Z4 6 Speed trans?

[sohc12vm20]

I havent seen to much on 6 speeds with the S52? i just came across a S52 and my friend has a 6speed out of a z4 or the stock S52 trans. Same price either way.. I just dont want to get in over me head on this swap. the more i research the more clueless i feel.. lol! I just want to keep it simple, and if I'm correct its best to use the S52 engine, Trans, driveshaft. I'm still trying to figure out wat diff will bolt up with that driveshaft.. Any help will be appreciated. Sorry if this has already been covered.. theres just so many in puts on this swap and it would be nice to hear from someone thats done this first handed! Again thanks in advanced;)

[kronus]

There's several people who've done it, this is one of them, I'm pointing him at this thread.

[jrdeamicis]

Hello!

The 6 speed isnt bad and if you need a hand with it let me know.

We manufacture 6 Speed mounts for those transmissions going into E30's, E36's, and Z3s.

We are local to you, feel free to come drop by and ask questions. Or you can drop the car off and we can take care of the 6 speed problems for you.

Thanks D!

[sohc12vm20]

Hello!

The 6 speed isnt bad and if you need a hand with it let me know.

We manufacture 6 Speed mounts for those transmissions going into E30's, E36's, and Z3s.

We are local to you, feel free to come drop by and ask questions. Or you can drop the car off and we can take care of the 6 speed problems for you.

Thanks D!

Nice.. Thanks!

[Mr.SWISS]

Looking into this, details on mount and is a custom driveshaft truly needed?

[Wanganstyle]

yes.

Z3/Z4 has a different driveshaft than E30/E36 even for 5 speed cars;

S52 Z3 and S54 Z3 and M52 Z4 will have different length and part number driveshaft than a comparable S52 E36M3, M52 or s54 e46.



Mounting of the Z4 6 speed box is different style, its a plate vertical mount bolted to rear of trans converted to parallel style of the E30/e36 gearboxes.

JD has a Z4 6mt in his Z3 that required shortening the driveshaft and custom mounting, I have seen it up close on the lift :)
quite reliable also, crazy guy really hangs out the Z3 :P


Are you local SF Bay area? I could look into custom OEM driveshaft combinations if you had a Z4 6 box going into a E30; it may be possible with hybrid front+rear sections from different cars, although that would require professional balance / work that would be easier handled by just having the Original driveshaft shortened.

LOCAL Professional driveshaft modification (with warranty) is not that expensive; considering most E30's on the road could use a rebuilt longshaft ..... :)

[Mr.SWISS]

yes.

Z3/Z4 has a different driveshaft than E30/E36 even for 5 speed cars;

S52 Z3 and S54 Z3 and M52 Z4 will have different length and part number driveshaft than a comparable S52 E36M3, M52 or s54 e46.



Mounting of the Z4 6 speed box is different style, its a plate vertical mount bolted to rear of trans converted to parallel style of the E30/e36 gearboxes.

JD has a Z4 6mt in his Z3 that required shortening the driveshaft and custom mounting, I have seen it up close on the lift :)
quite reliable also, crazy guy really hangs out the Z3 :P


Are you local SF Bay area? I could look into custom OEM driveshaft combinations if you had a Z4 6 box going into a E30; it may be possible with hybrid front+rear sections from different cars, although that would require professional balance / work that would be easier handled by just having the Original driveshaft shortened.

LOCAL Professional driveshaft modification (with warranty) is not that expensive; considering most E30's on the road could use a rebuilt longshaft ..... :)

No I'm far from local and I have a local shaft place. Probably going with an E46 M3 trans as it seems to mount up easier. Was told the 96-99 E36 M3 auto shaft was the proper length and no need to re balance it's marked.

So is this total bullshit or will the E46 M3 trans pretty much bolt up with the e36 M3 auto shaft in a 24V E30?

[Wanganstyle]

the E36m auto longshaft and e46 330i 6mt longshaft is supposedly similar, have heard of internet slight pissing match when talking about zionsville 6mt swap kits and this longshaft into e36's.

will any 6mt fit plug and play with a (parts bin complete both sections balanced) 100% OEM driveshaft into a e30? probably not, as its just kinda off in general.

the rear section of all e30 driveshafts is the same regardless of auto, manual, 4/6 cyl. So ideally this could be kept.
Front section needs to fit large 96mm M3 guibo size and be proper length.

If OEM front section can be found to fit e30+6mt transmission, I don't see why some $$$ to driveshaft shop for balancing act would be a waste.
I spend Premium for Perfect fit in almost everything purchased.

OEM BMW e36 manual transmission longshafts with M3 guibo size: remember Z3 is also an e36-

95m3 6 bolt CV rear
96-99 M3 sliding center 4 bolt rear in 2 length front sections (auto and manual)
Z3 2.8: shorter overall than e36
Z3 3.0, m54b30, 3.2 s52/s54

e36M evo2 6 speed transmission is same dimensions as the e46m getrag 6 speed transmission. if you had a 3.2 euro car you could straight exchange the 6mt from e46m with no change in any driveline components save friction disc (e46m getrag has v8 size imput spline friction disc)

when installing either into e36m3 the auto shaft is a bit off compared to using the proper length of evo 3.2 euro shaft. - you could compare the lengths, but will not be really proper comparison because euro 6mt e36 longshaft is a CV joint to diff 6 bolt, the e36m usa auto longshaft is sliding middle 4 bolt to rear.

as far as custom adaptation of mount for the z4 vs e46m style, it may be easier to use the stock e30 g260 mount and adapt the Z4 trans vertical mount plate to mate with the OEM e30 G260 trans mount compared to adapting to the e46m 6mt ears with custom e30 transmission mount. Both/either will work and require custom fab, using the G260 mount would allow the e30 underfloor pan to look as close to original as possible when car is on the lift.


mounting of either e46m, z4/330i 6mt gearbox would be custom as the trans mount wont fit e30- the length of 6 box is simply longer than the 5 speed.

[Mr.SWISS]

Anybody have a pic of an E46 M tranny bolted up? It has two starter provisions as well it looks like what side is preferred and why?

[Wanganstyle]

s54 uses same style starter, i used s52 starter with my s54.

you cannot mount a starter on the header side of S54.