Auto to Manual swap
 

As most of you know a manual wagon is hard to find. In some instances it can fetch 30% more than its auto counterpart. At $15,000 it can jack the cost up to $20,000+.

Has anyone ever done/can it be done to refit a e61 with a manual?

I would normally exhaust the internet with research, but work is hectic and home is hectic and I may have an opportunity to buy a proper manual very soon, but at a premium. So any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!

I have researched it briefly before as it is something I would like to do as well. It can be done and has been done, there was a shop "MNC" which did it on a 535xi E60. I pulled the info from another thread:

"Well my price for the hole job was 5k which was part and labor and programming
Labor-2000
Parts-2500
Programming -500"

Seams reasonable considering the prices of a new 6MT transmission and how frustrating the 6AT is to live with when you have a mountain to torque at your disposal but it prefers to downshift 2 gears when all you wanted to do is surge forward.

I just searched on RealOEM and the manual transmissions are the same units found in E9X N54 cars but the pedal assemblies and shifters are different. With some more searching it looks like pedal assemblies are shared with other manual E6Xs but not the shifter linkage, that appears to be exclusive to N54 E6X cars.

Real OEM priced the transmissions at ~$4,500, shifter and pedal assemblies run ~$200/ea. The manual transmission is BMW Part #23007571424

This is something I would love to tackle myself down the road, finding a used donor transmission shouldn't be terribly difficult, I heard the 6MT units are made by Getrag and are robust so assuming the car wasn't absolutely thrashed a used transmission should have a lot of life left. It is possible to complete the swap on your own for about $2,000 if you have the tools and skills.

All N54 E61 came with a manual from the factory but unfortunately the 6AT was a no-cost option so most of the 6,000 wagons which came to the US in 2008, 2009, and 2010 were fitted with it. But this means there shouldn't be any horrendous surprises with completing the swap.

Hope this info helps,
Evan

Wow, that's a pretty big task... I suppose if you like to do it for fun, that's one thing. Otherwise, I'd just hold out and set up a notification on Autotrader for one... Only two showed up across the whole country right now when I searched. Both 2008's, coincidentally, $23 to $25k, and 52 vs. 33,000 miles on them. Good luck with the search!

This winter I finally had some garage space to call my own and it allowed me to adopt a new philosophy. The money saved doing the install myself was put towards tools needed to complete the job, the remaining money saved was put towards the next modification. As the tools and mechanical experience grows, tasks that once seemed daunting are now routine. There are some hurdles and bleeding knuckles (especially working on an xi N54) along the way but every hardship was a greater learning experience.

Certainly a transmission swap is more ambitious than other jobs but with all the guides on the internet nowadays it is like cooking, just follow instructions and don't F stuff up.

Lastly I like doing things myself as a measure of quality control, no one cares about my car as much as I do!

*Steps off Soap Box* :mellow:
Evan

if only we can swap the tranny boxes between continents

Thanks for the help guys, $5K doesnt seem to bad considering the manual wagons are fetching a premium more than that. Food for thought....

Oh I know what you mean... I started that way myself with something as simple as swapping my winter rims, as I had two cars a season to do, and it grew from there. I can do stuff like spark plugs too, but haven't gotten farther in engine stuff, or to brakes pads and rotors (as much as I've read on the forums that it's supposed to be easy, esp. if you're doing just pads). I'd love to tackle sway bars and/or a strut bar on this car next. And a rearview camera, which involves ripping out the dash, and running wires thru the famous tailgate hinges.

I've been too chicken to mess something up. Though I suppose if I invested in a Bentley manual, I'm sure it would help a lot. Wish I had a buddy close by who did this stuff and I could work with him...