Trans swap electrical concerns
 

My first post here, however, I’ve referenced plenty of DIY’s and such here over the years through simple google searches, but I have yet to find any information regarding my current situation. Here goes...

01 e53 X5 auto with the M54, and the torque converter finally went caput. I did not want to keep that GM trans in it and the long term goal was to swap a manual trans in with an AA stage ii supercharger. I spent some time on realoem looking at what is shared between the auto and manual chassis’s and sourced all the parts to mechanically get it completed, however, when it was time to get my hands dirty I ran out of time and the military sent me on my way to another duty station. I left the car with a mechanic that I consider to be superb as he used to work for the dealership as one of their master techs and has done previous work on my e46 M3 in the past. One issue he wanted me to address is in regards to the potential wiring headache to make this work. I completely overlooked this side of swap and the internet has not provided any results. I am here to ask for a solution. Please discuss. Thanks.

Well when I converted my e46 from automatic to manual the only wiring I had to do was the reverse light switch on the trans and the clutch switch.

The computer was another story.

Basically you have to code from automatic to manual. This requires wiring up one wire in the harness which wasn't a big deal. The other part was the timing of removing the trans computer. It has to be plugged in to coding it out aka remove it from the computer chain.

Once this is done you simple unplug it.

At the same time though you can drive it as is you just get a trans failure warning.

I imagine the e53 wouldn't be much different.

I wonder if one could do the same thing if swapping out the ZF automatic for a GM 4L60/80E and run the trans with a stand alone controller? The native DME would never agree with it otherwise.

Yes, I know it would require careful fabrication of an adapter plate and mount...along with a different transfer case.

Good day!!

Ummmmmm, out of curiosity, why not just buy a factory manual and call it a day... You probably would spend more in the conversion than just getting one already done...

I converted a 4.4L V8 into a RWD 6-speed manual only because BMW didn't make one... But I used a good number of OEM 3.0L manual trans parts...

However, to actually answer your question... You need to redo the starter circuit... The manual version does not have the auto start feature... There is a clutch disable and cruise cut-off... ignition switch will need a wire swapped to handle the starter circuit current... If you look up my V8 conversion, I would imagine the wiring I did won't be too far off from what you need to do, mainly since I pretty much copied what a factory 3.0L manual wiring looks like...

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...t-swap-13.html

Post number 124 is the break-down of the wiring changes I needed to make... You may need a lot less than I had...

Hope this helps...

Cheers!!