possibility of a 540i/6 ?

[Phil M]

It looks like I'm probably going to have to get my transmission rebuilt/replaced. Ugh. Makes me not want to sell her then cause I dont want anyone enjoying a newly rebuilt transmission but me! hahaha. Especially since all that money put into the transmission and yet the selling price will be no higher.

Instead of a new auto tranny, I was just fantasizing about a 6 speed manual tranny to be attatched to this beast. Or is this too extravagant of a job? Would a different model transmission be put in? As in like not the 5HP30 type thats in there right now but what? Would labor costs be outrageous? I was just thinkin about having to have the shifter, clutch, etc put in and what not or is my 540i previously built to accomodate such parts?

thanks again guys for all your suggestions.

[Unregistered]

May not be exactly what you want, but check out Gale's BMW repair - he converted his 735i from auto to manual:

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

[G Feller]

Hey Phil,

Drew Z converted his 540 Touring to a 6-speed (the donor was a wrecked 540i Sport), essentially the same swap you are considering. Others have done it as well. It's not cheap, but you are really talking about the difference in cost between repairing/replacing your auto tranny (which you will have to do anyway) and installing a 6-speed.

Your ZF 5HP30 auto tranny would be replaced with a 6-speed manual, an entirely different beast made by Getrag ("Type D"). You will have to find a wrecked donor car or a salvage yard that has the correct unit from an E34 540, an 840, or--I think--an E39 540.

Yes, there would be a lot of labor involved. Since you would not do it yourself, I'm guessing that it will ultimately prove prohibitive cost-wise: you might do better to bite the bullet and fix your auto tranny, then sell the car and buy a 6-speed car instead, without the headaches of arranging the swap.

It may only make sense to do this swap where the 6-speed is otherwise not available (like this 7 Series (http://www.bmwcca.org/Roundel/2004/06/Article_2.shtml) or Drew's Touring).



It looks like I'm probably going to have to get my transmission rebuilt/replaced. I was just fantasizing about a 6 speed manual tranny to be attached to this beast. I was just thinking about having to have the shifter, clutch, etc put in and what not or is my 540i previously built to accomodate such parts?

thanks again guys for all your suggestions.

[DrewZ]

Usually, the hardest part is finding a used 6-speed trans, but car-part.com has FOUR of them at the moment. You'll also need a driveshaft, pedal cluster, clutch hydraulics & shift console. There was a guy in SE PA that converted his '94 540iA to a 6-speed by himself. If you're serious about converting, PM me, and I'll try to dig out the guy's email addy & some other info for you.

Drew Zacharda
6-speed Touring
http://members.aol.com/apzjd/newavatar.jpg (http://www.bmwe34.net/ASP/DURegistry/RegDetail.asp?id=100)


Hey Phil,

Drew Z converted his 540 Touring to a 6-speed (the donor was a wrecked 540i Sport), essentially the same swap you are considering. Others have done it as well. It's not cheap, but you are really talking about the difference in cost between repairing/replacing your auto tranny (which you will have to do anyway) and installing a 6-speed.

Your ZF 5HP30 auto tranny would be replaced with a 6-speed manual, an entirely different beast made by Getrag ("Type D"). You will have to find a wrecked donor car or a salvage yard that has the correct unit from an E34 540, an 840, or--I think--an E39 540.

Yes, there would be a lot of labor involved. Since you would not do it yourself, I'm guessing that it will ultimately prove prohibitive cost-wise: you might do better to bite the bullet and fix your auto tranny, then sell the car and buy a 6-speed car instead, without the headaches of arranging the swap.

It may only make sense to do this swap where the 6-speed is otherwise not available (like this 7 Series (http://www.bmwcca.org/Roundel/2004/06/Article_2.shtml) or Drew's Touring).