[mike4-vr6]

Anyone know of a shop local to Houston that has swapped an E46 M3 to manual?

[s.strehler]

Di you ever get any info on this? Looking for someone to do my coding after the conversion.

[Asianinja11]

Originally Posted by mike4-vr6

Anyone know of a shop local to Houston that has swapped an E46 M3 to manual?

Talk to Sam. He owns Texas Auto Fleet, he worked on my M installed Active Autowerkez headers and tune.

713-478-5647 (Tell him Earl referred you)

[s.strehler]

Thank you for your help.

[ThunderMoose]

ABRHouston.com

[jcanales]

Hi Mike,

My SMG has started to go south on my M3 as well. Once in a while it works fine for a week and then decides to hibernate which is why I’m here reading your post.

Did you ever find a shop to swap/convert your M3 to a manual in Houston? If you did, about how much did that run? From my understanding, “you do NOT need a new tranny for the swap, only the bell housing from the manual tranny which allows for detent/locking pins for centering the lever”.

https://jalopnik.com/how-to-own-a-bm...t-t-1747802451

From what I’ve read, quite a few people have done the conversions in Northern California. They have been very happy with the cost and results.
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=593288

Unfortunately, there were no shops mentioned in Houston that have done this type of work.

I took ThunderMoose's advice and contacted ABR Houston. They couldn't give me a quote over the phone until I brought the car to them. I spoke to Alex. He says he’s done a conversion before, but it was a while back and don’t remember who it was for. He did say at the bare minimum he can probably do it for is above 5k using spare parts. This seems somewhat reasonable as I figured the conversion should cost less than the cost of swapping out the SMG pump and accumulator.

This week, I received an email from the shops service agent with an estimate before moving forward with the work. The estimate did not reflect the amount that was discussed. I’m told that they have a high standard that would rival how the vehicle was built from the factory. The estimate is 1.7x more.

This turns things around for me. It now seems cheaper to go with an SMG replacement. Since the manual conversion is going to put me out of budget, my friends have suggested just changing out the SMG pump motor as indicated on the thread below.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=550529

I presented this option to the service agent, but he doesn’t think that this is something that the technician will be willing to do but will consider. Before he could consider, he would have to perform an advanced SMG diagnostic. This was performed but the technician had no confidence in identifying a problem with the smg pump or accumulator.

From my experience with the car, I am not leaking any hydraulic fluid. When the SMG is working, I can hear the pump motor prime and when it doesn’t work I don’t hear it prime when I unlock the car.

I really like the car with intent to keep it. I hope you guys can chime in on this and let me know what you guys think. Should I move forward with the manual conversion, have them do a SMG swap, or get my car out of there as fast as I can and take it somewhere else.

Also, let me know what you think of the estimate. Is it reasonable? I’ve attached today’s parts list of items needed for the conversion. Am I missing things from my parts list that i should consider?

Am I getting taken for a ride? I am told the labor for the manual conversion is 2500. I assume the rest of the cost is parts and reprogramming.

[SQ13]

Get in touch with Roman at Boost Logic. They’re in Austin, but Roman and his guys are very knowledgeable, know the E46 well, and I believe they’ve done a few manual swaps. Their pricing is much better than ABR’s, and they’ve treated me well.

[jcanales]

Thanks for the suggestion and for everyone that sent me a private message on their recommendations. To update you all, after getting the car back, I ended up ordering a new smg motor and swapping it out myself. It took a lot of patience when working with tight spaces and getting creative to get to the two screws that hold the motor. In the end, I got the smg motor swapped out, and the M runs GREAT! No issues so far in the past 30 days. I'll link the motor and DIY thread in case anyone wants to try this approach.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=550529

For those interested in finding a place to do the conversion, take SQ13's advice if you are in the Austin area. Boost Logic with Roman. For those in Houston area, talk to Josh Harper at the European Motor Gruppe - 832-998-7700.

I would have gone to European Motor Gruppe the first time around but didn't find out about them until after I already did the smg motor swap. I still plan on doing a manual conversion but will wait till i put some more miles on this smg motor. Josh quoted me a reasonable price for parts and labor. All OEM parts.

Thanks everyone!

[SQ13]

FYI, Boost Logic does not do manual swaps anymore, so I’ll have to search for an alternative.

[Lingsweiler]

Originally Posted by SQ13

FYI, Boost Logic does not do manual swaps anymore, so I’ll have to search for an alternative.

Do you need a place in Austin to get it done? I'm about to get it done in cedar Park area by a guy who specializes in the s54 motor. His shop is called Hill's performance bimmers.