Hi. Im new to the forum and always been a BMW man through and through, but, having driven a 911 I realised what all the fuss was about and im hooked. Now im tormented between a e46 M3 with SMG box or a tiptronic 996 (which are both going very cheap due to the financial crisis) My question is, the car is going to be used for trackday instruction intially and a daily driver and whilst i dont mind auto boxes. I may decide to race it. The M3 is more suitable with its SMG box There comes the option of converting it to a manual transmission (not a sequential box) as I can source the parts very cheaply. But how hard is it to do? Apart from the gearbox, linkage etc, Im assuming id need a new wiring loom Engine ECU? Has anyone done such a conversion??? There is the argument, buy a manual instead, but when its potentially this cheap, it would make it financially viable option. Im lucky enough to be able to choose either of these cars but they've all come along at the same time and they wont be around for long. So Im trying to work out all possibilities, before I launch into this. The BMW is the logical choice. cheaper to run etc The Porsche is something special..and alot to put right if it blows up...But its a 911. All technical advice is welcomed.
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHTiptronic to manual conversion....Whats involved??
1 matching discussions were examined; no attributable action/outcome evidence was detected. No consensus or repair conclusion is claimed.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Read captured repliesInsufficient extracted evidence does not mean there is no answer in the original discussions.
1 matching discussions · 4 captured posts examined · 0 partial discussions
Coverage and how to read this overview
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
4 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
- 911uk: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261027T022239Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
not really worth converting, buy a manual
:welcome: I'm not technical but having driven an E46 M3 with SMG for 4 years, my advice would be get a 911. Also, take Sundeep's advice and get a manual. The SMG box frustrated the hell out of me. Yes it's brilliant on track or when you're really pushing on, but for normal road use, it's a pig. In the time I had it, I did more kangaroo starts than 100 learners put together. It's down to the fly-by-wire throttle sensitivity and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Plus, you have to lift off the throttle on every change to get rid of the jerks. To repeat the above, don't even think about trying to convert a tiptronic, get a manual 911, you won't regret it for a second. Clive
I've had a manual 996 and currently have a tip - they are both great cars, so I'm never sure why there is such a manual/tip debate and you can always drive the tip in manual mode if you want to hold the car in gear.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.