540i auto to 540i manual

[Dazbut]

I have a 540i auto late '93. It's to become a track day car and i'm keen to change to a manual 5/6 speed. What's needed?, Can't find details/spec on the stock manual boxes provided by BMW and it's been suggested that later M3 manuals would fit? Also been suggested that a manual donor car be sought to get required, cluch, flywheel etc etc. Has anyone done this?
Thanks

[m5maniac2001]

I am also wondering about an auto to manual swap in my 525i. I have heard that the m50's 3 series tranny will fit into my car. I wanted to know how much this replacement would cost? My friend has an old 92 325i that he dosn't use, so I would have all the parts.

Thanks
Andrew

[MBXB]

Gale has a section on the auto to manual conversion:

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_2.htm

[Kalevera]

If you can find the 6 speed, I believe it will just bolt onto any M60, no big deal. The question is finding one, but any good dismantler should be able to get the parts with relative ease.

M50 is even easier - Getrags with the correct bellhousings pop up on eBay all the time for ~ $500...I never see them get sold.

You'd want to replace all wear parts with new ones, perhaps even do the seals on the trans if applicable/warranted.

Frankly, it seems like a pain in the ass and wallet unless you want the experience - just sell the car and find a manual.

[infinity5]

www.theeurodepot.com (http://www.theeurodepot.com) will ship you an entire AT to MT conversion kit for any BMW, every part you need. Just email them and ask for a quote, they got back to me in about a day. For my M60, for a 5 speed, they wanted a little over 2,000... seems steep, but considering i need a new trans, driveshaft, diff inpout flange, clutchyness, and then a whole hord of small/expensive parts to make it actually drive its not all that shocking. with the costs of the trans, drive shaft, clutch, hydruallics, etc, its hard to do it much cheaper on your own unless you get a really good deal on a transmission. I don't think i'd be that huge of a pain if you had a good week to two weeks of time to spend on it and a lift. its mostly just unbolting all the current setup and bolting in a new one. even in your garage you could do it on big jack stands if you had good tools.