[wes3281]

If so anyone know a price? or would it be better to go and buy with a manual?

 

[King of Chicago]

Amir did it....check the posts....not cheap but worth every penny....i thought i saw something missing from your car wes....oh yeah, its the third pedal...lol...Matt

 

[wes3281]

Matt

I am coming to kick your ass tomorrow.... by the way are you working tomorrow? I might have something you would like, hehehe... let me know so I can put it in the car...

 

[Jspeed]

Yes it is possible. If you want to do a tranny swap I would recommend getting something that wasn't available when you bought your car. e.g. wait for the 6-speed manual or even 6-speed SMG. I would feel so stupid to spend a few grands to swap in something that I could have gotten in the first place AND saved a thousand dollars on the car's purchase price.

 

[///M3Matt]

an smg swap???? i think it would be cheaper to buy an m3 w/ smg

 

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

I'd say that it's time to buy a new car, frankly. Trade the 328 for a 325. They're about equally fast, anyhow.

The amount of money you'd spend on the swap (4-5K minimum, I believe), nto to mention the decreased future resale of the car is thoroughly discouraging.

 

[Jspeed]

an smg swap???? i think it would be cheaper to buy an m3 w/ smg

BTW I was talking about the SMG for the 330 which had only been available in Europe -- formerly SSG.

 

[carguy84]

what Nick325xiT 5spd said :thumbup:

 

[bender]

wheres amir when you need him....

 

[simsima325]

i would spend the cash on a 2001 330i used, that way any mods you have can be transferred to new ride, and u will have stick, and plenty more power to kick around

just my $.02

-brendan

 

[King of Chicago]

wes no work tomorrow...finals instead...the suspense is killing me...whatcha got....hook a brotha up....M

 

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

i would spend the cash on a 2001 330i used, that way any mods you have can be transferred to new ride, and u will have stick, and plenty more power to kick around

just my $.02

-brendan

I would NEVER buy a 2001 BMW if I had to do it all over again. A pretty substantial portion of the fun of driving a BMW is having great steering feedback and roadfeel. Pre or post retrofit, as well as the xi models, the 2001 model year has PISS POOR steering.

 

[vinnymac]

Run a search...Amir did a Steptronic to 5-spead swap.

 

[simsima325]

I would NEVER buy a 2001 BMW if I had to do it all over again. A pretty substantial portion of the fun of driving a BMW is having great steering feedback and roadfeel. Pre or post retrofit, as well as the xi models, the 2001 model year has PISS POOR steering.

not all production months were affected by this "piss poor steering" in 2001, and even if you happened to get one of these, a retrofit is available.

my car came with this "piss poor steering" and i havent felt the urge to get the retrofit.

-brendan

 

[///M3Matt]

i got the retrofit for my 01 330ci when i had it.....i just pissed and moaned to bmw na and they had my dealer do the swap for free

 

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Even the retrofit isn't that great.
And it was May or June production when they intro'd the compact steering rack. A bit hard to find one, I suspect.

 

[BMWDon]

Go to the TMS motorsport page, look under misc clearance items and used parts, about 11 items down you'll see a manual transmission for $900....contact Amir and find out what other items/costs are involved in a auto to manual swap. FYI

 

[maisenhe]

BTW I was talking about the SMG for the 330 which had only been available in Europe -- formerly SSG.

it is not "formerly" SSG. SSG is the name the BMW UK marketing department gave to SMG so as to not devaule the SMG/M3 . Also they are from differant manufacturs. Hope that helps

 

[Jspeed]

it is not "formerly" SSG. SSG is the name the BMW UK marketing department gave to SMG so as to not devaule the SMG/M3 . Also they are from differant manufacturs. Hope that helps

No I wasn't confused. I know exactly what the deal is. SMG2 w/ Drivelogic came out for the M3 first, then SSG became available for the rest of the E46s. SSG was an "add-on solution" to the existing 5-speed manual gearbox. However they don't call it the SSG anymore, but rather Sequential Manual Gearbox, where the M3's SMG w/ Drivelogic stands for Sequential ///M Gearbox.

edit: I should rephrase my original post. The SMG for non-M 3-series is what we used to call the SSG. My original wording might have misled someone to think SSG evolved into SMG.

 

[Amir]

If so anyone know a price? or would it be better to go and buy with a manual?

Yea you can do it