Swapping MT for AT

[n00bMeiSter]

Is it possible to swap a manual transmission for an automatic transmission with step-tronic on a 2008 M3?

[JohnyGT]

Is it possible to swap a manual transmission for an automatic transmission with step-tronic on a 2008 M3?

Nothings impossible with enough $$$, tho, u might wanna consider getting a new car after selling yours...ive seen a guy did the same, but costed close to 10000

[secondgear]

not worth it.. just trade it

[midnightfxgt]

Nothings impossible with enough $$$, tho, u might wanna consider getting a new car after selling yours...ive seen a guy did the same, but costed close to 10000

wow! Unless it was a super high-end car, he got hosed.

Its possible, but these cars arent something you can go grab for $500, and have a donor car. Cheaper to sell, cut your losses, and grab another.

-John

[dentinger]

you want to ditch your manual tranny, for an automatic?


WHY!??!

and are we talking mazda3? or bmw M3?

[n00bMeiSter]

Dent: I like the steptronic option a little better, allows me to be more concerned with other things but still have manual fun. Plus my gf and family don't drive stick. So if they need to move or drive my car they'd be sol. My father hasn't touched stick since he sold his 70's firebird trans am when I was born (and I'm not entirely sure he had a manual firebird lol), so I don't trust him with my clutch lol.

[chinsterr]

I would be up for the trade . I have on 05 Auto.

Get a a shop willing to do the work and let me know the price ...

[TheMAN]

swapping a manual to an auto is as hard as swapping from auto to manual

this isn't the olden days anymore son... you got to swap all sorts of parts like computer modules, wiring, etc

what's definitely going to happen is your car's warranty is voided and your resale value GONE

the time and money wasted to doing something ridiculous like this is going to cost way more than an upside down trade to an equivalent automatic car

[chinsterr]

swapping a manual to an auto is as hard as swapping from auto to manual


Not true . I spoke to my mechanic about this. Auto to manual is easier than manual to auto.


this isn't the olden days anymore son... you got to swap all sorts of parts like computer modules, wiring, etc

what's definitely going to happen is your car's warranty is voided and your resale value GONE

the time and money wasted to doing something ridiculous like this is going to cost way more than an upside down trade to an equivalent automatic car

Wiring ? Maybe. ECU from the auto will work on a manual ... do your homework. The checkengine light will stay on becuase it wont be able to detect the autotransmission. Other than that , the car will function the same.

Time and Money? I have been quoted 8hrs just for labour ($80/hr x 8hrs =$640). If OP wants to swap transmissions with me , the 640 is all I have to pay (minus whatever I charge him for my Auto.... afterall, auto is worth more).

Warranty ? Not a problem for me.... but will be for the OP.

[n00bMeiSter]

... you got to swap all sorts of parts like computer modules, wiring, etc

Well I knew that much.


what's definitely going to happen is your car's warranty is voided and your resale value GONE

the time and money wasted to doing something ridiculous like this is going to cost way more than an upside down trade to an equivalent automatic car

Why would the resale value be gone? auto's retain value better than manuals. or is it because the transmission doesn't match what the vin lookup says?

I cant imagine it costing the same, the cars I'm looking at are ~$19,000.

[condor888000]

You're going to have a hack job. That's going to screw resale.

[bman13]

Just trade it in...

[dentinger]

You're going to have a hack job. That's going to screw resale.


Just trade it in...

this

and for a complete swap, it'll be the transmission itself, new gauge cluster (unless you want the PRND lights on the dash), wiring harness, possible different mounts, differnet center console, clutch pedal, etc etc etc.
just trade it in.

[TheMAN]

Not true . I spoke to my mechanic about this. Auto to manual is easier than manual to auto.



Wiring ? Maybe. ECU from the auto will work on a manual ... do your homework. The checkengine light will stay on becuase it wont be able to detect the autotransmission. Other than that , the car will function the same.

Time and Money? I have been quoted 8hrs just for labour ($80/hr x 8hrs =$640). If OP wants to swap transmissions with me , the 640 is all I have to pay (minus whatever I charge him for my Auto.... afterall, auto is worth more).

