My Manual convert is in 2 weeks!

[The München Monster]

Im excited. Bought a new clutch kit today. $300... but better than having to replace it down the road (No pun intended). Im having the owner of HellBM (If you live in Auckland NZ i recommend) do it over a few days. He showed me his personal collection of M3's and E30's today and lets just say i melted.

Anyways, when i see estimates and prices of others' conversions around $2000 or even $3000, the more and more i feel that i got a good deal. $500 for the kit and $500 for the convert? And thats in NZD, so instead of $1000 its like $800 USD. Hopefully i wont regret this conversion. Any tips guys, for before and after the convert?

[Mossman]

Definitely start working on your left leg pistol squats. Start off slow (just body weight) then try to work up to 60 kilo sacks of potatoes and whatnot.

Just kidding...but congrats. 5 speed swapping my auto 325i vert was ALMOST as rewarding as later S52 swapping it. Almost. Makes it a totally different (for the better) car.

[The München Monster]

HAH. Probably will. Never had to drive a manual before. Mines only a 318i but i heard they are still quite decent manual. Automatic is just... laggy.

[noahb]

Nice! Good deal, cost me about 8-900usd too

[Timmyboy]

just finished mine yesterday actually, and damn it makes the car so much more...driveable? take your time, TORQUE EVERYTHING properly and dont make any careless mistakes, also get some friends to help you bench the transmission and put it in, makes a huge difference! My end cost was around 750-800$. Good luck and just dive in!

[The München Monster]

Timmy Im having a trusted mechanic (Whom ive done a lot of business with) do it. I have friends who could do it but i dont want to leave anything to chance. It has to work the next day or else i cant go to work haha.

[Julien]

sweet, now all you need is a turbo :)

[IronFreak]

just finished mine yesterday actually, and damn it makes the car so much more...driveable? take your time, TORQUE EVERYTHING properly and dont make any careless mistakes, also get some friends to help you bench the transmission and put it in, makes a huge difference! My end cost was around 750-800$. Good luck and just dive in!

This is really cool to hear!!! Glad my transmission went to good use!!!

Manual trannys FTW!

[The München Monster]

Idk what to expect. Im still learning how to drive manual really. I will have to learn fast if i want to make it to work on time (;

[nickmcc92]

Just know you're car is going to be way faster :)

[evandael]

it's really easy to learn and you'll enjoy your car approximately 100000x more.. i guarantee it!

[The München Monster]

All this feedback is making me more excited! :D Ahhhhh. I have a lot of fun driving it already, and its auto, so i cant imagine how much more fun driving will be in a week.

[JinormusJ]

Mine is in 2 months, so congrats; I personally know how rewarding it is, especially with rain and LSD
Clutch dumps all day :mrgreen:

I budgeted my first one down to $550 without cutting corners; I had a almost new clutch kit and already resurfaced flywheel to cut costs down (both those together ran me only $90). I managed to squeeze a SSK in there too (that was about 1/5th the budget lol). However, with this second one, I'm buying brand new wear parts and upgrading all the rubber bushings to derlin; I'm expecting to come around to $900-1000 USD depending on if I want to lighten my flywheel down to 13lbs aswell; it will most likely happen. Those guys who are paying upwards of $1500-2500 USD are getting scammed


Congrats on the feat! Enjoy it!

[nick526]

You will absolutely not regret it. In fact, you'll probably never want an auto again. Make sure to have your guy put a clutch stop in for you, that will make it a lot easier to learn to drive stick and much more fun once you get the hang of it. What shifter/knob combo did you decide to use?

Mine really came to life after I finished the swap. I was lucky enough to find a super clean early model at the junkyard with almost everything I needed, including an almost brand new clutch! I Probably spent just under $500 total, with a good chunk of that budget going to the Z4 2.5 shift lever and e46 ZHP knob.

[BROKINBIMMER]

I'm jealous