Manual Tranny conversion

[Seria17hri11er]

So I would like to do the manual transmission conversion. There is a 325e at the junkyard with a manual tranny. They cost $128. I've cross referenced all the parts on realoem.com Almost everything is a match. The only thing I cant find is detail for the electrical wiring. I know the manual tranny has a switch in it for reverse (to turn on the reverse lights), and the auto has a switch in the console that gives indication to the ecu of park, neutral or reverse. Has anyone ever done the conversion? What exactly did you have to do as far as electrical wiring?
Thanks a bunch!

 

[echothreezero]

The reverse switch has a plug. You unplug it from the auto tranny and it plugs straight into the manual one. You then need to do a search for a phot of the wiring to wire the selector wires permanently into park so you can start the car. Its easy, but I forget which colours to join together and there are plenty of pictures on the web.

 

[Seria17hri11er]

The reverse switch has a plug. You unplug it from the auto tranny and it plugs straight into the manual one. You then need to do a search for a phot of the wiring to wire the selector wires permanently into park so you can start the car. Its easy, but I forget which colours to join together and there are plenty of pictures on the web.

Schhweeet. Doesn't sound hard at all. Thanks!

 

[Seria17hri11er]

I just read something on another forum that said the manual transmission has a different driveshaft compared to the auto. Is that true?

 

[echothreezero]

Yep - the front half of the driveshaft is longer for the manual tranny. The shaft is balanced as a single unit from the factory, so your best bet is to buy a whole manual driveshaft that way you won't create driveline vibration or accidentally get the u-joints out of phase.

If you can't get a whole one, you can just use the rear half or your d-shaft and add the front of a manual one, install it with the u-joints aligned correctly and if it vibrates rotate the halves 180degrees in relation to each other so the joints are still in phase and try it that way.

If you still get vibration you'll have to get it balanced.

Easier just to get the manual shaft huh?