BHW swap, what's the easiest car?

Lenard · Apr 13, 2018

So I recently picked up a 2005 Passat TDI with a junk trans. For $500 I figured why not, I could part it out and make money at this rate. However my girlfriend is in dire need of a different vehicle. She loves the Passat but doesn't want to drive a car with an automatic, so putting a new auto in is out of the question. We looked into 5 speed swapping the passat and the pricetag for a complete no ends left untied swap is 1.5 to 2k. Well I have a known good 02a sitting in the shop right now. Bolts up. Okay cool. Now I just need to find the swap car. I can get a near completely rust free mk3 jetta gasser shell for $100.

So things I have are, pedal cluster from an a3 TDI car, 02a from an A3 TDI car, axles etc. I understand I'll need to have the IMMO defeat done if I want to retain the cluster in an a3 car, which I also have access to a cluster. The cluster even reflects very similar mileage to what is on the BHW which is a plus. And then I'll need to sort some wiring out, which is a non issue. If there's anything I'm missing please chime in. If there's an easier car than an a3 to swap a BHW into that would be nice to know. Thanks ahead of time for any input

oilhammer · Apr 13, 2018

The only BHW bits that will work in a transverse application is the longblock itself. Everything else will need to come from another different car. Longitudinal mounting and manfiolds etc. are all different.

dogdots · Apr 13, 2018

Just find a V6 B5 manual and swap the parts into your Passat TDI. You can drive without tuning but you will have CEL for missing TCM. Once you have the funds buy the FHN or DUK trans from Frans and slide it in, tune it and motor on for a great long while.

You will need to address the BSM with a delete.

Once the manual trans is in you don't need to remove the subframe to get it out when you get the correct TDI geared trans.

I have done several of these swaps with the kit from Frans and tuning from Malone and have been very happy with the result.

Lenard · Apr 13, 2018

dogdots said:
Just find a V6 B5 manual and swap the parts into your Passat TDI. You can drive without tuning but you will have CEL for missing TCM. Once you have the funds buy the FHN or DUK trans from Frans and slide it in, tune it and motor on for a great long while.

You will need to address the BSM with a delete.

Once the manual trans is in you don't need to remove the subframe to get it out when you get the correct TDI geared trans.

I have done several of these swaps with the kit from Frans and tuning from Malone and have been very happy with the result.

Uhhhhhhh wouldn't it make more sense at that rate to just manual swap the existing car? Lol rather than spend money for a ticking time bomb spinning the hell out of the motor

Lenard · Apr 13, 2018

oilhammer said:
The only BHW bits that will work in a transverse application is the longblock itself. Everything else will need to come from another different car. Longitudinal mounting and manfiolds etc. are all different.

Going to be sending a private message your way. Maybe you could provide some input on what my shifting problem actually is. Havent got the car on vagcom yet as I'd have to drive 40 miles on the interstate to my vagcom guy. Being 24 and in the process of buying a house, giving rosstech hundreds of dollars doesn't seem feasible.

dogdots · Apr 13, 2018

Lenard said:
Uhhhhhhh wouldn't it make more sense at that rate to just manual swap the existing car? Lol rather than spend money for a ticking time bomb spinning the hell out of the motor

There are plenty of folks that have done the "budget" V6 manual swap, I wouldn't do it myself but your original post indicates you were budget minded and did not want to spend the cash for the complete kit from Frans.

The B5.5 is definitely one of the best sedans VW ever sold in the USA with an oil burner, so much more refined than any A3/A4 or B4 platform. I have owned every generation of diesel VW since the first rabbit, and every model sold in the US up to the BRM platform and the a3 Jetta is very primitive compared to the B5.5.

The RPM difference between the DUK (which I used in all 4 of my own conversions) and the V6 gasser trans is about 500-600 rpm at highway speed, less my older IDI 1.6TD Jetta turned at the same speed. No worries "spinning the hell out of the motor."

