Finished the auto to manual swap 535i

[uscharalph]

And done for around $840.00 (If I did my math correctly) + your time. Well Done!

[Craig in Davis]

And done for around $840.00 (If I did my math correctly) + your time. Well Done!

Actually, it was $803.01 the other cost were $41.04 for 2 new trunk struts, $146 for DMV registration (it was slightly overdue), and $300 purchase.


Craig

[Chris'91'525i]

Yes, I am in Davis, CA


Yes, I go to the import yard frequently. I was there last Monday; I think there are 2 1/2 rows of BMW/Mercedes cars. The BMW's are a mix of e12, e28, e23 e21 and e30. There are occasionally others but that is pretty much what I have seen. I have only seen 2 e34's at the yard and they were both roll over type accidents so much of the car was toast. Unfortunately, they were there a few weeks before I got my car but gone when I went back to check for parts.

Any e34s?

It seems to work ok though could be a little colder. Maybe it needs a little bit more R134a.

Craig

Small world ain't it !!

I think Pick n Pull sells off the premium Bimmers to places like Bavarian in Ranhco Cordova, as I rarely see them.
I saw one E34 each in the Oakland and Richmond yards and they were pretty chewed up and picked clean of most good parts. The one I saw at Oakland wasn't even in the BMW section.

Your AC could be over filled too . The retrofit uses less refridgerant than what the R12 system called for. But it would be hard to say without hooking up the gauges.
The BMW retrofit kit includes a different low pressure switch ,to kick in the compessor sooner. At least that is what I was told.

Chris

[duckloads]

what clutch did you use with the e-12 flywheel?

[Craig in Davis]

what clutch did you use with the e-12 flywheel?

E12 flywheel, clutch, throw out, and transmission.

[632 Regal]

How long did this project take Craig? Sounds like an awful lot of dedication went into it.

[Craig in Davis]

How long did this project take Craig? Sounds like an awful lot of dedication went into it.

Well, I bought the car on 22 May 2005. I bought the pedal assembly, interior shift pieces, hydraulics 3 June. I went to the junkyard and pulled the tranny, flywheel on 14 June. Probably within a week or two I had removed the last remnants of the automatic and installed the flywheel, clutch and tranny. This is when I hit a roadblock. The shift linkage from the E12 was too short for the E34. I was looking into finding a linkage the correct length but really wasn't trying very hard. So from say the end of June until close to the end of August nothing happened. Then toward the end of August my neighbor asked me about the project and offered to modifiy the linkage for me. After my neighbor helped with the linkage it was all together in another few weeks including 3 days for driveshaft modification/repairs.

So, a little over 3 months from purchase to running car. However, it really took less than a month of working on it part time if you take into account 2 months of no activity. It is actually a pretty simple job, mostly just a bunch of swapping parts.