I'm sure you guys might hear or see this a lot, I just tried to search for something on it, but didn't return anything really, but aside from Bimmerworld or ABLoriginal parts, where else can I buy a Euro 6spd for my E36 M3?

Ebay, a breaker in Europe. Your best bet is Alex. You can also try to use an E46 M3 tranny.

Alex?

Alex?

Alex = ABL Original Parts

k, that's what I thought

Alex = ABL Original Parts


+1...great guy...got a DS from him! quick shipment..great communication!

My EVO 6 speed is pretty clunky and I have read that this is a common issue with these transmissions. If I was to do it again I would consider an E46 M3 transmission.

i Have an E46 6 speed in my shop pulled right now ready to ship...

Thanks, but I think I'm gonna stick with the E36 Euro.

Alex is a great seller. I bought all my 6 speed parts from him.his pricing was good as well.

Well if your mind is set on a euro 6 speed i have one of them in the shop as well, i was just trying to get rid of the E46 first as i have less use for it...

The euro 6 i have only has 15K on it it is out of a 98 euro Mcoupe, was transplanted into a 95 M3 Now. Which is tore down for a twin turbo install.

Long story short i was going to have a carbon fiber driveshaft build in the spring for this car, i dont have a problem using the e46 6Speed in my car, and the driveshaft cost the same to have amde either way.

So i have a driveshaft and transmission from a euro let me know if that suits you better

Z3 M coupe never had a 6 speed FYI.

If you dont mind me asking, Why are you trying to stay away from the E46 6 speed?

I just want as little trouble as possible and I like the Euro for the fact that is has our ratios 1-5 plus the overdrive.

For the gear ratio the only difference is second gear they go as follows

Euro 6 speed
4.23 1st, 2.51 2nd, 1.67 3rd, 1.23 4th, 1.00 5th, .83 6th

E46 6 speed
4.23 1st, 2.53 2nd, 1.67 3rd, 1.23 4th, 1.00 5th, 0.83 6th.

This is why to me its not an issue if you would perfer the euro 6 and are interested in buy it off me. I would just throw the e46 back in my car instead of the euro. They both are very low mileage so you couldnt go wrong either way, Even if you source it somewhere else atleast you know the difference off hand...

whats the difference betwen the euro 6 and E46 M3 tranny ?

aren't them the same ???

I'm looking for a SMG/manual change in the near future.

The differences that I can think of off the top of my head are gear ratios and one is from an E36 the other from an E46

The differences that I can think of off the top of my head are gear ratios and one is from an E36 the other from an E46


The input shaft on the E46 M3 is bigger, while the input shaft on the Euro is the same size as your current E36 5spd. All else is the same (mounts, driveshaft length, shifter, etc) That leads me to believe the E46 6spd is stronger.

so there are no mods required to install e46 m3 trans into an M3 evo ?

I wouldn't be surprised if the E46 was a bit stronger, the car if fatter and heavier. Not by a whole lot, but enough, especially considering the vert.

The Euro E36 and the E46 6 are essentially the same tranny. Minor spec differences, but there is no reason to choose one over the other.

http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/98M3/upgrades/E46M3_6SPD/index.htm

thank you all ...

if you bought the e46 you would need an e46 specific clutch and your clutch that you have now will work for the e36 euro

I bought an Rogue engineering clutch kit. Does it works ???

I read at the link that gobuffs posted that the driveshaft is not the same size, but it will fit. I really don't get it. this has to be a perfect swap, as I'll import one transfer case from US to Brazil

if the gearboxes are the same length how could the euro drive shaft be too short???????????
doesnt make sense , looks like there trying to earn a couple of extra uneeded dollars from people ???

you bought a clutch kit for an e36 then the euro gearbox will work if you buy a clutch kit for an e46 you need the e46 gearbox .....if you dont want to buy a new clutch and new gearbox

I already have a euro gear box, as my car is an M3 Evo, but it's SMG, and I want to swap it it manual.

5 gears versus 6, ones gonna be longer

I can't make any promises, but if you have a Euro SMG then you should be able to do a straight simple swap, but I honestly can't say that I know for sure.

I already have a euro gear box, as my car is an M3 Evo, but it's SMG, and I want to swap it it manual.

The internals are the same. All youhave to do it fit the manual shift lever mechanism. I have heard it is fairly common and ithink there are places on the net thattell you how to do it...however, I don't have any need for it so I don't know the exact procedure.

5 gears versus 6, ones gonna be longer

US 5 speed (and the Euro M3 3L) have the same gears ratios as the first 5 gears of the Evo and E46 gearbox....the 6th gear is an overdrive gear.

