Newbie to TDI swaps 99 beetle 2.0/5spd to '04 BEW swap info.

Dzlnut775

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Location
Pennsylvania
TDI
2004 Beetle GLS; BEW/tiptronic
Hi everyone. Ive been searching & reading for hours through all the swap threads I can find.

So here's my story. I wrecked my '04 BEW/Tiptronic beetle this past Monday. Absolutely breaks my heart. I've since sourced a '99 2.0 gas/5 speed beetle with a bad engine. Ideally, I would like to swap my BEW into the '99 using the manual trans. I'm hoping that someone here has done this swap, and might be willing to help guide me along & share some info.

I've noticed gas transmissions need a gear change to work well with tdi. Where can I source these swap parts?
 

Dzlnut775

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Location
Pennsylvania
TDI
2004 Beetle GLS; BEW/tiptronic
Good monday morning folks. I found some 5th gear swap info. What ratios are you guys choosing when doing this??
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Wiring will be your big issue. Typically, people will use a TDI trans rather than deal with all of the gear changes. There is information around about the gear ratios in the different transmissions as well as ratio calculators that will show you what is happening with each gear change.
 

nitec

Vendor
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Location
Ottawa, ON
TDI
1.9TDi PD
That's not a good base for your swap - you're better served with a 2001+ 1.8T or whatever...you`ll find the plenum plugs change in 2000 so the first MK4s that rolled off will require wiring work...I believe anything after 2001 will be pretty straight forward...

do you insist on going manual? is the tiptronic not salvageable or you just don't want to use it? if money's an issue and you already have the 99 2.0 I say just pull your engine/tranny combo, swap over and spend some time on the wiring...your second option like I said is to get yourself a 2001+ car and do the same...the last option is to source a TDi tranny and match up with the engine but now you're talking about recoding the ECU, getting new clutch etc...

any one of these options would be pretty simple short of the wiring...I did a 1.8T swap into a 99 2.slow and the wiring was a little annoying to deal with...mind you now with the ability to re-pin the plenum connectors things might be a little easier...also you`ll have to deal with the IMMO if you're going to use your old BEW ECU into the new car...
 

Dzlnut775

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Location
Pennsylvania
TDI
2004 Beetle GLS; BEW/tiptronic
so, all that being said, it sounds like a full swap is the best route. And by saying full swap I mean gutting the '99 completely & installing all of the '04 drivetrain, parts, wiring, ecu, etc.... I'm sure it'll be time consuming, but it's not a rush project.

Also considering looking for another 2.0 gas to swap in, and re-sell the 99 & look for a newer body donor.
 
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