BMW E46 Manual Swap -Tips & Tricks plus Wiring How To

[@jmrarmstrong]

Thank you very much for making this video. I just got a donor car for something else I needed to do to my sons car, and it's a manual, so we decided to do a manual swap. I'm sure this video will be very helpful. Thank again.

[@ThePhantomGodofNight]

I have no idea what im doing but hopefully between this video and my dads help i can get it done. Going to get my manual out the junkyard today lol, wish me luck

[@Allout_Austin]

How is it going I just got a car and am about to do a swap to

[@ThePhantomGodofNight]

@Allout_Austin well i went and got the trans out the junkyard a couple months ago and now its just been sitting in my garage until we get a lift. My dads getting old and didnt want to be on the ground for this job. Anyway write back to me in a couple months and hopefully ill have an update for you by then, take care

[@chongert6396]

@@ThePhantomGodofNightany progress?

[@ThePhantomGodofNight]

@chongert6396 its been sitting in the garage. Still waiting to get ahold of and install a car lift but until then my getrag's sitting. Finally got the car running again as it was sitting for months, not starting. Turns out the starter was broken and we replaced it a weekend or two ago. Got new wheels installed today actually, 18x8 enkei lusso's (black with chrome lip) wheels fitted with some nice continental all season tires. Shes covered in dirt and needs a wash but my baby is sitting pretty with a mint fitment finally. Still a long checklist of things to fix but all with time

[@chongert6396]

@@ThePhantomGodofNight nice. i just did an m50 manifold swap and tune, still need headers, new radiator, and a manual trans. i actually just saved my motor after it got flooded with rainwater. that was scary as hell but she runs good now. im only 18, inexperienced, and dont have a much equipment so it takes me forever to do shit with this car so i cant imagine how long a transmission swap would take me. i might have to buy a super cheap shitbox to drive as a daily before i start. this has been a very interesting first car so far.

[@PaulsensGarage]

Just bought an E46 Auto and the guy included a Manual Swap. Your video is definitely going to help thank you.

[@crisbivolaru819]

this video is a life saver if you want to take the adventure of manual swapping your car thank you my man !

[@ryanking8939]

This guy is great!! Doing a manual swap using my original ms42 harness into a ms43 automatic car. And his videos absolutely saved me!

[@OLearysBMW]

Glad I could be of assistance!

[@furnmeza]

Dude super dope!!! Did a great job with this video!!!!!

[@kasrabahmanyar1193]

What a gold video. amazing content as you are very descriptive and thorough. thanks a ton.

[@OLearysBMW]

You're welcome, Thank You for watching.

[@cumbis123]

Awesome video! I have to move my clutch line up from where it is to make room for new headers. Very helpful!

[@chadriddle3517]

Great video! Lots of great information. Plan to do this job one day when I can acquire everything needed for cheap like y’all done . Appreciate the content

[@KamilMrowicki]

I'm doing 6 speed manual swap from 330i into a 325ci 😮‍💨 Getting everything thing together from 330ci to match 325ci is a nightmare. Should have gone for the 5 speed ZF box.... If only I knew...

[@chadriddle3517]

@@KamilMrowicki that cool. I been watching my local pull a parts for when a 330 manual comes in . It’s like they don’t show much must be rare .

[@KamilMrowicki]

@@chadriddle3517 i think the 6 speed is the rarest gearbox on the E46. You need 6 speed manual propshaft. My came without the CV joint and I couldn't figure out what's missing 😂 Then in the EU at least you can't just buy the driveshaft CV joint. Had to order from Poland. Then the clutch on the 6 speed is completely different and it was a pain in the ass to buy 😂 I am going to be fitting it just after xmass and can not wait for more headaches to come 😂

[@chadriddle3517]

@@KamilMrowicki lol sounds like a good project! I’m sure it will be worth it once it’s all done . Yea I plan to go with the zf 5-speed myself for that reason also. I’m in the middle United States and 6-speed I’ve never seen one in person unless on a m3 e46 and those are way to much $!

[@dironizareyes596]

Great and clear video!!! nice camera!!!! great information!! Good job Tyler!!!