The internals are the same. All youhave to do it fit the manual shift lever mechanism. I have heard it is fairly common and ithink there are places on the net thattell you how to do it...however, I don't have any need for it so I don't know the exact procedure.

I heard the same ... but I have never seen it for real. The internals are the same, but the case has some differences if you know about a site or a place that has the hole swap procudure, please let me know, as it will be easier for me.

I heard that the rear place in the smg box has no lock, so some internals mods would be required too. '(I'm not sure).


US 5 speed (and the Euro M3 3L) have the same gears ratios as the first 5 gears of the Evo and E46 gearbox....the 6th gear is an overdrive gear.
+1 ( I already ordered the 3.64 gear set)

+1 ( I already ordered the 3.64 gear set)

Can you just drop that into the 5spd housing? Where did you get the set from?


OP: there is a Euro 6pd on Ebay right now. Sitting at $2500 IIRC.

Can you just drop that into the 5spd housing? Where did you get the set from?


3.64 gearset he is talking about is the diff, not the tranny.

I'm not ready to buy right now, unfortunately :( But hopefully sometime in the near future. I'm just trying to do my searching/research before hand so when it comes down to it I can just go buy. I talked to Alex, HUGE help, that guy is super nice and very very informative, sadly enough with prices and oil prices he's had to up his prices a little bit, but oh well.

I've just converted my smg to straight manual. Minor machining in the bellhousing , dimensions were copied from a bellhousing from a damaged box ,and thats it.

Do you have the parts inventary ???

And the housing changes to match ???

that would be very helpfull !!!

Do you have the parts inventary ???

And the housing changes to match ???

that would be very helpfull !!!

Dimensions I don't have, couldn't find them anywhere, which is why I went for the bellhousing copy path(after a long long search).
My machinist set up the housing in his mill and then copied across the angles and dimensions for the bores of the locking pins (There is no simple datum to measure from ).There is a 608 bearing that needs to be pressed on, and a bearing repair kit for the 5speed that is a dimensionally exact fit into the 6speed.
There is also a hardened vertical pin that needs to be made up (no part #)and bored in, this locates the shifter at the 3/4 gate.
For anyone interested, since I'm done I'll be putting the bellhousing on ebay soon.
Look at ETK diagram 23-0223 the parts are there (I got them all just in case) and part # 2311 7542 726-repair kit bearing.
Hope this is helpful, I have photos that I will put on ebay.

the hardened vertical pin, without it where did the shifter sit? If it is between 5&6 i could give 2 craps about that, press the bearing. The locking pins keep you from slamming into reverse right? If so i dont car about that either, since i rarely slam it into 1st... Let me know asap for my next race is the 8th of feb and if the bearing and clutch stuff is all that is needed, ill do it this weekend at the new shop i just partnered with in the UAE.

thanks,

Without the vertical pin it flops about between 1/2 and 3/4 gate. Without the locking pins it sits anywhere including reverse gate- one spring loaded pin is for reverse and the other for 5/6 gate. I honestly don't know if there are any other effects without these parts. I also had replaced the detents with the newer cups rather than the balls.
Beware you need to attach the shift support bracket to the underside of the car body, mine was welded in,otherwise no shift arm location.
Ps if I can find the number tonight I'll post it.Good luck!

You only need the bearing if you're going to do the locking pins.
Many of my parts were special order from Germany 2-3 weeks delivery.

I try to keep some in inventory.
I try hard to stand behind what I sell, but everyone has to be reasonable about used parts.

The DS for an SMG or 6 speed will be identical in length. For sure.

Thanks to people who said nice things, I do try hard.

If you bring your bell housing to a shop from an SMG to have it machined, make sure you really, really trust them. If they screw it up, you'll still be able to weld it up and use it for an SMG, but you're pretty much pooched if you had intended to use it for a manual shifting gearbox.

Getting the sleeves just right so the bearings slide in and out is NOT easy, and it will affect the feel of the gearbox for sure. I've only done this once for a customer that didn't buy a gearbox for the conversion from me, and its such a pain the the butt, that I don't think I'll do it again. Not enough profit in it for the time and effort of shleping the parts all around, moving around the stuff, ordering and fabbing the parts, and doing some of the work myself.

Course, everyone's free time has a price, so it may be worth "your" time to do it. I know VLAD (carreraboy) loves his gearbox now. His is the showcase E30 M3 with full AN conversion to 380 HP that we did for him, as well as the SMG conversion. He has the DTM E30M3 you've seen in magazines and in the forum.

Alex.

just going to find a salvage tranny drop it in and convert this one as a spare.