[iaknown]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Iaknown,
I tried to post this from iphone when i was out of town this last weekend. It locked up on me in edit mode. Something about pushing backspace button too quickly and i lost all of what I was trying to enter. Try #2 below.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...ight=bodacious

Not sure if you read over at Bimmerfest/diesel section. I guy named Bodacious bought (2) M57 engines and in the above thread was going through the hot rod process with them. He ultimately had to stop as he wanted be ready for drag racing season so he put this project on the shelf. Somewhere in there, he talks about options with transmissions, flywheels, and torque converters. OF course his goal was purely for the 1/4 mile track. So, anything beyond 4th gear (1:1) ratio wasn't of his concern. I'm word searching within it now.

The Bodacious guy is super nice and basically gave Yozh and i parts for the cost of shipping. We gave him more than he needed as a gesture of our appreciation. This is where i got the obsolete design EGR valve and spare intake manifold. He hangs out over on Competition Diesel Forum if you want to ask him questions.

Thanks for the link Cuda. It sounds like he can help me out in the flywheel/clutch department. I will reach out to him

Originally Posted by 335duff

I've thought about this as well. Would upgrading the clutch on an e90 m3 transmission help, or is it the gears that cannot handle the power?

Also there is a transmission from drenth sold for m57, not really for a street application though.

http://www.drenth-gearboxes.com/prod...g-gearbox.html

I don't even want to know what that Drenth costs

Judging by what the N54 guys are making with hp and torque, the gas gearboxes may hold up. Clutches are not an issue as they have many options. But you still have the gear ratio problem with our cars because it revs much lower.

[DWR]

Lenco? Oh gosh, that is a 1/4 mile car.

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by DWR

Lenco? Oh gosh, that is a 1/4 mile car.

How will he get to his Idrive knob with all those levers in the way?

[Whitbread]

If you can get the bmw bell housing pattern in any kind of CAD, making an adapter and flywheel is nothing to use a Tremec with proper ratios and tq capacity.

This is a ls to audi r8 adapter plate and flywheel I helped design

[Gearhead51]

I don't know if this is of any use to you, but...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M57-DIES...80333a510&vxp=

I know we are putting the trans in our cars, not the other way, but...

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by Whitbread

If you can get the bmw bell housing pattern in any kind of CAD, making an adapter and flywheel is nothing to use a Tremec with proper ratios and tq capacity.

This is a ls to audi r8 adapter plate and flywheel I helped design

Looks pretty And I think I just stumbled across the CAD drawings...

Originally Posted by Gearhead51

I don't know if this is of any use to you, but...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M57-DIES...80333a510&vxp=

I know we are putting the trans in our cars, not the other way, but...

..but, WOW, That may be a big headstart! Thanks!

They make one for a Nissan 350Z too. For that price it doesn't even pay to start the CNC up!

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by DWR

Lenco? Oh gosh, that is a 1/4 mile car.

Originally Posted by iaknown

How will he get to his Idrive knob with all those levers in the way?

It's an m57 swapped s10 mud dragster. Not your typical project for a BMW forum. Probably no need to reach his idrive though.

Originally Posted by Gearhead51

I don't know if this is of any use to you, but...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M57-DIES...80333a510&vxp=

I know we are putting the trans in our cars, not the other way, but...

Haha! I know that's a common swap (at least in terms of m57 swaps) but I can't believe it's common enough for them to list an adapter on eBay...

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

Probably no need to reach his idrive though.

LOL, yea I figured.

[335duff]

Originally Posted by iaknown

I don't even want to know what that Drenth costs

I remember reading that it was about 10k but don't remember where. I know that there are endless options for clutch, but can the rest of the internals handle the torque, even if different ratios were around?

[Got_Diesel]

F30 BMW M5 comes with a 6 speed manual that handles 550 horses and 500 torque from similar RPM. That may be your best bet in terms of robustness.

[Whitbread]

Originally Posted by Got_Diesel

F30 BMW M5 comes with a 6 speed manual that handles 550 horses and 500 torque from similar RPM. That may be your best bet in terms of robustness.

But is the bellhousing pattern the same? If not, then you might as well do an adapter plate/flywheel and go to an even stronger tremec 6 speed meant for 700+lb/ft and never worry about breaking it.

[DWR]

Pretty sure the reason for going to a manual is because of the inability to get good shifting from our transmissions. Once you have decided to go to adapters, why not put in Ford's 6R60 automatic? It is a licensed version of the ZF6HP26. Stronger than ours and programmable with HP tuners software. You can even get a torque converter to put you instantly into the powerband ... just a thought.

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by Whitbread

But is the bellhousing pattern the same? If not, then you might as well do an adapter plate/flywheel and go to an even stronger tremec 6 speed meant for 700+lb/ft and never worry about breaking it.

