mid year's e46 m3 wish [ UPDATES! wish may become true!]

[chalaka]

wish one day soon, a tested, complete, DIY friendly, hw+sw DCT kit is available to be purchased for our e46 m3~~~ XD

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[updates: 6/17/2022]
exchanged couple emails with #seemslegitgarage https://www.seemslegitgarage.com/

Mike from SLG is a very kind and responsive person to answer all the newbie questions i had.

so basically, SLG can offer a kit,

- m4 transmission core
- DCT Wiring Service
-custom driveshaft
-HTG Gearbox Control Unit
-Sprung Hub M5X/S5X DCT Adapter
-DCT Oil Cooler Adapter
-MOCAL Oil Thermostat
-oil hose
-25 Row MOCAL Oil Cooler
-DCTfluid and filter

they can do all the soldering, GCU paring with base map..ship out the kit to your door

then, we need to figure out a way to make custom transmission support, install it..
possible some exhaust re-work ..

then SLG helps to do remote tuning..
also mentioned that HTG has some SW improvement ..so, should be good now?
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seek fellow members who may be interested in DCT swap to reach out to Mike ..
understand this solution a bit more..

see if this is something a regular, entry level DIYers can do by himself?
(had past experience with valve adjustment, vanos bolt, brake calipers, fuel pressure gauge, LSD bolts,
front/rear sway bar, adjustable rear control arm,SMG bleeding) --> but never done a clutch related work

SMG2 is currently showing leakage somewhere .. (dropping out of gears) ..

so, got myself a lift, plan to take some times, slowly fix it back to the NORMAL, FUN state..

does this kit/solution sound feasible? something we can chew on ? XD
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Price info: better to contact Mike, range is similar to entry level superharger kit (which is very reasonable, if it works well~)

[ferrarif1]

Have you called "Seems Legit" Garage | BMW Drift & Race Parts (seemslegitgarage.com)?

They have done the swap, offer the conversion parts and while not packaged as a kit, appears to be as good as it's going to get for the E46 M3.

[George Hill]

appears to be as good as it's going to get for the E46 M3.

In this case, as good as it gets doesn't mean it is actually good.

[chalaka]

Have you called "Seems Legit" Garage | BMW Drift & Race Parts (seemslegitgarage.com)?

They have done the swap, offer the conversion parts and while not packaged as a kit, appears to be as good as it's going to get for the E46 M3.

bookmarked their page~ will follow their blog and see if kit is available in the future~ thank you for the information

[chalaka]

In this case, as good as it gets doesn't mean it is actually good.

this service looks promising ~ https://www.seemslegitgarage.com/pos...wiring-service

i think it's the GCU thing that's giving next level of hassles for DIYers ..
maybe a complete kit will be planned out soon ~

[George Hill]

this service looks promising ~ https://www.seemslegitgarage.com/pos...wiring-service

i think it's the GCU thing that's giving next level of hassles for DIYers ..
maybe a complete kit will be planned out soon ~

The GCU IS the problem, completely unreliable and software is not ready yet (ask Martyn )_

I got all the way into my DCT project and stopped at the installation point and ditched all the components in favor of a ZF8. Wiring the mechatronics is a total nightmare and there seem to be only a few companies offering a really solid wiring program.

With that said I REALLY wanted the DCT setup to work, but its not there with the GCU. IF I was going to run one it would be using a MaxxECU with their DCT support protocol.

[chalaka]

The GCU IS the problem, completely unreliable and software is not ready yet (ask Martyn )_

I got all the way into my DCT project and stopped at the installation point and ditched all the components in favor of a ZF8. Wiring the mechatronics is a total nightmare and there seem to be only a few companies offering a really solid wiring program.

With that said I REALLY wanted the DCT setup to work, but its not there with the GCU. IF I was going to run one it would be using a MaxxECU with their DCT support protocol.

thank you for sharing your experience, sorry that the project didn't go through the whole way..

i have saw Martyn's vidoe on his sharing. he's really smart at what he was doing.
result looks great, too bad it's just not stable due to GCU issue.

hope soon someone can build a complete kit...covering up the GCU coding and etc..

i have emailed seemslegitgarage, from the replied, felt like they can provide complete wired up transmission, pair up with the GCU, ship out to us with a cost i believed to be very feasible... then we work out some customization work on rest of the parts (exhaust, transmission support and etc) .. now it's just the issue on the programming and how reliable the computer is ..

[bmw]

Why would you want a DCT? All the negatives of not having a 6spd, but less engaging to drive vs. SMG.

[George Hill]

Why would you want a DCT? All the negatives of not having a 6spd, but less engaging to drive vs. SMG.

What are the negatives you speak about?

How is it less engaging (especially compared to the SMG)?

I have a ZF 8HP45 in my car and I'm not sure it less engaging... I mean sure when I bang the paddle to downshift I don't have to worry about missing my turn in because I'm concentrating on NOT money shifting, so I guess in that regards it IS less engaging. I'm also not thinking about how clunky the shifter is when I'm trying to row gears going down the dragstrip. And when I go to the drive -thru and get my soda I can still drive one handed. lol

With that said, I don't hate 420g's either but in the grand scheme of things they are pretty terrible transmissions overall. In the BMW 6MT world the S6-37/53 transmission are nice choices but the 53 is oh so heavy!

But at the end of the day the heart wants what the heart wants, everyone's different, lots of people give me a hard time for not having a "man pedal" in the car but when I'm driving the car all that matters to me is that I have what I want. I imagine the same is for the OP, I'm just glad to see people are still doing cool things with this platform.