' 328is parts car, with everything I needed except for the wear items, question though, what exactly are you selling from the automatic...are you telling me someone will actually want the automatic trans, drive shaft & 3.93 rear diff. ? Anyhow good luck with your swap & keep us posted.

Johnny

[flyfishvt]

Cool ^ DIY


Great post...I will be doing it also, this coming April. I got a $700.00 98' 328is parts car, with everything I needed except for the wear items, question though, what exactly are you selling from the automatic...are you telling me someone will actually want the automatic trans, drive shaft & 3.93 rear diff. ? Anyhow good luck with your swap & keep us posted.

Johnny

I'm selling parts off my 93 325is parts car. it has a 5 speed so I get all my swap parts off it but it has the Getrag tranny so I bought a ZF separate. The parts car interior is toast but the rest is good to excellent. I already have an offer on the motor when I do the full part out on it. right now its just sitting till warm weather.

My auto tranny in the 97 vert is in good shape. Its solid as a rock but I really miss the 5 speed. Its just not the same car. I think if my first BMW has been an auto I would have never bought another. You lose way too much of the BMW driving experience with an auto.

[johnnybayonne]

I'm selling parts off my 93 325is parts car. it has a 5 speed so I get all my swap parts off it but it has the Getrag tranny so I bought a ZF separate. The parts car interior is toast but the rest is good to excellent. I already have an offer on the motor when I do the full part out on it. right now its just sitting till warm weather.

My auto tranny in the 97 vert is in good shape. Its solid as a rock but I really miss the 5 speed. Its just not the same car. I think if my first BMW has been an auto I would have never bought another. You lose way too much of the BMW driving experience with an auto.

Sounds good, I will definitely be in touch with you when I start the swap this April...feel free to pm me anytime....

You lose way too much of the BMW driving experience with an auto.

I was told this by many! I am about to find out, I was told, it will feel like an entirely different car...

Johnny

[rochey6957]

i have the throwout bearing, pilot bearing and clutch allignment tool. what other small wear parts do i need?

[3B2M8Wi]

So I'm doing this swap in the spring to my 97 328 vert. I really miss my 5 speed that I had in my 325is. Here is my parts list and what it cost me so far. A few small items missing but nothing serious. I found a 93 325is parts car that's still running. I really wanted a ZF tranny like mine would have had from the factory instead of swapping in the Getrag from the 93 325. So I searched and found a guy selling one. Got the tranny, shifter linkage and front half of the drive shaft for $300. He still had the DME so I got that too for an extra $65. All I have to do is align the EWS. I can get all the other parts off my parts car. Ive already sold $400 in parts off it with lots more to go. I should break even on the swap. Its really the only way to go if you can find a parts car at a good price.

I still havent seen a complete write up on this whole swap with all the wiring and pics and details on every step so I'll be doing one when the time comes. There's way too many simple questions that get asked over and over. After spending two days to read this entire thread...it's time to pull it all together and put all that info into one single DIY

I'll edit this list if it changes.

From parts car: $500
dif 3.15 open
tranny cross member
flywheel
clutch kit
shift knob
pedal cluster with clutch pedal switch for Cruise Control
slave cylinder
clutch master cyinder
hard hydrolic line to slave
soft hydrolic line from res to master
manual tranny reverse switch connector and pigtail
Underdash trim panel with slot for clutch pedal
Shifter/tranny tunnel rubber dust boot

Included with ZF tranny: $300
Tranny
Shifter linkage
drive shaft Front Half
tranny dust cover
tranny bolts
shifter surround foam insert
shift boot
tranny mounts
Guibo Bolts

Purchased separate:
OBDII 5 speed DME $65
throw out bearing $45
Shifter bushings $20
guibo $35
Pilot bearing $10
Clutch Fork Pivot Pin $2
Exhaust Gaskets $10

if I'm changing an OBDII car from auto to manual do i really need the OBDII 5-speed DME?

[CPOK]

Just a quick question. I have a full manual conversion kit for an E30 318i. Is the manual box the same in the E30 as in the E36? (I have an Auto E36 318is)

Cheers.

CPOK

[flyfishvt]

if I'm changing an OBDII car from auto to manual do i really need the OBDII 5-speed DME?

