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I have the 6-speed conversion from a 530i and am using a stock 530i clutch and pressure plate. I'm running about 325whp (still need to get on a dyno and get official) and have no slippage. It shifts like a bolt-action rifle and the clutch engagement is very nice.
Guys, I already bought the transmission, you dont need to sell me on it further
Haha seriously, stoked to hear it. I wasnt aware that the shift quality on these was supposed to be so good.
Six, do you remember how long the install took you? Trying to get an idea if I can knock it out in ~8 hours on a Saturday or if its gonna take more than that. Seems like thatd be enough time.
I would not bet money on being done in 8 hours. There are so many little issues that can and will arise. How your existing exhaust fits past the new crossmember is one of them. I also had issues with the location and angle of the O2 sensor.
My existing exhaust also ran fairly close to the new slave cylinder. I can't remember what issue I had, whether it was bleeding the clutch with such tight clearance or with my heat shielding. Just standard custom car stuff.
I said it before, but I love OPs optimism and I'm stoked to see how this project comes together.
Everyone else I've seen doing this swap has dedicated a few weeks to it, and OP wants to get it done in a weekend. I think he can do it if no major gotchas appear, but like Six said.. there's always gotchas.
OP has done more to his car in 2 1/2 years than I have in nearly 20, so I've got faith.
Don't encourage me man! My optimism is usually not much more than misplaced confidence haha. Although I appreciate your optimism in me! I don't foresee myself knocking it out in a single day but Six seems to know his sh*t so I figured he'd be as good a guy to ask as any.
I anticipate a few gotchas and the other current issue is that our shop is only open Saturdays 7-4, closed on Sundays. We're also undergoing a remodel currently so parking is f*cked. I'll probably have to get as far as I can next Saturday (3/30) then push the car out to the parking lot a couple hundred yards away, then push it back in whenever I get a chance to work on it again. I'm just rambling now, I'll figure something out. Hopefully I can pull the car in during lunch on Friday and at least start tearing it apart.
Thanks for the insight, Six. I read some of your comments on an older thread regarding the exhaust fitment. Glad to know about that before the install rather than during. I've seen multiple accounts of slave cylinder to exhaust clearance being somewhat tight. Was thinking I'd wrap the slave in some sort of heat shielding once it's on. I also read that Kmiata now recommends bleeding the slave with it off the car, although the procedure still seems like a PITA. Don't be surprised if you get a PM or two from me once I start the install lol.
Am I the only one that's intrigued at the swap kit using only 6 bolts for the bellhousing to block adapter? Maybe I just feel like there should be more because I'm used to the 8 or 9 or however many bellhousing bolts the stock setup uses. I found the SPS Motorsport adapter last night which looks like its drilled for all of the bellhousing to oil pan bolts. Obviously, there's plenty of folks running big power with the Kmiata kits, though, so I'm sure any concern I have over it is null.
Ya the work involved for these tranny swaps look like a giant pita and I would certainly count on SOMETHING going wrong, at least once. I certainly wish you all the best luck though!
Regarding the 6 vs 8-9.. I would also think more is better.. but it's aftermarket not OEM so minimum required is par for the course most of the time. OEMs tend to use "extra" bolts.
Question for you Zak about your shocks/coilovers. What setting do you run your shocks at? Also did you notice a pretty linear increase in compression/rebound stiffness as you went stiffer? I will have some fun playing with them to see what they do but curious if you got any pointers for me. Thanks.
Question for you Zak about your shocks/coilovers. What setting do you run your shocks at? Also did you notice a pretty linear increase in compression/rebound stiffness as you went stiffer? I will have some fun playing with them to see what they do but curious if you got any pointers for me. Thanks.
So, when I was on the stock 10k/8k coils I played around a bit and believe I landed at 17 clicks clockwise (out of 30) from full open in the front and 13 clicks clockwise in the rear. I've since upped them to 28 in the front and 22 in the rear with the "new" 14k/10k spring rates. Balance seems pretty good there, but the spring rates are definitely at the far end of what the dampers can handle. I think the damping adjustment curve adjustment on them is pretty linear. I've always found 3ish clicks is enough to make a noticeable difference in handling.
Originally Posted by Fireindc
Glad you got the first blood out of the way, though there will be more.. I'm sure. Those Germans can be ruthless.
Oh yeah, there will for sure be additional blood drawn. I bled when I installed the turbo and probably also when I dropped in the built motor. Gotta give some up to the gods to ensure longevity.
Speaking of the Germans drawing blood: I moved the ZF trans today and noticed it makes a knocking noise internally when rotating it side to side. I'm really hoping I don't have an issue here but what would this project be if I didn't have another hurdle to complicate it? I've already messaged DV and the seller for insight on it.
The noise occurs when rotating the transmission side to side, and the amount of motion in whatever's moving side to side changes depending on what gear it's in. Also, it sounds and feels like whatever is moving around is moving in conjunction with the shifter shaft. I pulled a few of the shift detent bolts (but not all of them) and didn't find anything noteworthy inside so far. The vibration from the motion can be felt both in the shifter shaft and directly in the detents with the bolts removed. The shift selector moves into all gears freely and nothing can be felt in the input or output shafts, which also move freely.
I'm probably heading to the bimmer forums next, but does anyone have some insight on this? Video for reference:
Guess I may have got a little ahead of myself. I emailed Schmiedmann asking about the noise. They let me know the noise is normal and were kind enough to shoot me a video of another GS6 transmission doing the same thing.
Thanks for responding! Im assuming theres no fluid in it presently. They left a tag on it that says REMEMBER TO ADD OIL!!, but Ill still check on Monday haha. Just glad I dont need to source another box.
