Win/win indeed, you guys make a fun team. I will use the opportunity to refresh my starter with new brushes and bearings after a good cleanup. I saw the realoem pages for both the automatic and the manual and sure enough, they share the pedal brackets, so I'm golden. I think I have located the pedal, so that is one less thing to do. I will also get a new main seal/carrier assembly to seize the chance to replace it when the auto tranny is out. So far all the pieces have been coming my way and I hope is all smooth as it has been. I plan to start the project in the second half of August or later in September, so that I can enjoy the E36 this summer season and get to try the manual tranny in the fall, a few weeks before she gets garaged for the winter. She runs good, just too much of a turtle for my taste and I think is the auto tranny that holds it back. It feels as if the gear ratios on the auto tranny are off for the power band of the engine. I replaced the head and did a cooling system overhaul, plus replaced the seats with E46 sport power seats last fall. I just took it for emissions test and it passed with flying colors. A couple weeks ago the rear shocks were replaced and the brakes were re-done. The darn power roof does not work and the donor car also had a power roof, so no parts to do a manual roof conversion.
That sounds like an awesome project and definitely doable. You are probably at the same spot I was last year when I first started buying parts for the project. That gets me nostalgic as well as excited for you. Your car seems to be extremely well taken care of of and yes, you will breath new life to it for sure. Funny thing was that I had a hard time getting used to my new driving position. I didn't realize how different I would sit compared to driving auto. It really did feel like a new car! It was such an awesome experience. Anyway, good luck once again. I hope you have a manual roof conversion in your future!
Javier and Bro
I'm really excited about this project. This is my second E36 convertible, the first one was a 318 automatic and although I loved the way it looked, it had an auto tranny and was even more of a turtle than this one. At the time, I would not consider to do a manual conversion because the parts were not easy to find around my rural area. I sold it and just a few days later I was missing it. It stayed in my mind for a few years until last spring, when I stumbled upon this one, which was kept inside a basement every winter and was originally owned by an older fellow that left it to his son after passing away. (in just a few years, the son managed to run the car to the ground by not servicing it). I drove 5 hours to see it and after realizing that it was still tight and rustless, I bought it for what I thought was a good deal, but that turned out to be about market price, as it had a "coolant leak" (that turned out to be a bad cylinder head) and both front and rear the seats were trashy. The tranny was slipping due to low fluid level and the fluid had never been replaced. I replaced all of the seats and went on to replace the head. I was lucky to find a head at the Montreal's Kenny-u-pull, out of a '97 525i that crashed shortly after a total engine overhaul, so the valves, guides and seals still had that new glow. You could still read the brand and part numbers on the head gasket, the head bolts were also new, but I replaced them because they are TTY bolts (I do have some reserve about that, especially after reading how Mercedes Benz treats the re-use of their TTY bolts, using a guide based on the amount of stretch of the used bolts as compared with new ones. They re-use bolts with less than 0.3 mm of stretch). Anyway, the head replacement went smooth and the tranny service eliminated the slip, so the car runs sweet now. I've owned it for a year, but it has only been work, work, work, so now that it runs, I will sweat the fever this summer before taking on the conversion. I will snap and post a pic of it later today, for your perusal.
Cheers
Fred
Hey Fred, Finally got a chance to see your message and man.. Your car looks super clean! I admire your dedication and believe me just reading about the work you've done keeps me energized. This is why is love the E36 community now. I think there's a lot of crappy ones out there, but that's a gold mine for a lot of us that are willing to give them the insane amounts of work needed to get them back on the road. It's sooo worth it. I can't believe this 20+ year old model turns my head more than any other model still (the e30 is close though). I hope to hear more of the swap once you get going. By the time you're done you'll be wondering why you didn't do it earlier! Good luck!
Thanks Javi,
Yesterday I replaced the muffler because the original had a hole and the car sounded too growly for my taste. To my surprise, the original muffler was not only holed, but it had disintegrated internally. With the new muffler, the car picked up more power, does not feel like a sitting duck anymore and is nice and silent. I'm on the hunt for a clutch pedal, already ordered the main rear engine seal. I'm going to Toronto in 10 days and will definitely find it there, as there are several dismantlers in the big city. Once I'm ready, I might just ride for a few weeks and will jump at the conversion. I'm excited just thinking of the feel it will have with the manual gearbox.
I was really interested in converting my E46 328i 99' M sport auto to manual, A. Because I have the big M sport model, really rare in my country and B. I wanted to keep the car because it is after all my dad's first real dream achievement(He had it hard growing up), but after the currency conversion and local costs, I'm looking at $4000 worth of work, and the car's probably only worth $5500, I'm just keeping it stock, and waiting 4 years to get a job, and maybe buy a Miata or MX-5. f$*& BMW. I'm only 18, I can dream bigger. XDXD
Quick question for the manual swap thread.
I'm swapping a 5 speed from a donor into an OBDI.
Can I just swap the ECUs as well to avoid my car thinking its still an auto?
Does this mean the donor ECU needs to be an OBDI?
