Reuneb 1 Report post Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) Hi, so my friend has a 1988 318i, which is running with an m40 on automatic transmission which he is currently working on. Its done about 160xxx k's, M-Tech body kit as well. This will be my first car and I am a huge fan of the e30 chassis. I am not the biggest fan of driving an automatic, and I am interested in converting it to manual. From my understanding a getrag 240 is what is needed for the conversion, but is it worth converting it? The m40 isn't the fastest engine, and over time I would like to swap the engine into an m50b25. Would i still be able to use the getrag 240 or will I need another gear box completely for an m42 conversion? I wouldn't want to waste money converting and then needing to get ANOTHER gear box if I decided to swap the engine. Any advice would be nice as I am new to this. Cheers bros! Edited August 12, 2015 by reubennn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3258 Report post Posted January 23, 2015 You will probably find it is cheaper (and it will certainly be easier) to buy a car with a manual gearbox fitted.Converting an E30 isn't the most difficult, and it has certainly been done before, but it will cost at least twice as much as you think it will. You say it's your first car, but not if you've done much driving? If you're new to the roads, don't get hung up on manual vs auto. Concentrate on getting some miles and experience first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Navin 180 Report post Posted January 23, 2015 David's car? Sounds a lot like it. Should be extremely mint when its done Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Breaker 980 Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Sounds like an awesome first car, forget about the drive train just enjoy learning to drive and the handling, you can always sort things in a year or so Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted January 24, 2015 You will probably find it is cheaper (and it will certainly be easier) to buy a car with a manual gearbox fitted. Converting an E30 isn't the most difficult, and it has certainly been done before, but it will cost at least twice as much as you think it will. You say it's your first car, but not if you've done much driving? If you're new to the roads, don't get hung up on manual vs auto. Concentrate on getting some miles and experience first. I've never paid more than $500 for a conversion kit. Another $600 for clutch / flywheel to be done. Add a bit extra if you want to do seals / new mounts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
handgrenade 189 Report post Posted January 26, 2015 Are you the guy from Mt roskill maccas? Hehe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reuneb 1 Report post Posted April 7, 2015 Are you the guy from Mt roskill maccas? HeheYes haha! I finally got my own e30 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