You can use your current DME but its easier with a manual DME. This doesn't apply to OBDI cars. Look through this thread. There are instructions on getting rid of the error codes you'll get if you use your existing auto DME. If you use a manual DME you won't get any of them

This is more of an issue in places that have emmissions checks.

i have the throwout bearing, pilot bearing and clutch allignment tool. what other small wear parts do i need?

I recommend at a minimum

Guibo and shifter linkage bushings

Some people recommend a new slave and master and that rubber boot on the drive shaft that inserts into the guibo. New guibo bolts/nuts are recommended but not completely needed.

Of course you'll need all new fluids for the tranny and dif.

[3B2M8Wi]

You can use your current DME but its easier with a manual DME. This doesn't apply to OBDI cars. Look through this thread. There are instructions on getting rid of the error codes you'll get if you use your existing auto DME. If you use a manual DME you won't get any of them

This is more of an issue in places that have emmissions checks.

I recommend at a minimum

Guibo and shifter linkage bushings

Some people recommend a new slave and master and that rubber boot on the drive shaft that inserts into the guibo. New guibo bolts/nuts are recommended but not completely needed.

Of course you'll need all new fluids for the tranny and dif.

Ok thanks yeah it might not be that big of a problem there are no emissions checks in Michigan.

[Leslie1234]

[IMG]http://www.**********.info/7.jpg[/IMG]

[mizino]

Ok so heres the thing...I'm looking to buy a used e36, problem is my budget isn't huge (only about 2.5k US or so) I've been finding a few with manuals that have been beaten to crap (i saw one 325i that had rust everywhere...). Now I'm coming across a few with automatics that make me wonder if I should get an auto, and just swap it. So here are a list of questions that hopefully can be answered pretty easily that will let me know if I want to try this:

First I'm pretty mechanically inclined, I've just never worked on a BMW before, so I'm wondering is it possible to do this in my car port? In perhaps a day or so (consider me fumbling with wrenches and nearly killing myself once or so into the equation)?

Second is it worth it? I mean is it worth the hassle to do it instead of just biding my time and finding a manual worth doing work on?

Third does the 318i sedan use the same manual transmission as all the other e36? I mean besides the m3.

Oh and is there a place to buy a kit with everything needed? I mean all the little bits and pieces?

thanks for the help all.

[flyfishvt]

1) I do all my work in a carport with the car on ramps and jack stands. I did my first e36 clutch job over a year ago and it took 4 days (2 full days and 3 partial days). Most of what you will encounter in a manual swap is identical to what I ran into with my clutch job. You'll never get it done in 2 days in a carport with not previous e36 experience. Plan on a week. Better yet plan on 2 weeks of partial days and be very happy if it takes less. The time it takes to constantly crawl out from under the car for tools etc can not be underestimated. i ran into issues with the exhaust studs. I didn't want to ruin them so that took a long time to deal with. Ifyou buy a swap kit you will cut way down on the time required. I'm taking parts off another car to swap into my car. That means I have to take them off my parts car then take the parts off MY car then install the parts from the parts car. It takes much more time that way but I found a parts car with all the stuff I need for $500. I can get my swap parts and sell a bunch of parts off it and break even or even make a few $$$. A kit will cost you $1000-1500.

2) is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! I had a 95 325 5 speed and I now have a 97 328 auto. The difference between auto and manual is very very dramatic. It makes you feel much more connected to the car and the road. As Ive said before...you lose a lot of the BMW driving experience with an auto.

3) all 318's, 325's and 323's used the same getrag 250 5 speed. 328's and M3's got the ZF 5 speed. Depending on what car you get will determine what is involved in the swap. Read through the thread and see. The dif will have to be swapped out. If you end up with a 318 auto then the dif you swap in has to come from a 318 5speed because the 318 uses a smaller case dif. You can swap in a dif from a 6 cylinder car but you'll have to swap the eintre drive shaft and the rear half shafts too. not a big deal but more work and more money.

There are plenty of kits available. Zionsville is the most popular but there are other options.

I highly recommend getting a 5 speed parts car that matches your auto tranny car and swapping over the manual stuff. It gets a bit tricky determining which cars match up but its not super hard to figure out. A parts car will save you a ton of money.

[mizino]

Well I had a talk with my parents, right now any car I get has to be usable by them as well. So it makes sense to get an automatic car and then swap it to the 5 speed later when I'm using it. I've been looking at a couple of automatic cars and it looks like the one i want (that has the color and options i want) is a 328i sedan.

Does this mean that I will have to change the diff in the back when I switch the transmissions?

