[cheerio]

Hey all.
Long story short, I have a N52 car with the GM transmission, and I want to swap a 2nd gen ZF trans into it. Unfortunately, where I am (Australia), N52 E90's with 2nd gen ZF transmissions seem to be nonexistent.

Does anyone know of other cars, whose 2nd gen ZF trans (e.g. E60 530i) will bolt up to an N52 E90? I haven't been able to find much info on this, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by cheerio

Hey all.
Long story short, I have a N52 car with the GM transmission, and I want to swap a 2nd gen ZF trans into it. Unfortunately, where I am (Australia), N52 E90's with 2nd gen ZF transmissions seem to be nonexistent.

Does anyone know of other cars, whose 2nd gen ZF trans (e.g. E60 530i) will bolt up to an N52 E90? I haven't been able to find much info on this, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

https://aftermarket.zf.com/us/united...8catalog-2.pdf


Maybe this will help.

[ptpending]

Originally Posted by rjahl

https://aftermarket.zf.com/us/united...8catalog-2.pdf


Maybe this will help.

this catalog is sort of incomplete or covering only US car models

[cheerio]

Originally Posted by rjahl

https://aftermarket.zf.com/us/united...8catalog-2.pdf


Maybe this will help.

Interesting to see the LCI 530i and late E90 335i use 6HP21, while all 325i/328i are listed with the 6HP19.

I'm toying with the idea of installing the 6HP21 from an LCI 525i, but that would take extra work to figure out the electronic shifter.

I know that the TCU in the newer 6HP19's has better tuning options, but is this related to 6HP19 vs. 6HP21?

[cheerio]

https://www.sonnax.com/tech_resource...2-valve-bodies

according to this link, 2nd gen 6HP starts from 2006?

[E92_William]

Any 5 series with this engine will have the ZF box. Also the X5 but that's obviously xi. You might be able to get it from say a 630i or 730i if those were sold in Australia. I know they were in Europe.

[F31B48]

Originally Posted by cheerio

Hey all.
Long story short, I have a N52 car with the GM transmission, and I want to swap a 2nd gen ZF trans into it. Unfortunately, where I am (Australia), N52 E90's with 2nd gen ZF transmissions seem to be nonexistent.

Does anyone know of other cars, whose 2nd gen ZF trans (e.g. E60 530i) will bolt up to an N52 E90? I haven't been able to find much info on this, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

According to the BMW parts catalog the 125i came with the ZF trans. They were definitely sold here, and had MSV80 so that's a possible option if you can find one. I'm pretty sure they had the N52B30 engine detuned.

Edit. Also looks like the ZF in the E9x was only fitted to early MSV70 cars and all 335i. Anything with the blacktop N52k MSV80 engine had the GM.

All E6x had the ZF.

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by cheerio

Interesting to see the LCI 530i and late E90 335i use 6HP21, while all 325i/328i are listed with the 6HP19.

I'm toying with the idea of installing the 6HP21 from an LCI 525i, but that would take extra work to figure out the electronic shifter.

I know that the TCU in the newer 6HP19's has better tuning options, but is this related to 6HP19 vs. 6HP21?

It's a bit confusing but at some point around 2007 ZF upgraded the 6HP 19 with additional clutch plates and upgraded magatronics. 6HP19 TU. It shifts faster and manages toque a little better.

BMW called this the 6HP19TU while ZF called it the 6HP 21.

[cheerio]

Interesting, thanks guys.
Looking on RealOEM, the 2010+ 323i/325i is listed with the ZF trans alongside the GM, but the few I found for wrecking in Aus had GM transmissions.
From what I know, the MSV80 125i was built with both ZF and GM, but used the GM transmission here - correct me if I'm wrong. I suppose the E87 130i is also an option.

The 630i and 730i are rare as hen's teeth around here. I'd rather not look at those except as a last resort.

I guess this leaves the 525i... Did the pre-LCI E60 ever get the 6HP19TU, or is this restricted to the LCI E60 with electronic shifter?

[Sgop335]

This may help

[cheerio]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

This may help

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed

[Twix]

Odd that the chart shows that all E92s got the upgraded ZF trans while e90 got it with all 35 variants and e93 only got it with rear drive. The weird shit BMW does lol

[nsjames]

check the XHP website.

they have the compatible hardware versions in a blog post somewhere.

