Reply With QuoteFirst of all, what e34 do you have???
You can purchase kits for 5 speed conversions. It's expensive and difficult though. If you love the car and plan on keeping it for a long time then go for it. Having a lift to do the work is perferrable.
Has anyone done a 5-speed swap in a E34 Touring?
Just asking around if anyone has done a 5-speed swap in a E34 Touring? I am thinking about doing this myself but wanted to find out if it can be done an if anyone has done this? I know the E34 M touring is 5-speed but why BMW never made the other models in 5-speed also
Major Contributor
First of all, what e34 do you have???
You can purchase kits for 5 speed conversions. It's expensive and difficult though. If you love the car and plan on keeping it for a long time then go for it. Having a lift to do the work is perferrable.
Major Contributor
Sure it can be done- I disagree with the "expensive and difficult" comment though- expensive maybe true if you pay someone to do it. BMW made manual 5 speed tourings- just not for US market. Best bet would be to have a 5 speed parts car (525i or 530i- whichever Touring you have). It's pretty much a bolt-on swap- but there are ALOT of little parts and things that might not be readily available unless you have a parts car handy.
Bret
3 Grand Master
Yes.
Well, not me specifically, but we (meaning Brett) did Drew Zacharda's 530iTA to 540iT/6 conversion. And he did that work on his garage floor/with jackstands...pretty impressive to be able to slide under there and benchpress a bigmomma getrag into place, then get an inverted torx in the threads or support under the trans -- I have problems doing it with a damn tranny jack!
As the Rigmaster mentioned, most parts are common to the sedan and can be swapped. You'll need a driveshaft.
Not a totally ridiculous conversion, though...
best, whit
Grand Master
Hey Whit...
...I'm like 99.9% sure that Drew had your shop do it. I recall him trying to bribe someone to drive with him from NJ back to Cleveland with the 530 and a rig full of parts.
Not that it matters really...but it was a good story then and it's a good story now.
That...and the Imelda stories.
Maybe I remember this because part of the 540i/sport lives today on my 535i - the M5 front brakes!
Jeff
Bellevue WA
90 535iM - not much stock remains. 3.7 liters, ported head, cammed, 3.73 diffy, M5 brakes, MAFed, yadda yadda yadda
86 Porsche 951 - Track Toy
Well thats good to know I can do the swap. I have a 92 525 touring and I am able to get a complete 5-speed parts car. I hate my slush box.Originally Posted by lowell
Grand Master
I always have thought it would be fun...
...to drop in the E36 M3 driveline setup into a 525 wagon. hehe...fun sleeper.
Bellevue WA
90 535iM - not much stock remains. 3.7 liters, ported head, cammed, 3.73 diffy, M5 brakes, MAFed, yadda yadda yadda
86 Porsche 951 - Track Toy
3 Grand Master
Haha, part of that 540/6 -- the glove box support brackets and framework -- are "living on" in my car at the moment. Seems like I've got a lot of parts from various peoples' cars on Fritz -- M5 junk from jason, interior 535 misc parts from rph, and then about 10 million things from various other cars that were wrecked and I happened to "find" (headliner, seats, radiator...soon to be the engine, too).
But yeah, you can be 100% sure because Brett did do the conversion.
best, whit
Last edited by Kalevera; 10-09-2005 at 06:31 PM.
Consider the diff also
I'd like to change mine out also but it will never happen. Typically my wife drives the car and she likes the auto with her commute and arthritis. When I briefly looked into it, the differential was going to have to change because the ratio was way off. I think a 6 speed would have mated better with the auto’s existing diff but them it would have made the driveshaft special in that there probably isn’t the proper length made from BMW.
Warren
91 318is
95 525iT
Major Contributor
BMW did make them, but they decided not to export them to the US.Just asking around if anyone has done a 5-speed swap in a E34 Touring? I am thinking about doing this myself but wanted to find out if it can be done an if anyone has done this? I know the E34 M touring is 5-speed but why BMW never made the other models in 5-speed also
BMW E34 528i, M52B28 + M50 manifold, Remus exhaust, ///M Parallel Spoke 18" rims
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