Warranty ? Not a problem for me.... but will be for the OP.
"your mechanic" doesn't work at mazda does he? let me know if he does because what I do know is, you're making it sound simpler than it is... theres too much wiring differences involved because the 3 uses a canbus system... just saying whatever is originally there will work is all BS... there's many other computer modules that will freak out and the car will just be a total mess unless you rewire everything and replace all the different electronics and program them to work right

just paying someone to deal with the wiring/electronics isn't the real problem... the real problem is finding the right guy/place to do it! most people out there suck at the electrics and the cars end up being all mickey mouse... but when you do find the right guy to do it, it'll cost you thousands more over just the major mechanical parts

the most optimistic cost is probably $3000 and that alone is enough to justify an upside down trade for an auto mazda3 that WON'T be a hack job, and will have less than 1% chance of electrical gremlins over the unknown odds with doing a swap

[Krazy]

why don't u two just switch CARS!

problem solved!

[chinsterr]

"your mechanic" doesn't work at mazda does he? let me know if he does because what I do know is, you're making it sound simpler than it is... theres too much wiring differences involved because the 3 uses a canbus system... just saying whatever is originally there will work is all BS... there's many other computer modules that will freak out and the car will just be a total mess unless you rewire everything and replace all the different electronics and program them to work right

just paying someone to deal with the wiring/electronics isn't the real problem... the real problem is finding the right guy/place to do it! most people out there suck at the electrics and the cars end up being all mickey mouse... but when you do find the right guy to do it, it'll cost you thousands more over just the major mechanical parts

the most optimistic cost is probably $3000 and that alone is enough to justify an upside down trade for an auto mazda3 that WON'T be a hack job, and will have less than 1% chance of electrical gremlins over the unknown odds with doing a swap

More people do transmission swaps than you would think , just do a google search. I'm not sure about a mazda, but people do these things on nissans/Vdubs/hondas all the time. Everything works fine for the people that want to go from auto to manual . But like I said earlier , to go from manual to auto is a different story.

look here: http://forums.generationdub.com/showthread.php?t=23301
^^^ Example of a Jetta going from auto to manual with NO PROBLEMS

[condor888000]

I know a guy who did a auto to man swap in his Protege. DISASTER. His speedo never worked again(4 years), neither did his reverse lights, and there was a shitload of other random stuff that just didn't work right.

Not worth the headaches IMO.

[chinsterr]

why don't u two just switch CARS!

problem solved!

lol no thanks.

[chinsterr]

I was hoping a little project like this would keep me interested in my car , but meh, new car hopefully coming next year.

[notoriousb]

Some car's it is easy to do things....

The mazda 3 is the biggest headache in the world regarding wiring, and how everything is interconnected.

There are like 20 different (front) wiring harneses for the entire lineup of mazda 3's including some that are for cali emm cars, to federal emm cars, to manual, to auto, to 2.0 to 2.3, etc. This is not to mention the different options for the car -- like ones with xenon lights, to ones without, to ones with DRL's--- this is on top of the different years... as 05 changed from 06 to 07 changed...

Good luck finding the same car you have with the same wiring, just auto(instead of manual).

Computer would be different, guage will be different -- means you have to get them reprogrammed for your key.

I'm not even mentioning that its a different wiring harness inside the car lol.

Don't try it ... trust me ... I've dealt with wiring this car -- it's something you never wish on your worst enemy lool.

(the actual transmission in and out is the easiest part of the whole process !!! lol)

[Hives]

its do-able
speak with Dan, I had a conversation about this with him before
you'll need a good mechanic for sure. Go to a scrap yard and find a manual 3 and pluck all that you need from it. Not sure how much it will cost though, but im pretty sure its gonna break the bank.

[SKYMP3]

That's if you have time and money to spend, but all this on a Mazda 3? lol.......

Manual or automatic Mazda 3 are everywhere on the road. I don't see what will be a good cause for doing this swap, boost up your 3 to 300hp give me more respect.

