[ucsbwsr]

So I am hunting down a 6MT for my drivetrain conversion and would like to collect some feedback from the community, especially higher mileage manual owners.

Let's preface by saying that when buying used components, care and maintenance are usually more important than just mileage. Sure, if mileage is extremely low then that would limit the amount of abuse the drivetrain would experience but at some point enough mileage accrues where maintenance and care prevail as the crucial variables.

It is becoming common knowledge that the 6MT is a proven/reliable option for people pushing higher HP numbers (600+whp) and from what I gather, in general, most BMW manuals have a reputation of being strong units.

For my 6MT swap I will adding an aftermarket flywheel and clutch so my question pertains to only the internal gearing.
What are the 6MT issues people have ran into and at what mileage do things start to deteriorate?
There are quite a few transmissions with moderate miles (50-90k) which can be had for much less money for something in the 25-40k territory. I know "is it worth it" is a very subjective question to ask but hopefully higher mileage 6MT owners can chime in:
What are your thoughts or experiences?

For reference my wagon has 105,000 miles on it so it feels a little odd to hunting down a transmission with 1/4 the miles especially if manuals can run reliably up to 200-250,000 miles if properly cared for (just throwing some numbers out there).
FYI, Most of the other M5 components I have collected for my conversion have 50-70,000 miles on them.

Thanks for any input,
Evan

[BeastMode335i]

Throwout bearings, input shaft bearings, etc..

[Miller335]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

So I am hunting down a 6MT for my drivetrain conversion and would like to collect some feedback from the community, especially higher mileage manual owners.

Let's preface by saying that when buying used components, care and maintenance are usually more important than just mileage. Sure, if mileage is extremely low then that would limit the amount of abuse the drivetrain would experience but at some point enough mileage accrues where maintenance and care prevail as the crucial variables.

It is becoming common knowledge that the 6MT is a proven/reliable option for people pushing higher HP numbers (600+whp) and from what I gather, in general, most BMW manuals have a reputation of being strong units.

For my 6MT swap I will adding an aftermarket flywheel and clutch so my question pertains to only the internal gearing.
What are the 6MT issues people have ran into and at what mileage do things start to deteriorate?
There are quite a few transmissions with moderate miles (50-90k) which can be had for much less money for something in the 25-40k territory. I know "is it worth it" is a very subjective question to ask but hopefully higher mileage 6MT owners can chime in:
What are your thoughts or experiences?

For reference my wagon has 105,000 miles on it so it feels a little odd to hunting down a transmission with 1/4 the miles especially if manuals can run reliably up to 200-250,000 miles if properly cared for (just throwing some numbers out there).
FYI, Most of the other M5 components I have collected for my conversion have 50-70,000 miles on them.

Thanks for any input,
Evan

Ironically my buddy who picked up the cleanest 99 C5 FRC with 120k miles Ive ever seen on it needs a new transmission.

I'd find the lowest miles unit you can find, miles trump anything else IMO.

[CeeWhizzle]

I'm in the same boat as you, OP. Doing a 6mt swap from lame AT and I plan on doing a small overhaul of the basic things like Throw out bearing, input shaft, seals, etc. on whatever manual trans I buy, whether it be low or mid-high mileage. I'd try and stick around the 40-60k mileage area, even though these 6mt's are quite strong, but you never know its history.. However I plan on buying an entire donor car to be able to have everything I need to swap over, then part the rest of the car out to hopefully break even for the cost of the swap.