SMG to Manual Bellhousing Machining

[s54wagon]

Have any of you drilled your own bellhousing? I've got a complete E46 M3 drivetrain sitting in my garage that I'm just dying to slap into my wagon aside from the fact that the gearbox is SMG.

I know the core services exist and whatnot, it's just with this COVID-19 quarantine (and my own stubborness to do everything myself) $500 is a lot to give.

A guy on E46fanatics gave some good hints on how to do it

https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1030328

and the newest Wheeler Dealers episode shows Lang Racing doing the conversion and it looks like they just drill it by hand! I've been trying to conclude what exactly needs to be done by reverse engineering that episode.

Anyone have any experience? I'm about to put an order in for all the detents etc.

[s54wagon]

not sure what the bumping policy is on this forum but bump

[Mspir3d]

There was a post floating around with a drawing and measurements for the machining. I thought about having a local shop do it but then decided get it from a shop that does it all the time. I'd be upset to say the least if I had to pull it out again because something wasn't working correctly. I went with technica and I've been able to sleep at night.

[Will ZCPM3]

I know most people are hand taping the gear recognition sensor hole which is shown on the DIY on this forum. I didn't believe that Lang was hand drilling these, but I watched the Wheelers and Dealers episode and you are correct.



Here is the drawing as mentioned above. I remember reading somewhere that it was incorrect though.



Here is an SMG bell housing for reference:



And here is the 6MT bell housing:

[terra]

I would personally skip the gear recognition sensor. Bypassing it in the tune works fine.

[s54wagon]

Here is the drawing as mentioned above. I remember reading somewhere that it was incorrect though.

The guy in the e46fanatics thread I linked in the OP stated that the drawing was incorrect and that you could drill completely through. My only confirmation is the Wheeler Dealers episode as it looks like he drills straight through. The e46fanatics guy is MIA and hasn't responded to any texts (he left his phone number in his post).

I'm most concerned about how the sleeves stay in place without the little lip shown in the drawing?

Anyways I ordered the correct drill bit and I will document it all for science when I do it. I figure if I mess up the holes I will plug them and use a self centering chassis mounted shifter or something.

I would personally skip the gear recognition sensor. Bypassing it in the tune works fine.

Might do this to save some money (I plan on doing all the coding myself) but I take it the SMG shift lights won't work without it? In that case I may spend the $110~ for that functionality alone.

[Speed Monkey]

Forum Member KAIV sells these, meaning an already machined housing. PM him.

BTW, this was common knowledge on M3F.

[s54wagon]

Forum Member KAIV sells these, meaning an already machined housing. PM him.

BTW, this was common knowledge on M3F.

I know of many people offering it (Kaiv, Lang, 2 different guys on eBay, a guy about 100 miles from me, etc.) and I’m glad they offer the service but I am not interested in paying for it as I believe I can drill it myself.

I’ve spent countless hours scouring the Internet, raiding Google Cache and WaybackMachine for M3F posts about this and just need 2 things verified:

1. Is the lip to contain the sleeve necessary? E46fanatics guy and Lang lead me to believe it is not.

2. Is there a way to mill a c-clamp groove ala OEM? If not, that’s okay I’m going to use the hydraulic bolts like Lang and a guy in the comments of the original machining thread on M3F

[terra]

Might do this to save some money (I plan on doing all the coding myself) but I take it the SMG shift lights won't work without it? In that case I may spend the $110~ for that functionality alone.

Shift lights will work fine as long as you do the delete properly and have the clutch sensor wired up to the DME

[BoomTastic]

For the sake of saving you the frustration i recommend you do not try a hand drill, you will wallow out out the hole and junk it. While lang is a competitor of mine i have enough respect for him to say he is not taking his rypbi to the bellhousing, its an industrial grade setup. This process requires precision with equipment that has next to no run-out.

Most out there dont install the sleeves, or do it incorrectly. Pictures of presumably langs housing with no sleeves.

[ethan]

If you do it with anything but the OE setup and dimensions (e.g. custom bolts), you need to make sure you get the spring tensions right. That's pretty hard to do without an OE bellhousing to compare against. I've done it incorrectly - it's not good.

[pawelgawel]

I just purchased a converted housing from a shop in Nova Scotia, having it shipped for $540 CND all in to my door. can't justify paying someone to drill out the holes and buying the parts myself and installing it myself. Im literally maybe spending extra $100-150 but its something this shop does on regular basis... no fuss and piece of mind

[SpaceJockey]

I’ve spent countless hours scouring the Internet, raiding Google Cache and WaybackMachine for M3F posts about this and just need 2 things verified:

I don't know what an hour of your time is worth to you, but this is exactly why I am paying to have mine machined. That and peace of mind.

[ac427]

I know most people are hand taping the gear recognition sensor hole which is shown on the DIY on this forum. I didn't believe that Lang was hand drilling these, but I watched the Wheelers and Dealers episode and you are correct.

And here is the 6MT bell housing:

What is the part with the spring around it do?

[s54wagon]

For the sake of saving you the frustration i recommend you do not try a hand drill, you will wallow out out the hole and junk it. While lang is a competitor of mine i have enough respect for him to say he is not taking his rypbi to the bellhousing, its an industrial grade setup. This process requires precision with equipment that has next to no run-out.

Most out there dont install the sleeves, lang does not, or at least not on the fresh unit i have seen.I sure as hell dont agree with this method but you will probably be ok since you have plan b. Every cook has his method and margins i guess. What it looks like with no sleeves

That's the "you can't do this yourself" answer I was looking for. I haven't thought about the potential for run-out and I'm glad I didn't just go for it.
Now, I've got a drill press but it's likely not big enough and even then it'd probably have plenty of run-out. I'm going to do some further research before I put a nail in the idea.

In a perfect world (and one that I'd be throwing $500 on a bellhousing) I'd hope that the sleeves were in there. It's interesting that they aren't using them which means I could probably get away without worrying about the small lip people have mentioned.