[@klarkkahui7117]

Thank you for this video it’s one of the best I’ve seen

[@Kraxt0n]

no cog when doing the swap, armen coded my dme and a few other things to make the car believe its manual...but i personally tried for an hour and could not code it out. as the steps given in all places online didn have my 08-00 2001 330 modules as it is slightly different than a normal e46.... anyhow, i sure wished u wuda shared this with me when i was doing my swap lol then again i think i had just finished mine when this was made..... took a total of 20 hours give or take after a 8-5 job on a lift with goin to the hospital etc by myself. so for those scared, just get started.

[@OLearysBMW]

We also tuned our car of course, using that blackout template makes the manual swap that much more OE. It's just nice not having to stare at that cog before you do get a tune though, depending on the situation. Also, this video came out after you had yours done already I believe. Haha

[@tjaymoor6789]

Great video, but would the car still start without the clutch switch or any of the wiring?

[@OLearysBMW]

No, it will be looking for that switch feedback. You can bypass neutral safety if you really wanted. By jumping the signal. I typically like the feature to avoid in-gear turnover, however.

[@tjaymoor6789]

@@OLearysBMWI think that is a great feature that i might put it later on but for now how would i jump the signal so the car will start?

[@OLearysBMW]

@@tjaymoor6789 Jump the EWS signal at pin 8 with 12v. Do note; if you accidentally start the car while in gear and it causes damages, I'm not liable.

[@tjaymoor6789]

@@OLearysBMW Yes of course, thank you for your help man.

[@OLearysBMW]

@@tjaymoor6789 not a problem.

[@gravybags7965]

Nice video with some good tips! I just installed a getrag 250 5-speed I nabbed from a cheap 323i into my 2001 330i. Got pedal wires to run and diff to swap so hopefully soon. Wish I knew to get those wire plugs from my parts car before scrap n it. Cheers from a new subscriber

[@OLearysBMW]

Glad I could offer some help! I wish you the best of luck with your project

[@MrCox-ev8zo]

correct me if i’m wrong but can’t you leave the dash and just unplug the tcm and flash tune to turn that light off and recode everything to auto pretty easy? that’s my plan

[@OLearysBMW]

Yes, properly coding the car with rid of the EGS warning. Installing that manual transmission template just makes the swap that much more OE.

[@geovannijames]

Can you let me know the part number for the longer manual bell housing bolts? great video!

[@acef_performance8416]

I think on ms43 you would also like to remove that gas pedal 2step switch, can't remember the name

[@OLearysBMW]

Yep, I've shown how to remove that haptic feedback switch (kickdown switch) within MS43/MS45 pedals, in my MS43 swap video 👍

[@RubenD507]

Buenas que tal, una pregunta al realizar la conexión de la computadora con la EWS, ya con eso bastaría para que el carro encienda o también debo realizar un bypass en el plug de la transmisión manual, necesito de su ayuda.

[@te_gucci303]

So i just manual swapped my e46 i got it to start all that but theres no throttle response whatsoever i tried relearning it no use any suggestions

[@got556]

Good stuff, need to go ahead and pull the plug on getting my 6spd into my zhp. Unfortunately had to buy a new motor and rebuild so that slowed things up.

[@OLearysBMW]

Go for it, 👍 as you seen it's pretty straight forward, BMW thankfully made it simple for us. Thank You, mother Bavaria.

[@gorlovka5740]

Hi, great video! I have a question, i just finished the manual swap on my e46 330i but the car won’t start. I didn’t get a clutch safety with my clutch pedal. Is there any way i can bypass the clutch safety switch? I saw a video of a e46 330d and the guy spliced a wire of the brake pedal sensor to the EWS. Do you know if bypassing this safety switch is possible? Hope to hear back from you!

[@macrol4323]

I know this was 7 months ago, so hopefully you have it figured out now, but I believe if you splice that pin 8 wire off the EWS connector into your power source from your brake switch that should work.

[@gorlovka5740]

@@macrol4323 got it figured out man, did that😁 thankss!

[@cyborgjoe1000]

Amzing! there was allot of good detail allot of others dont add

[@DwFeeLThEScReAmO]

Do you happen to have complete list for all arts used including parts numbers.