Non-Miata-related content tonight. Dads current project for the last couple years has been a 95 Harley Sportster that didnt look like much more than scrap when he got it. Hes taking it slow and steady but its coming along well so far. He just got the motor back from the local Harley speed shop. It got a 1200 big bore kit mated to the standard 883 heads, just with a standard refresh and three angle valve job. My buddy, girlfriend and I came over and made a little event out of it.
We ordered a couple pizzas, got the motor unloaded from the truck, and mounted it up in the bike. Hung out in the garage for a couple hours after. Good times.
Last edited by Z_WAAAAAZ; Mar 23, 2024 at 10:35 AM.
Nice man. My dad builds HD's as well. He's got 3 of them ATM, 2 with big ole Ultima crate motors in 'em. He does custom paint, etc on them as well and builds them from the frame up. My brother too, but he just likes FXR's specifically. Me, I grew up on big 45* twins (literally on them, at first in front of my dad, and later on the back), and was always drawn to the sound/feel of those paint shakers. I always rode dirt bikes, and my first street bike was a ninja500. I eventually got into Buells because I love the old lumps, but still wouldn't ride a HD. I wanted something that handled and braked well. Anyways now I've got 4 Buells and a sportster. It's in the blood.
Glad to see your dad doing work! And glad the trans noise is normal.
Very nice, is that your WRF in the back background?
I'm a huge moto guy myself
That's the first German I've learned in twenty years, thanks!
The WR in the background is my dad's as well. He and I actually started desert riding back when I was 7 or so. We rode a bunch up until I hit my early 20s and bought myself a 2013 KX450 track bike. Man, that thing was so much fun. About that time, though, my dad decided he didn't want to chase me around as much since he was getting older. He sold his XR250 and picked up the WR. My parents live at the base of a local mountain that you can ride on street-legal motos only. Orange County kinda sucks for any sort of moto riding otherwise. The closest desert/trail riding is an hour and a half away without traffic, and the closest moto track is about an hour. I ended up getting rid of my KX450 for that reason, but may pick up another dirt bike at some point once I calm down with the Miata project (that might not be for a while)
Originally Posted by Fireindc
Nice man. My dad builds HD's as well. He's got 3 of them ATM, 2 with big ole Ultima crate motors in 'em. He does custom paint, etc on them as well and builds them from the frame up. My brother too, but he just likes FXR's specifically. Me, I grew up on big 45* twins (literally on them, at first in front of my dad, and later on the back), and was always drawn to the sound/feel of those paint shakers. I always rode dirt bikes, and my first street bike was a ninja500. I eventually got into Buells because I love the old lumps, but still wouldn't ride a HD. I wanted something that handled and braked well. Anyways now I've got 4 Buells and a sportster. It's in the blood.
Glad to see your dad doing work! And glad the trans noise is normal.
Dude, I love how many parallel interests we all have on here haha. I never woulda guessed I'd be chatting with other moto/mtb guys on this forum. That's rad! Sounds like your pops and mine would get along.
Four Buells and a sportster, huh... I'm mind blown by how many toys/projects you keep running outside of the Miata haha. The Buells bikes look pretty cool actually. What's the story on those, Harley started making them then sold them off as their own brand?
My roommate is a big Harley guy as well and has a pretty mean Dyna. Every so often, he tells me I gotta get myself a "real motorcycle". I always tell him almost exactly what you just said. If I ever get a street bike, I want something that handles and brakes well. Lol.
I took the car out to a JDM Honda meet at our local Acura dealership on Saturday and met some buddies there. Did a freeway pull on the way there and the car just started wagging its tail as soon as I hit 65mph. Violently. F*ck. I did an alignment on Friday afternoon and figured I must have left one of the rear eccentrics loose.
Headed to work instead and got the car on the lift. All the eccentrics were tight but my left axle nut had backed out to the point where it was just past finger tight. Score! I received the wrong nuts (no biggie) with my Brofab rear hub kit and reused the old ones while waiting for a new set to be sent out (also no biggie). However, I didn’t put another dimple in the nuts because… yeah I can’t find a good excuse. I got lazy and figured they’d be fine for a week or so. Torqued em to 210ft/lb and didn’t expect either to back out. I’ll check sooner next time, especially because Option already told me to I have a spare Timken bearing sitting around and will probably pop that sucker in this week as I’m sure I damaged the current bearing.
The second fun thing that happened to me this weekend was getting hailed on in a thunderstorm on the way back from the mountains this weekend and losing the function of my window regulators, blower motor and wipers.
It started raining on the way home and my driver side window was down. Ok, this is easy, I’ll roll the window up. Boom, no power at the window switches. Alright, that’s annoying, lemme turn on the wipers. Nothing. Ok, we’ve got a problem. Lemme turn on the defroster so I can at least see. No defroster. I ended up pulling off the highway for ten minutes because I straight up couldn’t see out the windshield. Luckily the rain cleared up and I was able to drive home, window down, without incident. I figured I’d bust out the test light and start by checking the ignition switch circuit once I got home. Got home, turned the car off and back on, and everything worked again.
F*ck it, gonna circle back around to this later. Got too many other *fun* things to do to the car this week. Hopefully the trans swap kit shows up by the weekend and I have some progress reports to post about that!
Last edited by Z_WAAAAAZ; Apr 10, 2024 at 01:35 PM.
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I certainly wish you all the best luck though!
I have a spare Timken bearing sitting around and will probably pop that sucker in this week as I’m sure I damaged the current bearing.
