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View Full Version : Advice on Ti transmission swap?


SDKmann
12-15-2005, 02:03 AM
I originally had not planned on purchasing a ti but rather a 325is with a 5 speed. No opportunities presented themselves when it came time to buy so I settled for a 96' auto ti. My plan was that I would drive it for a year and then give it to my sister to drive. Well ive had the ti for about 3 months now and my plan is starting to look like it will not work. I just love my ti too much! I've found I love the hatchback body style because it stands out from the few other BMWs in the parking lot. My only problems with it are that its automatic, has too small of an engine for me ( I think id rather have a 2.5 or a 2.8), and it is one of the few BMWs Ive seen with cloth seats. Id like to first have the transmission replaced with a manual one but I dont want it to take forever or cost a small fortune. I think I can keep the price down to what I need it to be but I still have some questions. If done by a BMW authorized mech. how long will it take for the swap? What kind of problems are there with transmission swaps? If I did the swap now and hooked it up to the stock 4 cyl., would I need to do another transmission swap later if I put in a bigger engine? Any advice would be appriciated.

1rstbmw!
12-15-2005, 02:21 AM
Transmission swap I would think between $1,500 and 2,000 I may be wrong .Engine swap is alot of $$$$.Might as well drop in the M3 motor for a little extra instead of the 2.5 or 2.8.

DustenT
12-15-2005, 02:33 AM
Transmission swap I would think between $1,500 and 2,000 I may be wrong .Engine swap is alot of $$$$.Might as well drop in the M3 motor for a little extra instead of the 2.5 or 2.8.

There is no cheap way to do this. If you have BMW do it, you will pay lots of $$ for it. It took me 20+ hours to do the swap, plus ~$2000 in parts. If you can't do the work yourself, don't do it.

Sell your automatic Ti, buy a manual Ti with leather then supercharge it for an additional $3500. This is your best bet.

AlaskaBlue
12-15-2005, 02:37 AM
There is no cheap way to do this. If you have BMW do it, you will pay lots of $$ for it. It took me 20+ hours to do the swap, plus ~$2000 in parts. If you can't do the work yourself, don't do it.

Sell your automatic Ti, buy a manual Ti with leather then supercharge it for an additional $3500. This is your best bet.

That is the best bet I would say too. Unless, that is, you really love your car and would not exchange it for another ti in the world.

Engine swaps are about 5-6k including used parts.
There other options such as the DASC or building a NA motor.
There is an NA build up of an M42 on bf.c, it went well. 168 hp to the wheels with no tuning.

cali-ti
12-15-2005, 03:17 AM
considering Dusten's issues with the CEL after his swap to a manual trans, IF you're going to do a I6 swap later, i would do the trans swap at the same time (from the donor car) considering you'd get the DME from that car and it shouldn't give you any CELs. just my 2 cents :)

SDKmann
12-15-2005, 08:14 PM
On the issue of having BMW do it, I have a friend that is a BMW authorized mech. and will do the labor for next to nothing. I plan on taking the engine and trans. from a wrecked 3 series. Will there be any problems with that?

cali-ti
12-15-2005, 08:16 PM
depending on what donor car you use, you may need the driveshaft as well. check the "everything needed for a swap" thread. as long as the front of the donor car is good, they'll be plenty of things you will likely want to transfer from that car to yours. factor in the many, many cases of beer (good beer too) you'll need to buy your friend ;)

EDIT: since you're doing the trans swap also, you'd obviously want to transfer all the related needed goodies (clutch master/slave, pedals, etc).

DustenT
12-15-2005, 08:37 PM
On the issue of having BMW do it, I have a friend that is a BMW authorized mech. and will do the labor for next to nothing. I plan on taking the engine and trans. from a wrecked 3 series. Will there be any problems with that?

Good luck with this. I really hope your friend knows what he's doing.

SDKmann
12-15-2005, 09:42 PM
Yeah he knows what hes doing. He is the master mech at the BMW dealership. Where would be the best place to find a donar car that hasnt been compeletly abused? Dose anyone know of any donar cars for sale?

robcarync
12-15-2005, 10:42 PM
make sure you buy him the beer after he does the swap....you dont want a drunk man hooking up your car!