[@Bowdoc64]

I have everything but the clutch pedal switches and the plugs. Is there any place I can get them without buying more pedals or getting from another donor

[@Willabeast]

Idk how i missed this vid. I did this a while ago to my e46 325ci but used a 94 trans lol it woked for 2 seconds.. im just starting the video. Hopefully i can figure this out.. grrr this video might save me!

[@devdinside]

You are god sent!! I'm currently planning on doing this with my 03 (prod. date 02) 325xi. My previous 01 (prod. date 00) 325xi is the donor car for this swap. Anything I have to go from on KZbin is all for 325i's and when it comes to the forums, there is bare to none for information on it, if not very old n dead forums (which is typical and expected). Granted with the parts list given, and the steps demonstrated to do the swap. What else would be included on a AWD manual swap? I do plan on keeping my auto diff's for the smol boost from a 3.23 to the auto's diff ratio of 3.46 but plan on keeping my manual diff's incase im not feeling the 3.46. I have no info on the front drive shaft, weather they differentiate from manual to auto like the larger rear drive shaft. I also have seen mentions of a second guibo for the front drive shaft but RealOEM doesn't give me a part number for it so I am leaning towards I need 2 guibo's because I want to believe BMW wouldn't make a slightly different style of guibo but instead just use another one of the same style. Would getting a poly style guibo be worth it? (For better lifespan and 'performance')

[@OLearysBMW]

Hey there man, message my Insta with your questions and I will respond when I can. olearyt0534

[@angeldovalina8949]

Do you know how to get the mirror working again when going into reverse thank you

[@OLearysBMW]

@angeldovalina8949 They sometimes come back to life with proper coding for manual transmission. Though with E46 I'm not 100% sure. I know the E39 I swapped/coded it worked, though reverse lights circuitry is different for E39.

[@zachcarpenter5438]

Thanks for making this man

[@adanjuarezjr5135]

Hell yeah, this video is straightforward. They wrecked into my e46 sedan in December just bought a 325i touring & 325i sedan for 1200, sedan is getting the entire swap, my wrecked car is 5 speed & that’s the donor. The touring had the rear end wrecked auto but it runs good so I’m putting the rear on that 2 cars from 1

[@luvziah7683]

What wire gauge size t tap connector did u use???

[@eyesac7486]

do you need to wire in the clutch safety switch to keep the dme and ews happy or can i just skip that?

[@OLearysBMW]

@eyesac7486 The EWS must see a 12v signal at that pin for engine to start. Whether you do it with the clutch switch or not.

[@BoscoLim-ue4ns]

Hi, thanks for your great video, do you need coding after Completed the manual swap?

[@OLearysBMW]

Yes, if you want cruise control to work, as well as getting rid of rev hang. After coding clear all adaptations. In the mean time, you can drive the car without issue until you code it.

[@bizzzle1258]

To do this properly, you use NCS expert to modify the vehicle order. For facelift cars you modify "FA" to remove $205. For pre-facelift its more complicated, i think you subtract 8 (in hex, so 0 is lowest and after 9 comes A, B, C, D, E, F) from the last digit of the VO. Then you write this new vehicle order to both the cluster and light control module. Operation is called "FA_Write" or "VO_Write I assume for pre facelift. Then you reset all the cars modules back to factory specs for the new vehicle order. Dont forget the cluster and light control module too. The operation is called SG_Coderen. Clear fault codes for the cluster or else you'll still see the ghost of that transmission missing error even though it's fixed. There may be errors in other modules too so just clear all your errors. When you're done you can use NCS expert to enable or disable some fun, and useful features like comfort close via key fob (holding lock button on key closes all windows and roof.)

[@GetItAtWiLL]

Question I know having the clutch safety switch for starting is a good thing and I’m assuming it just acts as just a switch for continuity? Could I just run a wire from the DME directly to that ews plug if I wanted to bypass having to clutch in to start? I ask because I have a t56 magnum trans and it has different master for the clutch so no built in switch so I’d need the old style with the 2 switches or to bypass all together

[@OLearysBMW]

Jump 12v to pin 8 of EWS, the car will start. I am NOT liable if you damage the car and/or surrounding property. As the car will start whether in gear or not.

