525i auto to manual

[v8anglia]

i have a1992 525i with a blown gearbox and i would like to fit a manual box, does anyone have any experience of this swap and are there any potential problems?

[Jose]

No problems to be expected, just change flywheel, pedall box and prop-shaft. Don' t know if the diff ratio is different from the manual one but I' m sure one of the guys here will be able to tell.Pretty straight foreward job, will take some time though.

[v8anglia]

No problems to be expected, just change flywheel, pedall box and prop-shaft. Don' t know if the diff ratio is different from the manual one but I' m sure one of the guys here will be able to tell.Pretty straight foreward job, will take some time though.

would there be any wiring issues? i`m thinking about the large cable to the auto box do i just leave it or do i need to take it out. thanks, paul.

[granit_silber]

i have a1992 525i with a blown gearbox and i would like to fit a manual box, does anyone have any experience of this swap and are there any potential problems?

I'm not much help mechanically, but I looked into the conversion and the cost was prohibitive (3k+). You have to change the center consol, pedal assembly, flywheel, and other stuff. There is something that you have to do/add to the harness and the diff ratio is different.

-ashley

[gale]

would there be any wiring issues? i`m thinking about the large cable to the auto box do i just leave it or do i need to take it out. thanks, paul.

No problem abandoning the cable. I just pulled mine thru the rubber grommet in the tunnel and coiled it up under the console. It will throw the dreaded "trans program error" message, but for once you can ignore it. It doesn't affect performance. You can get rid of the message by running a jumper wire to ground on pin number 5 in the CCM socket.

No instrument cluster/coding plug issues to deal with. You will have to pull the starter relay out of the fuse box and hard-wire pin 30 to pin 87 in the socket. You will also have to add a cruise control cancel switch to the clutch pedal.

Get with Mark D'Sylva and buy one of his EAT chips for a manual and you won't have to change out the DME, a manual with an auto DME tends to have wandering idle problems but the manual chip takes care of it.

The console will only need a new center panel from a stick, the rest of the console is identical to the auto.

Not too many other surprises. Here are a few notes:

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_41.htm

The biggest difference between a 525i swap vs. a 735i swap is the 525 uses a ZF manual box (vs. Getrag in the 735i/535i). Your call whether to swap the diff, you can drive it for a while with the same diff after the swap and change it out later if you find it's not geared right. I had a 4.27 in my auto and it was totally wrong with the stick so I looked for a 3.73 and settled for a 3.91 which is great most of the time. I have a 3.64 ready to put in it now that gas prices have soared.

[Kalevera]

Ashley -- If you're still looking...The Euro Depot offers a conversion kit for the M20 at $995 with *all new wear parts* and repainted/cleaned non-wear parts. Granted, the M50 swap from them may be a bit more, but I don't think there are any differences. Check their web site :)

A turnkey place, such as Koala, will charge $3000 - $4000 to do the work.

best, whit


I'm not much help mechanically, but I looked into the conversion and the cost was prohibitive (3k+). You have to change the center consol, pedal assembly, flywheel, and other stuff. There is something that you have to do/add to the harness and the diff ratio is different.

-ashley

[v8anglia]

many thanks for all your help, i`ll let you all know how i get on, paul, v8anglia.

[granit_silber]

Ashley -- If you're still looking...The Euro Depot offers a conversion kit for the M20 at $995 with *all new wear parts* and repainted/cleaned non-wear parts. Granted, the M50 swap from them may be a bit more, but I don't think there are any differences. Check their web site :)

A turnkey place, such as Koala, will charge $3000 - $4000 to do the work.

best, whit

Whit,

Thanks Man! I'll check 'em out!! (I'm excited again!!!!!!!)
-ashley

[granit_silber]

i have a1992 525i with a blown gearbox and i would like to fit a manual box, does anyone have any experience of this swap and are there any potential problems?

They have 5sp tranny's for our 525's for $650 or the entire conversion kit for $1495.

They have a 30 day warranty on the parts, which is a little unsettling. The parts are "cleaned and repainted", run-tested and mother approved. That makes me a little nervous to spend the money and have the tranny crap out on the 31st day.

Whit, have you done any business with these guys?

-ashley