The money for the standalone controller is definitely $$$. But the stock TCU sucks terribly. Check the forums. I had mine reprogrammed twice in 18 months of owning it because it would behave bizarrely and inconsistently.

One time, pull away from a stop and it just nails the first few changes up through the gears. Sometimes will hang the shift, sometimes would kick on TC on the shift.

It was awesome when working correctly, but that was about a 50/50 bet on any given day.

The controller that Harold is running is just over a grand USD so it's actually not all that bad considering the functionality of it. That'll be what I do if we can verify it fits with a V8 and I can convince myself the 50lb weight penalty is worth it.

When it's behaving properly, the 50 lb weight penalty is COMPLETELY worth it.

Does anyone have a link to the standalone controller used? I didn't see it linked anywhere but I may have missed it. $1000 is not bad at all.

https://www.dkgecu.com/

These are the guys, and sorry the quote I got was 999 Euro's. So factoring in the exchange rate that's 1092 bald eagles

They have a working LS swap and plan to offer LS hardware as well.

That looks amazing. Really makes be want to put this trans behind a turbo K series...

I'd be lying if I hadn't thought about this instead of a 4 speed for the LS car.

Ok, I am a bit confused here. So what did you have reprogrammed? The BMW TCU or the aftermarket ECU? What is this in?

Also, who are you and where can I see this. I see that you are in OKC and so am I.

in my mx5 i bypassed the bmw tcu. you could see it if you want. let me know next time you are in Norway :D

Dct
 

Got my tranny, gutted the BMW TCU.

Adapter plate and all the trimmings on the way,

Can't wait



https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...14eb735f22.jpg

very nice! Can you do me a favor? Slap a tape measure on the trans and get a measurement from the centerline of the input shaft to the bottom of the pan or whatever is lowest. A few of us are trying to see what it would take to fit with various motors.

8 3/8” from my quick measurement. It appears the very front edge of the pan is the lowest thing on the transmission


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e3e1390bc.jpeg

You are the man, thank you

So here's a measurement for you guys considering an LS. I've measured 2.75" to the pan rail. I'm running a 5" kevko road race pan for a total of 7.75" from crank centerline. So we're looking at this thing hanging 5/8" lower than the pan......or just enough to concern me. I'll have to check again and see for sure how low that is in relation to the frame rails and other items that should prevent a holy trans pan.

I'm looking for the pin outs for a E46 M3 DCT shifter. It's a 2005 if that matters. I'm not starting my swap by buying a part a day. Although I do have a mental note to do this swap in 2021.

This is for iRacing. I've decided I want a sequential shifter controller and the good ones start at $300. Since I think a fly by wire car controller is a lever, knob, microswitches, I'll start with that. I got a E46 DCT shifter off eBay for $40. Add $10 key/joystick USB controller, I should be there.

Can anyone point me at a PDF for the E46 M3 DCT shifter pin outs?

Bill

My "brilliant" idea to use a E46 M3 DCT shifter to provide a sequential shifter for iRacing? I'll give it a "nice try but no" rating. I opened up the shifter and no microswitches. There's a magnet at the end of the shift lever and what I'm guessing are some magnetic sensor surface mount ICs on a circuit board below. Some BMW digital contactless something. Could a hardcore tech wonk hack a solution? Probably, but not me. I'll put the shifter in a box and save it for when I do the "real" DCT box swap on my Miata (at least a year away after I do some other mods).

I shall continue to lurk on this thread in the meantime.

PS: The connecting a switch to iRacing via USB easy. The $10 switch/joystick USB board is 100% plug/play straight into Windows. From there into any sim. Maybe I'll DIY a swanky button box instead.

Edit: totally missed that this was for a racing sim and not for installing into a real car
​​​​​​​
E46 M3 uses an SMG, not a DCT. It's just a 420G gearbox with actuators and solenoids and a slightly different bellhousing. They are universally loathed for jerky shifting and common failures in the BMW community

The wiring diagram can be found here, but it doesn't seem like it would help much.

Firstly I just want to say that this is absolutely brilliant, OP you are one big balled mofo. I'm an engineering student in California with a bit of a Miata addiction, or so my friends tell me.
So far I've gleaned that you're running some sort of custom controller bypassing the stock bmw tcu.
I'm curious if it would be possible to make a very bare bones controller with only manual control, no throttle blipping maybe two preset torque settings for a daily vs performance mode.
Anyway, if anyone on here has a pinout or wiring schematic for any generation of bmw dsg that would be greatly appreciated!

Go reread you'll see he's using a DKG ecu, that ecm requires you to strip all the BMW controls from the trans and it controls the selenoids directly. The functionality you're describing isn't simple, it assumes there is something handling the clutch to clutch shift timing and actual shifting of the gears. The DKG is about as simple and cheap as it gets and it's neither cheap or simple.

Good catch on the ecu, and thanks for the input It seems like DKG's webshop is not currently offering products which is unfortunate. Still if anyone out there has a schematic of the inputs to the transmission(and range of allowable inputs would be especially helpful) it would drastically help with development of diy controllers. Thanks again for the response.

They never have had a way to order online, just have to email them, it was just over a grand for the ecm.

The info you're asking for only exist from ZF, the oem interface outside of the case are most likely CAN based and not what you want to do......I'm highly suggesting not going down that rabbit hole, you'll have way more than the money invested in the DKG ECU and be playing catch up to their level of development

I am having a hard time understanding the logic behind such a robust transmission mount.
This mount is secured, via a total of 8 bolts, to the trans tunnel. The tunnel is made out of maybe 1 mm sheet metal.
Considering the strength of the attachment point, does it need to be such a strong mount?

I'm sure you have good reason, I would really appreciate if you could shed some light on this.

I believe that stock powerplant frame keeps the rear end of the trans locked in up/down and left/right movement.

That trans is longer and heavier, would think that locking it into position so its weight is not leveraging the engine in the front would be wanted.

Looks like the bolts go though the sides right where the seats front support structure is as well, and that is layered up a bit more then 1mm thick

HTG Tuning
 

Just learned about this company in Poland
Standalone ECU for DCT, PDK and VW boxes for 1000 euro (cheap!): https://htg-tuning.com/shop/htg-gcu-...-control-unit/
B6/BP trans adapter: https://htg-tuning.com/shop/mazda-b6...dapter-kit-i6/

also wiring harnesses, shifters,etc. Remote tuning support. Another alternative to the MaxxECU

https://htg-tuning.com/wp-content/up...te-800x432.png

https://htg-tuning.com/wp-content/up...cu-500x500.jpg

the reasoning behind making the trans mount solid is to do it once, and never have it fail. the trans is HEAVY, and a lot of weght will be hanging of those mounts. so i mounted it with a backing plate inside the car and several bolts because it takes the same effort as making it with less bolts and weaker. i could probably lift the car up inverted from my mount.. but i know it will never fail :D
HTG is also a good option now, and probably the way i would go if i got the trans controller now. I used dkgecu as i was a very early user of the DCT trans in any car. HTG seems to be more into the buisness side and better user interface.

@hf-mx5t I'm curious where you got this splined insert? Is it something you machined?
I see a lot of these BMW DCT swap kits with bolt-in inserts like this. I'm curious if it's an "off the shelf" part, or if companies are machining them for their kits.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...25eebaac35.png

Dct kit
 

would you be interested in making a conversation kit to sell