Hey Scotty, first off thank you for all the hard work and dedication to helping keep us viewers informed. I really respect your personal opinion for automotive advice.
I have a 2009 BMW M5 (E60 chassis) with the SMGIII transmission that is due for a clutch service. I really don't like how fast those SMGIII transmissions eat up clutch discs over an extremely short period of time and was messing around with the idea of swapping to the manual transmission that was offered with this vehicle.
After pricing the parts I would sell off the SMGIII including the transmission itself and seeing how expensive they are to replace I want to complete this swap as soon as humanly possible while everything is still in good working condition.
The plan so far is to remove the transmission and sell all parts that are not necessary for the swap to help fund the project and have the car transported to the shop for the manual transmission to be installed.
There are a few concerns I have before starting.
First, this would be my first transmission removal I have done on any car and although I am confident in my success, I really do not know what to expect; I would be working with just jacks and jack-stands.
The last concern is practicality of moving and transporting a car that has no transmission and less than optimal engine support with the transmission removed.
Just looking for a professional opinion on this before I get in too deep.
Thanks in advanced.
-AJ
It is absolutely doable and the manual trans would be a great upgrade. This is a very complicate job and would really benefit from some special tools, like a transmission dolly. The engine has to be supported when removing the auto trans. You probably need to get the correct driveshaft, flywheel, clutch pedal and associated hydraulics as well as electrical connections and a reprogram of the ECU to accommodate the new, manual trans. Not to mention the clutch disc, pressure plate throw out bearing and pilot bearing. GO FOR IT!