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by Twix

Odd that the chart shows that all E92s got the upgraded ZF trans while e90 got it with all 35 variants and e93 only got it with rear drive. The weird shit BMW does lol

Good point, Are there e93s w Awd?

[ome91]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

Good point, Are there e93s w Awd?

All E93's were RWD AFAIK, only E90/E92 got an AWD option

[Twix]

Originally Posted by omer_has_a_bmw

All E93's were RWD AFAIK, only E90/E92 got an AWD option

And all Canadian E91’s after 2010 I believe also came xDrive only. XDrive was an option for pre lci and early lci

I always thought e93s could be awd but when I researched, it was never available. Guess it makes sense to not add more weight to an already portly car

[cheerio]

Hey again, guys.

I’ve done a lot of research online, have asked my mechanic, etc, and have come to the conclusion that finding a E9x N52 6HP21 in Australia is impossible. I suspect it might be possible to fit a gearbox from a 335i, but the ratios wouldn’t be quite right, so I’m not liking that idea.

I also made some custom extra-clicky paddle shifters recently, which just make the slow response of the GM box even more infuriating. Thus, giving up is not an option, and I’ve begun considering other gearboxes.

1. 6HP21 swap from N52 E60 LCI. Electronic shifter retrofit.
2. 8HP45 swap. Electronic shifter retrofit.

The latter option is very tempting, considering the shift performance of the 8HP. I’d previously written it off as impossible without a custom TCU, but some Aussie guys seem to be having some success with it: https://youtu.be/Mhx9cP9lNIc
The gist appears to be that by flashing the firmware from an E89 Z4, the gearbox will talk to the rest of the ECUs using their native E-series protocols, so that no CANbus translator or other hacks are required.

I’ve done lots of work in embedded electronics before, and I’m confident that I’d be able to iron out any communication issues, given enough time to work on it.
I’m not quite so confident on the mechanical side, so if anyone has experience there, some advice would be appreciated.

As far as I can tell, all 8HP45’s have the same ratios, so there’s no issue there.
I’m struggling to find information on 8HP bellhousing compatibility.

How different are the bolt patterns for N52 and N55? What about N20? N52 8HP’s are rare around here, but there are a fair few N55 ones, and heaps of N20 boxes available. If the bolt holes are a few mm off, I guess I can Dremel them out.

The N52 starter is mounted to the engine block, and mates to the flex plate ring gear. Will mounting a different transmission affect the starter fitment?

Thanks guys, looking forward to hearing from you.

[ptpending]

the gearbox ratio usually adopted by rear differential
so you may try 335 box but flash id to 328i

[colorado.e9x]

I'm going to be attempting this (well, rather have a shop do it for me because I don't want to deal with it) here soon. Have done a good amount of research myself and the conclusion (although hairy) is that it is possible to swap a 2nd gen HP19/HP21 to the N52 in an E90.

Donor:
2008 (10/07 prod.) E92 335xi MSD81

Receiver:
2006 (10/05 prod.) E90 330xi MSV70

From my understanding, everything should physically connect and bolt up. Gear ratios are believed to be the same. There may or may not need to be some minimal modification to the bell housing for one or two of the bolts to line up. After that, alls that's needed is to program the donor vin to the DME, CAS, and TCU. Now obviously you can't use a 335 vin, and a 528/530 vin may or may not work.. But a 2nd gen 330 or 328 that has the HP19TU would in theory work. I sourced a vin from a Euro E92 330i with the HP19TU and will be coding that to everything. Hopefully that'll work. I'll then transfer my xHP and xDelete license over to the new vin (which will be interesting considering its a RWD vin) and see how it goes. If I could find a 2nd get 330xi vin I'd feel so much safer but alas..

[cheerio]

Good luck! I’ve settled on retrofitting a 6HP21 from an E60 LCI. Not enough of a madlad to try the 8HP swap.
Have already got my hands on the transmission support bar and electronic gear shifter. I’m using a shifter from a DCT E82, hopefully it will talk to the 6HP… just need to buy the transmission now.

[colorado.e9x]

Keep us updated I'm not sure when mine will get done. Still waiting on my mechanic to get back to me on quotes and setting up a time

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

Keep us updated I'm not sure when mine will get done. Still waiting on my mechanic to get back to me on quotes and setting up a time

Out of curiosity, what’s the reason for the swap?