DCT to 6MT Swap

[Starboy]

Hi guys, I've always wanted a 6MT for E92M3 but it's never available in my market (only a handful were imported/swapped). Has anyone done DCT to 6MT swap?


Researched through the site and online, I've left with the impression that this type of swap isn't common, since MT was officially offered in most markets, and people can just trade in for a used MT.


So I'm in a "I don't know what I don't know" situation, and really appreciated if there's any heads up, experience & tutorial share/friendly reminders, before I mess up with mine...





[Background]

Last month I kinda blew up my DCT transmission after 15k miles driven, with 90% of time in manual (i'm addicted to MT...). The transmission was overheated, then the gears in 1/3/5 and even the reserve started to disappear, before they've gone completely unusable. Happily, now I have the opportunity to go for a real MT

Two options:

1. Swap for a used DCT transmission (but this could be damaged too given my driving habits), for around $2~3k including parts & labor, takes about 2 or 3 days

2. Swap for a new 6MT transmission plus all related parts, for around $20k including shipments from Germany & labor, and takes minimum 7~10 days of work.

[Redd]

Just curious, how do u drive to blow up a DCT?

[drwankel]

It's been done:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1893904

Unanswered questions about the wiring end of this in that thread unfortunately.

OP in that thread claims it was "the most difficult part of the swap" yet provided absolutely no details about it.

[Starboy]

Originally Posted by Redd

Just curious, how do u drive to blow up a DCT?

I've been told that DCT can withstand aggressive driving/shifting if you maintain it properly, in my case I probably shifted too much with 90% time in manual and caused the valve body to malfunction.

There could be something wrong with the valve body/mechatronic that caused the transmission to overheat then lose gears

[Starboy]

Originally Posted by drwankel

It's been done:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1893904

Unanswered questions about the wiring end of this in that thread unfortunately.

OP in that thread claims it was "the most difficult part of the swap" yet provided absolutely no details about it.

Thx man this helps! Been taking notes on it and found a local shop that specialized in the swapping works, they have converted a few DCTs

[bipp]

Originally Posted by Redd

Just curious, how do u drive to blow up a DCT?

Search for "DCT mechatronics failure" here. Seems more of a defective unit problem than it is a driving style problem - at least from what my mechanic said. Got codes for selector rod failure - car never went into gear again. Maybe it was overheating, but fluid levels were fine and shifting was snappy before that. I was on some "GTS" tune at the time, but am running OEM tune now afterwards.

Mine blew up on track but I don't think it's track use that caused it. Seems that a few people had this happen across the E9x and F8x boards, but not very frequently. Another thing to watch out for is the temp/rpm sensor - replacing this will require pulling the DCT as well (location dependent, but the vast part of my cost was for labor, and not the DCT itself).

edit: I believe mikerunt had this same thing happen. Others have tracked theirs for dozens of days without problem; mine happened on the third track day.

[mikerunt]

Originally Posted by bipp

Search for "DCT mechatronics failure" here. Seems more of a defective unit problem than it is a driving style problem - at least from what my mechanic said. Got codes for selector rod failure - car never went into gear again. Maybe it was overheating, but fluid levels were fine and shifting was snappy before that. I was on some "GTS" tune at the time, but am running OEM tune now afterwards.

Mine blew up on track but I don't think it's track use that caused it. Seems that a few people had this happen across the E9x and F8x boards, but not very frequently. Another thing to watch out for is the temp/rpm sensor - replacing this will require pulling the DCT as well (location dependent, but the vast part of my cost was for labor, and not the DCT itself).

edit: I believe mikerunt had this same thing happen. Others have tracked theirs for dozens of days without problem; mine happened on the third track day.

Yup! I’m one of the lucky ones. My mechatronics let go on track pinned on a fast sweeper.

[Starboy]

Originally Posted by bipp

Search for "DCT mechatronics failure" here. Seems more of a defective unit problem than it is a driving style problem - at least from what my mechanic said. Got codes for selector rod failure - car never went into gear again. Maybe it was overheating, but fluid levels were fine and shifting was snappy before that. I was on some "GTS" tune at the time, but am running OEM tune now afterwards.

Mine blew up on track but I don't think it's track use that caused it. Seems that a few people had this happen across the E9x and F8x boards, but not very frequently. Another thing to watch out for is the temp/rpm sensor - replacing this will require pulling the DCT as well (location dependent, but the vast part of my cost was for labor, and not the DCT itself).

edit: I believe mikerunt had this same thing happen. Others have tracked theirs for dozens of days without problem; mine happened on the third track day.

Agreed- this isn't a common phenomenon, in my community losing gears under normal driving circumstance is basically unheard of. And due to the complexity & costs for repair, it's usually recommended to replace the DCT transmission altogether, rather than taking apart the valve body and fixing stuff inside.

Curious to know how'd you fix your transmission in the end?

[Starboy]

Originally Posted by mikerunt

Yup! I’m one of the lucky ones. My mechatronics let go on track pinned on a fast sweeper.

hopefully you were able to pull the car over safely while on the track..

did you replace the transmission, or found out where exactly went wrong & fixed it?

[mikerunt]

Originally Posted by Starboy

hopefully you were able to pull the car over safely while on the track..

did you replace the transmission, or found out where exactly went wrong & fixed it?

I purchased another trans, pulled the mechatronics from it, cloned it to match mine OG one and reinstalled.