I have a question i need answered please. I have a 96 auto and a 92 manual car i can use as a donor. Now drivetrain aside, can i use all the linkages, pedals etc. From the 92 without issues? I'll mention the donor car is a 92 318i where the 96 auto is a 328i
Last edited by DotBeta; 05-10-2017 at 07:43 AM.
Posting here since this is where I have been looking. Working on a 97 m3 sedan and wondering if some of these dme just don't work with the code clearing/adaptation clearing methods here. After following all the instructions to program the gm code etc and removing the trans chip I had the 217 can bus error that would not clear. There are a couple other posts like me who seemed like they had similarly tried a million times and just couldn't clear the 217 code. I found this thread https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ual-Conversion and tried to follow it but had trouble getting it to actually code the dme to the manual part number. The whole deal is that the procedure shown there will actually activate the manual trans code in your dme. The thing is, the dme ships with a base part number that is it's uncoded state, and it has several programs available stored in the unit. By programming the 'programmed' part number you are putting the actual manual trans code in effect. This will actually make it a manual trans dme. I used a tiny ads cable and the trick to getting it to actually start programming is to open up the tiny ads and add a jumper from the solder hole for pin 14 on the board to the pin 18 on the connector (which has no wire going to it). Did all that, it programmed, took the trans chip out one last time, and it fired right up and NO CODES!!
I need some help swapping my car.. This is my first time posting here, lurked a while but never made an account and I'm having trouble finding the info I need. I have an auto 1998 328i that I'd like to swap, but where I live my model/year is insanely hard to find for some reason. I've found a lot of parts cars at auctions but they're all either 1997, or the same year but different model. I found a 98' 325i for about $200 but I'm not sure if the transmission would work with my chassis. I know that the auto and manual chassis are exactly the same between the same models, so if I found my same car I wouldn't have a problem with fitting.. But I've been searching for almost a year now and no such luck finding another one of my cars. But I'm unsure about fitting a different model transmission in my car. Any info on this? This is my first car so forgive me for my lack of knowledge or terminology, I'm still learning🙂
328 shared the same trans as the m3. 325 was different. Different years 328 are the same. There were two different trans used in 328/m3, the Getrag and the ZF, I think ZF was later but not sure. You can look up parts compatibility in realoem.com
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Welcome. Look back a few posts to my notes on programming. There is a way to properly reprogram your dme to be a manual. Earlier in this thread the notes on pulling the chip and clearing the can bus code don't work for everyone and also programming as manual there is no way the cel can come back later.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Hey if anyone needs any parts let me know I'm taking mine apart right now for a long term build
- - - Updated - - -
Hey if anyone needs any parts let me know I'm taking mine apart right now for a long term build
Question.. will a 5 speed off a 94 e36 325ci fit a 98 m3 sedan?.. I'm about to buy a running donor car.. just want to make sure it fits.. I know the ZF trans is "better".. I don't care it's my beater/daily car and I just want it 5 speed.
will all the parts off the 94 e36 325ci fit? Just say yes or no.
I apologize if this question has been answered already, but I have a Manual 1993 BMW 325i Sedan that I want to use as a donor car for my Auto 1997 BMW 328i Coupe to do a transmission swap.. Is it a good idea to use the 93 325i as a donor? Or is it better to try and find another coupe that is a 97 coupe?
Hi all! I have a 1995 328i coupe with an M52B28 with 4-speed auto tranny.. Someone is selling a manual ZF tranny from a 1995 E34 M50B25 with part # 1053 401 097.. The guy selling it will include secondary drive shaft (can this be customised cut short?), tranny support & all on the picture.. will this work? i know i still need to get the other stuff but my main concern is the gear ratios and if this will fit my M52? TIA everyone
!IMG_3041.JPG
Does anyone have the current price estimate for this swap in a 96-99 M3? I'm wondering if makes sense to pick up an auto and do the swap instead of holding out for a 5-speed, which are more rare in the market.
Did anybody here complete a ZF 5-speed swap into an early 325i?
I have a '94 325i convertible and am swapping in a ZF 5-speed from an M3. The problem I'm having is trying to figure out the correct Master and Slave Cylinder to use. I'm sure that you're all aware that there are what seems to be around 5 different part numbers for each cylinder. I talked to the guy from Zionsville Autosport and he told me to go with the later M3 master and slave. I'm not sure cause the M3 master is so much different than the 325i. The M3 is the short stubby master and also has longer bolt holes that bolt to the pedal assembly. I just don't want to buy the wrong part cause these things aren't cheap.
So did anyone use the M3 cylinders in an early 325i?
I'm in the middle of doing mine now. I was going to get the kit from Zionsville ($3,000) but figured since I was taking everything apart, That I would upgrade from stock parts as well. I was lucky and had a buddy give me a great diff for free and the shop I go to all the time is giving me a good price on an ZF tranny, so it cut some cost. So with the diff and tranny essentially obtained at low cost, I'm looking to spend around 3,000 to 3,500 dollars including shop labor all with upgraded parts (bushings, subframe reinforcemt, etc.) If you're doing the swap yourself it'll be 1,000 to 1,500 dollars cheaper.
More than what I wanted to spend, but I've been wanting to do this for years. Hope this helped a little.
Bookmarks