Yea, having a hard time finding info but something tells me that the bellhousing pattern, gear ratios, and of course price, make the F30 M5 trans a less than ideal choice for this conversion.

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by DWR

Pretty sure the reason for going to a manual is because of the inability to get good shifting from our transmissions. Once you have decided to go to adapters, why not put in Ford's 6R60 automatic? It is a licensed version of the ZF6HP26. Stronger than ours and programmable with HP tuners software. You can even get a torque converter to put you instantly into the powerband ... just a thought.

Interesting, would like to find out more. How close are the internals to ours? I wonder if a TCU conversion (or whatever Ford calls it) is feasible on our transmissions...

[rspring]

Drenth already produces a bellhousing for the MPG transmission to M57 too. There may be an off the shelf solution to make this happen. An E90 M transmission might work, but with the wrong gear ratios. I'd be curious if there is some interchangeability with gears from a 330D transmission though. Manufacturers tend do make a lot of things interchangeable to keep costs down. VWs are like Legos.

[mefferso]

Originally Posted by DWR

Pretty sure the reason for going to a manual is because of the inability to get good shifting from our transmissions. Once you have decided to go to adapters, why not put in Ford's 6R60 automatic? It is a licensed version of the ZF6HP26. Stronger than ours and programmable with HP tuners software. You can even get a torque converter to put you instantly into the powerband ... just a thought.

If he's just after better shifting, why not go for an 8-speed from a wrecked 535d or X5 35d? Anyone thats driven any of the BMW's with that transmission knows it shifts much much better than ours. Seems like a simpler solution as its already used on the M57, although maybe not cost prohibitive since its still relatively new.

[rspring]

Mefferso, I think he wants a manual, not just better shifting. I like the idea of the HP8, I have one in my Touareg and its a fine slushbox. It is probably too big though.

[DWR]

Originally Posted by iaknown

Interesting, would like to find out more. How close are the internals to ours? I wonder if a TCU conversion (or whatever Ford calls it) is feasible on our transmissions...

Yep, I had that thought also. Don't know the answer for sure, but generally speaking, TCU and Mechatronics need to stay together. Been trying to compare pics on the internet. Not the best method

Regarding internals, input shaft is the biggest difference. The Ford is bigger. However, Exedy has upgrade kits with parts that cover both transmissions. So that would indicated a great deal of similarity.

I probably over stepped my bounds when I indicated Ford transmission could be programmed in a BWM vehicle. Don't know if the engine and trans would "talk" properly.

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by mefferso

If he's just after better shifting, why not go for an 8-speed from a wrecked 535d or X5 35d? Anyone thats driven any of the BMW's with that transmission knows it shifts much much better than ours. Seems like a simpler solution as its already used on the M57, although maybe not cost prohibitive since its still relatively new.

The idea of that 8 speed auto sounds great but do you have solid proof it was ever offered with the M57? I see lots of talk about it but no actual models coming here with it.

And then coding is another story but if it was offered with the M57 that may be a start.

[eurojulien]

tl/dr.


answer is always LENCO

[Hoooper]

The drenth says the 6-speed is good for I think it said 570 lb ft input, so not nearly enough.

The tcu for the zf transmission is in the transmission so keeping them together wouldn't be an issue. Getting the correct input and output sensor readings to get it to actually work with the DDE is probably another story.

As boring as it is, using a common and easy to work with transmission like one made by tremec is often the best path to take. You can take a lot of other directions but you essentially just end up spending a lot more time and money to get to basically the same place. An added benefit to those transmissions are that they were designed to work with big v8 engines so they are geared for a lot of underdrive in the higher gears

[iaknown]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

The drenth says the 6-speed is good for I think it said 570 lb ft input, so not nearly enough.

The tcu for the zf transmission is in the transmission so keeping them together wouldn't be an issue. Getting the correct input and output sensor readings to get it to actually work with the DDE is probably another story.

As boring as it is, using a common and easy to work with transmission like one made by tremec is often the best path to take. You can take a lot of other directions but you essentially just end up spending a lot more time and money to get to basically the same place. An added benefit to those transmissions are that they were designed to work with big v8 engines so they are geared for a lot of underdrive in the higher gears

Agreed....the Drenth is out of my price range. Whatever I do I would like to keep cost effective so others could do the same if they wanted.

The only chance I think the 8-speed BMW trans would work is if it was put behind a M57 at any point. Perhaps that would give a head start in the coding department. But then there is torque capacity on that trans which I am not sure of.

Trying to interface any other auto would involve too much work, that time and money would probably be better off spent trying to have our TCU cracked.

I keep coming back to the Tremec as well.