[@GetItAtWiLL]

@@OLearysBMW gotcha so the older style switches that aren’t built into the clutch master I notice there is a 3 pin version and a 2 pin. I’m assuming the 2 pin is just a contactor switch basically. Could I just run that 12v source to one pin of that switch and the other out to the ews pin essentially. Is that how that would work. Sorry for the questions

[@mikesavage8379]

Good, detailed video...But shouldn't you just recode the DME as a manual rather than all that cluster stuff? And did you swap the rear diff?

[@OLearysBMW]

You still want to swap over that black insert, it just completes the full OE conversion. Also will mask any possible future auto trans warning cogs. We did no other modification to the cluster. DME tuning isn't required to enjoy the car after manual swapping, just for the time being. We're currently still running the 3.46 ratio diff, we did infact also snatch the diff from the parts car. Which should be an 3.07.

[@diegocembe1322]

Sorry bro i have a question Where is the seguriti conector? Its in the automátic sifther? And need to move to the clutch pedal? I dont finaly understund this parts Sorry hope hoy answer me

[@OLearysBMW]

The what connector?

[@diegocembe1322]

@@OLearysBMW the security conector, the neutral sensor where you make the wirring

[@OLearysBMW]

@@diegocembe1322 you need to get them from parts car.

[@zee29koleris]

Bro IT's realy interesting, i've just done my E36 swap M52Tu , the engine comes from automatic e46 323i here in indonesia, once everything's done, now my e36 idle's really good, no missfire whatsoever, but it won't rev more than 2000 rpm, what could be the problem? Is the clutch switch triggered it into limp mode? Coz i didn't connect it to the DME

[@OLearysBMW]

@zee29koleris Shouldn't be that, potentially a EML issue, throttle body. I'd reset all adaptations and go from there.

[@GOFIVEK8T]

Hello. My car from auto is converter to manual before me. I got questions for the one who did it alredy: is the throttle pedal sensor different from manual and auto. I have click in the last push of the pedal and I’ve read its kickdown for the auto. Is that the case? How to install my alps navigation rear camera to the manual

[@OLearysBMW]

Hello, if your E46 is an 325 or 330, that 'kick down switch' is simply only there for haptic feedback. Meaning, it's a simple clicker, not an actual switch. How to remove; need a 5-point security torx socket, to disassemble pedal. The clicker simply slides out, then reinstall cover. If it's an 323/328, then it's an actual switch that grounds to the body when pressed, sending a signal to EGS for the transmission to kickdown a gear. I show the removal of 325/330 throttle pedal clicker, in my MS43 from MS42 swap video. Watch at 24:11 of the below video; kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJutmJ55etqFbdU

[@ethanhudson7223]

Really interested in doing this swap on my car I concerned abt doing the wiring, is it difficult to run them through out the car? Great video as well really liked the detail you went into.

[@OLearysBMW]

The wiring is very easy, as shown/explained.

[@dirtye3092]

Good shit bro thanks just got a ZF gonna put it in

[@dirtye3092]

In order to bypass the safety switch, you would just put power to the blue and black wire or no

[@richarddenney9984]

Hey man I've apparently got the old style neutral safety switch mine has two switches but they only have 3 wires

[@richarddenney9984]

Which wire goes to the dme and which one goes to ecu

[@OLearysBMW]

@@richarddenney9984 same colors.. same destinations.

[@richarddenney9984]

sorry im no genius realized right after i commented when i got to looking at it love the content and really apreciate the fast and personal response even if its for dumb people

[@wettsoggynoodles]

the ZF-320Z from a 328i e36 is a compatible trans for this swap???

[@OLearysBMW]

Yes. Use driveshaft and shift linkage parts intended for E46.

[@braskolad]

I have a question if you could answer please: I just got a 323ci and I want to engine swap it + 6mt swap it. So is it the same process as you did?

[@OLearysBMW]

This same car is now a 6 speed. Yes it's the same process. Do note 6 speed is specific when it comes to transmission mount, driveshaft and other things.