Sorry to be asking so many questions but I'm just trying to do my research. The last car I bought I didn't do the research and ended up stuck.

[flyfishvt]

If you get an e36 auto get one with a max of 120,000 miles. Even then I would hesitate. These GM auto trannies start to show problems around 150k miles. Some of them even less. They can easily be rebuilt but its a crap shoot. Mine has 150k on it and I've done a ton of work on these cars and I STILL hesitated to buy it.

You will have to swap the dif no matter which e36 you get if it has an auto. Some guys leave them in because it makes the car much quicker but you loose a ton of top end and gas mileage because your engine is turning 4500 rpm at 70 instead of 3200 rpm at 70 with the correct dif.

If you really want to research this then take some time and read the entire thread. I know its long and it took me a few days to read through it but it really does cover all the topics involved. Including dif swaps, DME swaps, warniing light issues, compatiblitily isssues. You name it and its in there.

Then come back and ask questions if you need more answers.

[mizino]

You answered the only other question I had actually. I looked up the Zionsville kit, and it says it doesn't include diff. So I was thinking it might actually be needed. But it seems like I definitely need one, I'm just wondering if they include the axle shafts, or not with the one Zionsville sells...perhaps need to e-mail them.

[inevitable08]

Hey i would just like to get some of your guys opinions, i am getting tired of my auto in my car (go figure as to why i am here) and so i'm stuck between a couple things. I would like to go ahead buy all the parts for ~$1500, do the swap my self call it a day, but my dad says just sell my car and wait for a good buy with a 5spd? I have had my car for about 7 months now and it would just feel unreal to go buy a different one and having to relearn a completely different car (maintenance/condition wise)

I have done some much maintenance on the car the biggest ones were all the filters, cooling system overhaul and new tires. Thats a lot of money to just give away and redo again. Just to get a 5-spd.

[Lcast112]

Hi I have a 318is i did the auto to manual swap and my RPM's are super high in my 5th gear I replaced my 4.44 diff to a 3.91 but it made barely any difference

[Three20fiveis]

Hi I have a 318is i did the auto to manual swap and my RPM's are super high in my 5th gear I replaced my 4.44 diff to a 3.91 but it made barely any difference

Yea that's still pretty high, you need a much lower ratio, gotta find a different diff

[flyfishvt]

Hey i would just like to get some of your guys opinions, i am getting tired of my auto in my car (go figure as to why i am here) and so i'm stuck between a couple things. I would like to go ahead buy all the parts for ~$1500, do the swap my self call it a day, but my dad says just sell my car and wait for a good buy with a 5spd? I have had my car for about 7 months now and it would just feel unreal to go buy a different one and having to relearn a completely different car (maintenance/condition wise)

I have done some much maintenance on the car the biggest ones were all the filters, cooling system overhaul and new tires. Thats a lot of money to just give away and redo again. Just to get a 5-spd.

You're thinking about spending $1500 for a kit but you're worried about losing a few dollars by selling your car? Doesn't make sense.

You should start looking for a parts car that has all the parts you want. If you search around you'll eventually find exactly the one you want. I got one for $500. After the swap I can sell a few parts off the parts car and scrap the rest. I'll end up not spending any money to do the swap.

[alpineBmwM3md]

Lowered the asking price for all parts to $500!

I recently swapped the 5-speed manual transmission in my 96 M3 for a 6-speed transmission and would like to sell my used parts. All my used parts are oem and were working fine when removed at 103K miles. I bought my M3 CPO and never tracked it. A rubber boot on the shifter rod is cracked and may need to be replaced. I prefer local pickup but can also deliver the parts for free to anywhere in South Florida. Asking $600 for all parts. If interested, please email me at maestro578@yahoo.com.

Parts include:

Used ZF 5-speed manual transmission with all gears working fine.
Used OEM Transmission mount bushings and flex disk
Used OEM Transmission mount crossmember
Used Shifter linkage parts including M shift knob.
Used Clutch slave cylinder
Various used bolts and fasteners for above parts

I can include the used clutch parts and used flywheel if you wish but I strongly recommend buying a new clutch and having flywheel inspected carefully if u are going to reuse it. Please see pics below. What you see is what you get!

[silvabmdub]

So lets say I get a manual dme. The m3 manual dme has a clutch switch in the pedal.

So does the nuetral safety switch wires in the wiring harness turn into the clutch switch wires?

If not, what does?