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Crazy idea, but transmission swap ?

G

Genegenie

Drag Race Newbie
Location
North Yorkshire
Car(s)
VW Golf
Quick story: a couple of mates + one of them's girlf were practicing handbrke turns in a field, as you do, when the girlf decided she absolutely, positively had to try it in her mums's car, parents were away for the weekend. You can guess what happened next, it involved a tree. Over a day and all of the nite I aided and abetted the repair of said vehicle in time for the girlf's folks' return. Next day, the girlf's mum had an arguement with a bus followed by another tree (!) and wrote the car off....
 
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TheGreekFreak

TheGreekFreak

Go Kart Champion
Location
MA
This is similar to the guy that was adamant he wanted to retrofit the golf R haldex AWD system on his GTI no matter the cost, just for the hell of it. Something about wanting to keep the heritage of the GTI while having AWD? He seemed to get offeneded when everyone told him, like they're telling the OP now, ITS NOT WORTH IT lol I'm sure OP is way more rational and will actually listen.

Anyway, both ideas make zero sense when there is a simple solution: trade the car in for an identical one that has that complex engineered system already installed from the factory. Done.
 
Firstboost

Firstboost

Go Kart Champion
Location
East Bay Area
I did the SMG to 6MT swap in my E46 M and it only cost ~$4000.00 parts labor and reprogramming, but that's because the 6MT housing and SMG are identical minus the detent pin missing in the SMG one. It's a quick and simple fix to add it. I would imagine that having to buy a whole new transmission would make the DSG to 6MT swap way more expensive, but I'm not sure.

It's definitely possible, but it would be more feasible to sell your car and buy one with the 6MT even though you've stated you won't do that.
 
seanmcd1

seanmcd1

Autocross Newbie
Location
SC
TheGreekFreak said:
This is similar to the guy that was adamant he wanted to retrofit the golf R haldex AWD system on his GTI no matter the cost, just for the hell of it. Something about wanting to keep the heritage of the GTI while having AWD? He seemed to get offeneded when everyone told him, like they're telling the OP now, ITS NOT WORTH IT lol I'm sure OP is way more rational and will actually listen.

Anyway, both ideas make zero sense when there is a simple solution: trade the car in for an identical one that has that complex engineered system already installed from the factory. Done.
Click to expand...
hahah I remember that dude
 
G

Genegenie

Drag Race Newbie
Location
North Yorkshire
Car(s)
VW Golf
Agree. I'd never tell anyone not to do something like a big car project, hey it's their life, just point out poss viability. Most things in life are possible given know-how, time, money, ability, patience, etc, & if someone does undertake such a modification they will sure learn a lot. End of day: it's up to them, as always....
 
golfdave

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Various people have successfully done weird swaps that make this request normal...Just go look on the RossTech forum where people asking for help with what is the most difficult aspect of any swap these days....the electronics coding & additional wiring..

I was considering turning my manual GT Estate into an R estate as I found a cheap crashed R hatch in manual (VW only make R estate in DSG)...straight swap of engine & drivetrain & ECU wiring....none of it a real problem for me as I do this stuff anyway...but its the time factor that put paid to it becoming reality..plus cost of new estate AWD fuel tank & exhaust
 
GTI Jake

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
It would be a bolt on swap...idk why everyone is going crazy about it...and the TCU is a separate box from the ECU. It's not like he's putting a transmission in from a Ford lol

Anyway, short answer is it'll probably be a wash (money wise) to just sell your car and buy a manual, but that's not including your time sourcing parts and doing the swap. A used DSG is probably worth a ton more than a used 6MT. So you'd still be better off trading/selling & buying.

With all of that being said as a rule of thumb on a big job like this if you have to ask the answer is probably no. I'm assuming you're not a mechanic, and as one I'd hate to see how this would go if you had little to no experience going in.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
Do you know anyone's who done it? Seems to me he'll need so many small parts unless he has a donor car he'll never do it. He'll need the master and slave cylinders and hose, the electrical connector for the clutch pedal, the clutch pedal and mounting hardware. Is the hole in the console the same, how about he connection for the backup lights? Are the axles and transmission mounts the same? Can the ECU be programmed with VCDS to recognize a manual transmission. Is the shift light already on the dash. Without a donor car he'll need a rebuilt trans, which along with buying all of the other parts new at retail I'm sure it will cost more than buying a lightly driven used car. And no dealer will touch it for anything electrical or drivetrain related, even out of warranty because they still need to warrant their work for a year. Not like the old days. I helped with enough engine and trans swaps back in the 60's.
 
yirayira

yirayira

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Chicago, IL
Car(s)
2015 GTI SE
Find a salvage DSG GTI at an auction and start merging the cars.
I bet you'll need to swap everything you touch and see while driving as well.
(ecu, engine, trans, cluster, shifter, steering wheel, pedals, a lot of electrical in between, and stuff you probably can't access in VCDS)

Here's a perfect candidate

https://www.copart.com/lot/32326677
 
seanmcd1

seanmcd1

Autocross Newbie
Location
SC
I remember a few people doing it with the MK5. Seems like a no brainer though to just sell yours and find a manual version of the same car.
 
golfdave

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
The Fed said:
He'll need the master and slave cylinders and hose, the electrical connector for the clutch pedal, the clutch pedal and mounting hardware. Is the hole in the console the same, how about he connection for the backup lights? Are the axles and transmission mounts the same? Can the ECU be programmed with VCDS to recognize a manual transmission. Is the shift light already on the dash. .
Click to expand...

yirayira said:
I bet you'll need to swap everything you touch and see while driving as well.
(ecu, engine, trans, cluster, shifter, steering wheel, pedals, a lot of electrical in between, and stuff you probably can't access in VCDS)
Click to expand...

Obviously you don't understand that manufactures like VAG make everything as cross compatible as possible so they can offer many options without having to produce many specific parts...& the MQB platform was designed with this in mind more so than before.

Having quick look through ETKA. he'll only need:-
manual box
"coupling" flywheel/clutch between gearbox & engine.
couple of bits of wiring looms for sensors
Transmission mounts
Drive shafts
manual selector mech (in cabin) with boot trim
Clutch pedal mech & pipework with new slave cylinder...just bolts straight into existing.

Bodywork etc all the same, no extra holes in bulk head...

Basically find a scrap car with manual & swap those items..., VCDS can do the coding...& looking at my other control units in a manual car there are options for "manual & the dash will have the gear selector lights/numbers in it there is no separate dash cluster for manual...just a line of code in the cluster which you can alter with VCDS...
 
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yirayira

yirayira

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Chicago, IL
Car(s)
2015 GTI SE
golfdave said:
I was considering turning my manual GT Estate into an R estate as I found a cheap crashed R hatch in manual
Click to expand...


I say do it!
With how much you contribute to the community you deserve a fun car



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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