E30 Zone

Hi fellas
I want to convert my cab from auto to manual
What do i need and how hard is it to do
Are there any guides i can follow

Anyhelp is much appreciated

Ammar

You'll need a pedal box, gearbox, flywheel, clutch and clutch slave cylinder, gear knob and gaiter. It's a fair amount of work. I generally advice people to sell the car and buy a manual.

Will the propshaft also be a different length?

greg124 wrote:Will the propshaft also be a different length?

yes it is

Yup, missed that. Think you only need the section to the centre bearing though. Missed the gear selector mechanism also. If it's a switchable auto, you may wish to change the boot liner setup to take the ecu cover out of the equation and also a replacement handbrake console without the switch.

There is a guide on doing this to give you an idea of what's involved. It's written for the M40 engine, but the same procedure applies to all E30s:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... _To_Manual

You do need to be physically in shape to take it on though

Wow ok
I didnt know it would be that hard to do i thought it was common but obviously not
I dnt really want to sell my cab as i have done too much work on it but am bored of the auto box

How many man hours will it take to convert

Is it worth converting ??

I wouldn't say it's that hard. You can definately do it in a weekend on stands if you know what you're doing.

The thing I found though was although I collected all the big bits I needed, there were a few smaller bits I wasn't aware of until I was halfway though it.

There's also the whole other thing of replacing stuff whilst you've got it out. That's where the real cost and time comes from. Renewing the gear linkage and a prop donut easily sees you another £100 over.

And even if you get all the big bits for cheap, a decent clutch is still going to be over £100, gearbox oil isn't cheap and a pair of clutch cylinders aren't cheap.

Only do it if you have the time and around £500.

Well i can get all thebig bits like prop gearbox new clutch flywheel etc for around 150
Nd then for all the other parts ie linkages i have a donar car which is a manual

I just want to know if there are many issues changing from auto to manual
And weather its worth doing the change ??

Is there any difference between facelift and prefacelift manual boxex
?

ammar786 wrote:Well i can get all thebig bits like prop gearbox new clutch flywheel etc for around 150
Nd then for all the other parts ie linkages i have a donar car which is a manual

I just want to know if there are many issues changing from auto to manual
And weather its worth doing the change ??

Dont forget a new spigot bearing (goes in the end of the crank on manuals). If you've got a doner car its all just straight swap stuff. I've done a couple, i dont swap the complete pedal box, just slide the shaft the pedals pivot on to one side, big brake pedal out and clutch and standard brake pedal on.