[@braskolad]

@@OLearysBMW alright understood👍 when I’ll get to that point I will follow the exact things you did thank you very much for answering😁

[@OLearysBMW]

@@braskolad The reverse switch will also be on passenger side for ZF 5 and 6 speed, versus driver side of Getrag. Same plug, same 2 wire circuit though.

[@matthewmills7507]

Awesome video, what car did you source the manual transmission from? I am looking to do a five speed swap on a 323 and I am unsure of which e46 five speeds mate to the engine.

[@OLearysBMW]

Thank You. Doesn't matter if you're in the US. 323/325/328/330, all manual transmissions will swap around across non M. Just use proper flywheel and clutch set. Driveshaft length varies between Getrag and ZF as well.

[@paytonwilloughby6487]

I've had a manual swap done for a while but can't get the wiring to work. I don't think I ever did the reverse lights tho. I got it started but as soon as I tried to drive it cut my throttle so who knows. I kinda gave up like a year ago on it but want to drive it haha

[@te_gucci303]

Did you ever get this figured out I just swapped mine and when I press the throttle nothing happens

[@moddingjr7797]

Is there a actual way to code out the automatic gear displayed on the cluster on ncs expert or dummy?

[@OLearysBMW]

NCS Expert, yes. We obviously tuned the car as well following the manual swap, but we opted for a full DME reflash.

[@ghostvardy6693]

Love the video helped me alot 💯

[@ytdme7720]

So if I have a ms42 do I have to get a manual donor with the same dme

[@OLearysBMW]

No. Donor can be MS43/MS45.

[@ttstudio7917]

Can u tell me size of pilot bearing? Or part number?

[@OLearysBMW]

Size: 15x32x10 Part No: 11211720310

[@andrewalexander2895]

Did you have to do anything with the steering lock that originally attaches to the auto shifter assembly? About to do a manual swap on my e46 and was curious about this

[@OLearysBMW]

Leave the cable hooked up in steering column and leave it be. Wheel will lock without it's presence.

[@andrewalexander2895]

Any idea if there’s something different with wiring or coding needing to be done when going manual from a Zf automatic? I finished the full swap and wiring, the car won’t crank over. No coding has been done yet. The old auto transmission was a zf5hp19

[@OLearysBMW]

@@andrewalexander2895 did you wire the EWS and clutch switch correctly?

[@andrewalexander2895]

Turns out the splice connectors didn’t splice all the way for the clutch switch wires so it wasn’t getting any power. Re spliced them using t taps and starts now thankfully

[@OLearysBMW]

@@andrewalexander2895 I've had that problem before too on a different project, lol. Glad you figured it out, 👍

[@mauriciogarcia827]

Is the wiring the same for the ms43 and ms45

[@OLearysBMW]

Yeh.

[@shannonharrison9489]

Hey do you know anything about the wiring for a manual swap on a e63 bmw 645ci

[@shannonharrison9489]

Wanted to figure out what wiring needs to be done to get it to run my manual trans only has 2 connectors crank sensor and reverse sensor it looks similar to the e46 manual swap parts but idk if some specific is different

[@OLearysBMW]

I honestly know nothing about that platform's models besides the M6.

[@acef_performance8416]

Great video bro 👍

[@benjamincope7295]

Has anybody run into an issue after a manual swap with rev hang?

[@OLearysBMW]

A.) You need to code the car. B.) If coded, need to reset adaptations. C.) Cruise control won't work either unless coded and reset.

[@ranermita3846]

Thank you 🙏

[@MidnightSaint760]

Best way to get rid of the cog is to just program it out. Only cost you 25$ and a few hours

[@OLearysBMW]

Absolutely! I wasn't just merely covering it up, including that specific cluster template makes the swap that much more complete. 😁 Car has since been MS43 swapped using my methods, then tuned. After installing a 3.0 intake camshaft, intake manifold, throttle body and intake system. She runs great. 😊

[@isshayasebaaly6408]

Very good video

[@Bowdoc64]

I have everything but the clutch pedal switches and the plugs. Is there any place I can get them without buying more pedals or getting from another donor