318ti auto to 323ti manual, need help please.
 

Hi everybody, I have a 99 323is with manual tranny, this was my favorite car and still is, i completly redone whole interior and put whole M suspension in it with LSD, i was drifting a lot here and there and one day when i got on the highway it started to rain a lot, so my car hydroplaned in to a wall, nothing was damaged because i hit a wall with the trunk, and my coupe become a hatch :) just happened that one week before that i bought a really nice 97 318ti with bad engine, i was planning to put ls1 in it later on. now my 323IS is messed up and im planning to swap a drivetrain from it into a ti. the only question that i have, is are the wiring will be compartable, will it be a plug and play or i may have some headache because 318ti was automatic!?

need help
 

guys i really need help, i searched the whole forum, and all the treads about swaping engines from manual m50/m52 into manual 318ti!!

i know that i will have issues with the driveshaft.....

i just want to know if the harnesses will be compartable????
i have a 04/98 318ti (automatic) and 02/99 323is (manual).
PLEASE HELP!!!!
I'm doing everything on my own, and any support is highly appreciated!!!

If you can stomach the trip, someone over on Bimmerforums would probably know if someone on here doesnt. Good luck!

For the most part you can mix and match the front and rear sections of drive shafts out of the auto and manual to come up with the right length and driveshaft holes pattern. The rear sections should be the same length, The front section is where the difference in length is, I believe in your case you will be able to use the drive shaft out of the manual complete and it should mate up to your rear. You may need to use the front half from the manual with the back half of the auto if the hole patterns don't match. You will also need to change the rear differential since your auto's ratio will be way to high for the manual.