BMW Transmisson Into CA18DET ..

[Spawn_CA18]

Hello there friends,

after all problems i had in CA18det ( electrical and other stuff ) now i think i reached my transmission limit . also i have transmission bearing problems .

a small calculation -

changing all 6 bearings on stock transmission costs me like 300€ likely. and i get 380-400hp limited transmission ( i didn't measured it yet but mine is like 350hp )

I'm using my car only for drifting and sunday trips.

as you Know there are finished projects over SR20 and CA18 det BMW transmisson conversation .

I'm planning the same .

As i searched .

E36 - 3.25 - 3.28 - Diesel engines - 286hp M3 5Speed gearboxes are exact same. (Close Ratio - 5.Gear 1:1)
E36 - 321hp M3 Getrag 6Speed Gearbox
E46 - Diesel engines 5 Speed Gearbox(Close Ratio - 5.Gear 1:1)

i can get E36 5Speed and E46 5Speed gearboxes like 500€, 321hp M3 gearbox is 800€. with DIY project it will cost me likely 600€ or so .


and as i heard Bimmer guys running +1000 hp with stock gearboxes

so. now i want your suggestions. What should i do ? should i get close ratio gearbox or spend some more and get 321hp M3 gearbox?

By the way i know some of yours are going to suggest S14 gearbox . But in Turkey they are expensive as hell - Only gearbox is like 1000-1100€

actually i'm not planning to use stock gearbox .

what problems i'm going to face when i'm doing this conversation?


i'm open to any suggestions. And i'm going to share my conversation in this thread after i start it.

[boost_boy]

If you're going to be building mad power and plan on thrashing the gearbox in the future, then you truly may want to consider an upgrade and go for the more bullet proof option. But if you're looking to keep the power below 600whp, then repair what you got and keep it simple.

[tommey]

Do you want 1:1 on last gear? if you want a close gearbox, go for the 6 speed ones and get 0.8 on 6th gear.
Rb25 or z32 gearbox is also good options.
The main advantages of nissan gearboxes is that you can run the same clutchdisk(disks) as you already have.

Edit:







- S14 stock -------------z32-------------getrag s6s-420g-------------2JZ-GTE V160 6-Spd
1. : 3.321 -------------3.21---------------- 4,23 -------------------------- 3.827
2. : 1.902 -------------1.93---------------- 2,51- ------------------------- 2.360
3. : 1.308 -------------1.30---------------- 1,67--------------------------- 1.685
4. : 1.000 -------------1.00---------------- 1,23- ------------------------- 1.312
5. : 0.838 -------------0.75 --------------- 1.000- ------------------------- 1.000
6. : - NA ---------------------------------- 0,83 - ------------------------- 0.793

[louiswun]

But S14 gear box is still a FS5W71C, not much different between CA18DET's 71C
Is it expensive to get a RB25 or Z32 box in Turkey ?

[tommey]

But S14 gear box is still a FS5W71C, not much different between CA18DET's 71C
Is it expensive to get a RB25 or Z32 box in Turkey ?

Yes its about the same, but for your low powerlevel i think a stock gearbox would be ok.
I dont know about availability in turkey, but a brand new z32 gearbox isn`t expensive.

[mr_ca18det]

i think mobnes like 700hp ca has a bmw trans behind it. So it is very possible but finding a shop capable of doing it correctly and figuring a clutch and flywheel setup that will work will be a pain. Thats why mazworks z32 swap kits are so rediculously priced theres alot of mesuring involved.

[tommey]

i think mobnes like 700hp ca has a bmw trans behind it. So it is very possible but finding a shop capable of doing it correctly and figuring a clutch and flywheel setup that will work will be a pain. Thats why mazworks z32 swap kits are so rediculously priced theres alot of mesuring involved.

I think mobne has bmw 6-speed of somekind.
I am not sure what the ratios on his gearbox is, but they are probably very close and i can only see that as a disadvantage when you have so much power. Keeping traction will be hard (not that mobne seems to care about traction. )
The modification of a gearbox is not a big deal, and you should manage to measure how much machining and cutting is needed to be done yourself.


This is how i did it on a RB25 gearbox a while ago:

Ca flange over the RB housing:



Cut the RB flange of:



Machine the housing:



Mount the finished machined CA flange to the centering device :



Tack welding it:



Finished welding and is going to be machined again (warps when welding):



Finished:



Mounted in car:

[Spawn_CA18]

i have done lots and lots of hours about searching that transmission swap .

what i found is , on CA18det transmission it is not possible to break it when drifting .

i speak with ted(mobne) for 2-3 hours(On Msn Messenger) and discussed about that swap .

by the way he is using E46 M3 6 speed Manual gearbox with R200 Diff ( S14 Manual)

first i gotta tell i have cancelled this swap reasons are,

- 5 speed gearbox has very bad ratios(for us) , and BMW is keeping the gear ratios same on every car and making changes on differentials. this is how they using 1:1 on 5th gear.
-6 speed 3.2 M3 gearbox is way weeker then 5 speed 3.0 M3 ZF gearbox
- Getrag is isn't selling repair parts or other stuff for their transmissions.
- starter is at wrong side on getrag 6 speed
- finding clutch is a pain in the a**
- tunnel is has to be done from with aluminium from new .
- gear lever is not finding the hole
- clutch bearing has to be done custom .


ted says ;

- even 500-600 hp you can't break your CA18det transmission on drifting
- i broke my transmission with race slicks on drag strip when i was 550 hp
- just repair you transmission


basics like this.

about turkey.

i can't find any Z32 TT or RB25 gearbox here. but i can import one from Bulgaria.

now my first plan is just repair my own transmission and keep it simple.

[s13drifter88]

could i get some measurements on what it took for swapping the ca flange to the rb trans. like how much was cut off of both and what it was machined down too

[tommey]

I dont remember the measurements, but i think the CA18 flange was 47mm thick when i was finished with the machining on it, and when the RB input shaft sticks 16mm outside the gearbox flange and the ca shaft sticks 18mm out from the flange, that should equal 49mm removed from the RB housing to give the correct input shaft lenght.
Edit: Yes i can see from the pictures i have that the flange was 47mm, that means i probably marked and cut the housing at 45mm before i machined it.