[x_o_k_x]

its possible but there is ALOT more work to it then you could possibly imagine

[1flycdnM3]

like it has been mentioned before, the wiring on our 3's is absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't wish a swap like this on my worst enemy, let alone the value lost because of doing this. I have seen people do this (and helped a little) on a honda before and even that was insane! The wiring wasn't too bad (maybe because i understand Honda's alot better), but the car still needs alot of work even a year AFTER the install.

For that price, rather learn how to drive manual (since it's not that difficult) and buy a turbo or mods or whatever. Waste of money to do a tranny swap, IMO.

[n00bMeiSter]

its do-able
speak with Dan, I had a conversation about this with him before
you'll need a good mechanic for sure. Go to a scrap yard and find a manual 3 and pluck all that you need from it. Not sure how much it will cost though, but im pretty sure its gonna break the bank.

I think you misunderstood me, I'm looking to go from manual to automatic, not automatic to manual

[n00bMeiSter]

That's if you have time and money to spend, but all this on a Mazda 3? lol.......

Manual or automatic Mazda 3 are everywhere on the road. I don't see what will be a good cause for doing this swap, boost up your 3 to 300hp give me more respect.

No offense, but who cares about hp? It's a Mazda3 .... If all that matters to you is hp and racing, why not just buy an RX8 or an MX-5, or an actual sports car?

I love the look of the M3, its absolutely beautiful. White, Black windows, a nice set of rims, just gorgeous. Of course, the fact that it is soo much fun to drive, and has lots of great features is great too.

But I don't want manual, I have to think of my family and my GF, none of whom can drive manual. The only ones that have everything I want are in manual, so I was hoping a swap to AT wouldn't be overly complicated or expensive. I don't know alot about cars, I'm a computer geek lol.

Sorry for two posts, the first one was sent from my phone cuz I was on the bus :(

[1flycdnM3]

I think i have posted enough in response to these posts, but just to add, I learned manual in less than a week on my first car! Why spend thousands of dollars on a transmission (downgrade too, if you ask me) when you can just learn it! Family included! Making it sound like you are trying to solve the most difficult trigonometry question in the world and it's really not!


.... my $0.02

[Iceman_F1]

I think i have posted enough in response to these posts, but just to add, I learned manual in less than a week on my first car! Why spend thousands of dollars on a transmission (downgrade too, if you ask me) when you can just learn it! Family included! Making it sound like you are trying to solve the most difficult trigonometry question in the world and it's really not!


.... my $0.02

My $0.02...

Really, I can see where he's coming from. I was in the same boat. Get a Manual and learn it, or get an Auto as a "other can drive it". I choose auto and while most of the time I regret that (because I really want to learn manual) there have been times where people have drove the car where it really helped out. And when I do my long trip eventually, then it will really have been worth it!

[n00bMeiSter]

Sky - I didn't mean to sound fecetious, I'm just saying if you wanted a really sporty car, wouldn't it be easier to buy a sports car? Then you get all the hp you want and don't have to worry about losing insurance and stuff b/c you modded your car...

1fly - I never said I was actually going to do it, I'm merely curious, I really don't know much about cars at all. I put all of this in a real life scenario to give it some context so it would help me get my Q across and give people a context to work with. I do appreciate your input - everyone's input for that matter (thanks all :)). However, if this turned out to be plausible, and not overly expensive or difficult, I may have considered doing it for real.
My mother can barely do basic things on a computer like saving a file or printing something, she'll never be able to drive stick, and she's explicitly told me. My gf on the other hand just plain refuses to learn.

Iceman gets me lol

Anywho, thank you all for your responses, 2cents, help, and thoughts. I'm definitely convinced that this is not an idea worth thinking about.

Thanks!

[chinsterr]

My $0.02...

Really, I can see where he's coming from. I was in the same boat. Get a Manual and learn it, or get an Auto as a "other can drive it". I choose auto and while most of the time I regret that (because I really want to learn manual) there have been times where people have drove the car where it really helped out. And when I do my long trip eventually, then it will really have been worth it!

Amen brotha !

Next car is going to be a manual for sure tho :P

[n00bMeiSter]

Amen brotha !

Next car is going to be a manual for sure tho :P

You said it!