SMG to 6MT Conversion

[SQ13]

Decided to have a shop do the work instead of DIYing. $3300 + provided AS SSK and OE shift lever. $230 for a new shift lever hurts my soul. Car should be a 6MT by the end of the month.

Is there a connector for the illuminated shift knob in the shifter area, or will it need to be wired in?

[George Hill]

Is there a connector for the illuminated shift knob in the shifter area, or will it need to be wired in?

Has to be wired in.

[S3diment]

Decided to have a shop do the work instead of DIYing. $3300 + provided AS SSK and OE shift lever. $230 for a new shift lever hurts my soul. Car should be a 6MT by the end of the month.

Is there a connector for the illuminated shift knob in the shifter area, or will it need to be wired in?

Including clutch and flywheel?

[ATB88]

Has to be wired in.

Not true. The connector's there. It was on mine. IIRC it was taped off, but definitely there. My knob is illuminated and I did no wiring in the gear shifter area.

[George Hill]

Not true. The connector's there. It was on mine. IIRC it was taped off, but definitely there. My knob is illuminated and I did no wiring in the gear shifter area.

I have not seen that, do you have a pic?

Maybe you stole the wiring from the ashtray?

[ATB88]

I have not seen that, do you have a pic?

Maybe you stole the wiring from the ashtray?

Nope, ashtray wiring still intact. I'll take a pic next time I'm in the car

It's been a couple of years so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it was tucked away from the other wires down there and I had to look for it, but it was there waiting to be plugged in. I was kind of amazed, myself.

[SQ13]

Including clutch and flywheel?

Sorry, $4300. Excludes clutch and flywheel (replaced ~10k miles ago).

[George Hill]

Nope, ashtray wiring still intact. I'll take a pic next time I'm in the car

It's been a couple of years so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it was tucked away from the other wires down there and I had to look for it, but it was there waiting to be plugged in. I was kind of amazed, myself.

What is the production date of your car?

[lemoose]

Nope, ashtray wiring still intact. I'll take a pic next time I'm in the car

It's been a couple of years so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it was tucked away from the other wires down there and I had to look for it, but it was there waiting to be plugged in. I was kind of amazed, myself.

interested myself as there doesnt seem to be any wiring in mine (03/02)

[ATB88]

Sorry guys haven't driven the car in a while, and forgot about this. Will get a pic for you today!

Build date Jan 23, 2002. Soon to be Canadian legal drinking age

[gheorghe]

found this today for anyone having same questions

https://www.mforum.net/forum/e90-m3-...n-revised-2020

Does anyone have a picture of the Original Manual trans torsion spring?

Reading the guide, there seems to be a difference in shape between the Mcmaster spring and the OEM one (pictures from post are gone):

Short Leg of the Torsion Spring

Here is what the guides get wrong. Notice in the Original BMW manual spring that the short leg is 90 degrees from the direction of the long leg. You have to unwind this side of the spring 45 degrees to match this angle. This is a bit difficult to do and will require a vice. Clamp the spring in the vice by the short leg. Take a long 3/8 extension and pass it through the spring inner diameter. Use the extension as a handle to pull up the spring to unwind 45 degrees out. You will have to straighten that leg out once done as it will still have some of wound arc to it. You are matching the 7 windings that the original BMW spring has by doing this. You are not adding any more or less pressure than the OE part. You are modifying the McMaster part to match it.

After you have corrected the short leg, you can visualize where to cut it and then add the small bend that the original had. Eyeball this, it isn't super critical.

[PipeUy]

Does anyone have a picture of the Original Manual trans torsion spring?

Reading the guide, there seems to be a difference in shape between the Mcmaster spring and the OEM one (pictures from post are gone):

Short Leg of the Torsion Spring

Here is what the guides get wrong. Notice in the Original BMW manual spring that the short leg is 90 degrees from the direction of the long leg. You have to unwind this side of the spring 45 degrees to match this angle. This is a bit difficult to do and will require a vice. Clamp the spring in the vice by the short leg. Take a long 3/8 extension and pass it through the spring inner diameter. Use the extension as a handle to pull up the spring to unwind 45 degrees out. You will have to straighten that leg out once done as it will still have some of wound arc to it. You are matching the 7 windings that the original BMW spring has by doing this. You are not adding any more or less pressure than the OE part. You are modifying the McMaster part to match it.

After you have corrected the short leg, you can visualize where to cut it and then add the small bend that the original had. Eyeball this, it isn't super critical.

I just finished converting my car to manual using that post as a reference for the spring and everything worked out perfectly.

The pictures do work, you probably are trying to view it in Google Chrome and for some reason they don't work on that browser, I used Safari and they are all there.

[gheorghe]

I just finished converting my car to manual using that post as a reference for the spring and everything worked out perfectly.

The pictures do work, you probably are trying to view it in Google Chrome and for some reason they don't work on that browser, I used Safari and they are all there.

Thank you for pointing that out, I was using Chrome lol.
Any pointers for the swap since you just went though it lol?
I am about to tackle it myself just need the parts to start showing up.

[2knob]

I'm in the middle of my conversion and have installed the "Gear Identification Switch". I've seen people ask "how do we connect it" but have yet to see an answer.

The OP wrote "Once the transmission is installed in the car, a now unused SMG connector will hook up to this sensor. In order to mate these connectors, the center plastic tab on the outside of the gear recognition sensor will need to be sliced off with a razor. Again, looking at the connectors side by side, it will be very obvious what needs to be cut off in order for them to work together.", but the available connectors are obviously incompatible. Do we need to pull out a couple wires for the connection and which are they?



Help would be appreciated, else I might have to start thinking...

[PipeUy]

Thank you for pointing that out, I was using Chrome lol.
Any pointers for the swap since you just went though it lol?
I am about to tackle it myself just need the parts to start showing up.

To be honest it's quite straight forward, just follow de guide as closely as you can. Make sure you have a good machinist shop for the bell housing holes but then once you complete that it's basically a clutch change. Also make sure you know how to code the car afterwards so it doesn't enter limp mode.