I may have not effectively conveyed my point, I was thinking you should be able to pick up a complete V6 5 speed manual car with an engine problem for $500 and have one stop shopping for all the swap parts needed, like shifter, clutch pedal, switches, slave, master, clutch line, and wiring, swap the parts into your B5.5 with a bad auto and drive it until you decided to spend the money for the properly geared transmission.

Just trying to be friendly and offer my 2 cents

jimbote · Apr 14, 2018

if you can't afford ross-tech why are you even considering a swap? you need a camry not a vw. Dogdots provided some sound advice for getting the existing car back on the road with the very acceptable option of a V6 trans and you insulted his advice in return... my advice: get a toyota or do some searching/reading on here before requesting info you're unable to process

Lenard · Apr 14, 2018

jimbote said:
if you can't afford ross-tech why are you even considering a swap? you need a camry not a vw. Dogdots provided some sound advice for getting the existing car back on the road with the very acceptable option of a V6 trans and you insulted his advice in return... my advice: get a toyota or do some searching/reading on here before requesting info you're unable to process

Can I afford it? Yes. But do I want to right now? No. Don't see the point right this second as I have friends for that. I'm processing just fine ya dbag

Lenard · Apr 14, 2018

dogdots said:
There are plenty of folks that have done the "budget" V6 manual swap, I wouldn't do it myself but your original post indicates you were budget minded and did not want to spend the cash for the complete kit from Frans.

The B5.5 is definitely one of the best sedans VW ever sold in the USA with an oil burner, so much more refined than any A3/A4 or B4 platform. I have owned every generation of diesel VW since the first rabbit, and every model sold in the US up to the BRM platform and the a3 Jetta is very primitive compared to the B5.5.

The RPM difference between the DUK (which I used in all 4 of my own conversions) and the V6 gasser trans is about 500-600 rpm at highway speed, less my older IDI 1.6TD Jetta turned at the same speed. No worries "spinning the hell out of the motor."

I may have not effectively conveyed my point, I was thinking you should be able to pick up a complete V6 5 speed manual car with an engine problem for $500 and have one stop shopping for all the swap parts needed, like shifter, clutch pedal, switches, slave, master, clutch line, and wiring, swap the parts into your B5.5 with a bad auto and drive it until you decided to spend the money for the properly geared transmission.

Just trying to be friendly and offer my 2 cents

I looked into it more and was actually in the process of buying a v6 car today and the guy ghosted me.

Lenard · Apr 14, 2018

Got all the way to the guys house after he told me I could pick it up. He wasn't even home, started giving me the run around about his buddy has the title and id have to come back later. Yep $45 in fuel and hours wasted. Ended up getting a lead on an alh in Baltic green with a smoked auto though. May consider selling the passat and just buying that as I have a good 02a on hand already. I will miss the b5 though

Pricetag of $400 on this v6 passat. Figure give the guy a day or two, if he can produce a title I'll move ahead with this swap. car has been on the market for over a month, may be able to knock him down to $300 for giving me the run around and wasting time and money. Then once everything clears on the house we can start looking towards taking a road trip with my B4 for the proper DUK. You give sound advice and if I came across as "insulting" like jimbote thinks I apologize. Although he really is the one throwing insults

mogly · Apr 14, 2018

Lenard said:
Can I afford it? Yes. But do I want to right now? No. Don't see the point right this second as I have friends for that. I'm processing just fine ya dbag

This sort of behaviour and language are NOT tolerated here.

PickleRick · Apr 14, 2018

I did a budget v6 5 speed conversion on my 05 tdi passat using a 99 v6 car for all the parts and tranny. I drive 3 miles of hwy a day along a near 70 mile day commute. It's morning rush hour and 60 is the best mph you could hope for. It works for me. I played hockey today and took the passat. I took the hwy home, 10 miles at 65 @2500 rpms. You won't get great mpgs at this rpm and if i were to road trip to Atlanta or Charlotte via i85 id get run over by traffic doing 90 to 100 mph. It not going to hurt the motor, Im sure many people who have swapped their alh, bhw etc into samuaris or jeeps have a very similar final drive or maybe even lower and still give rave reviews of mpgs. Keep in a mind while a 4 runner isnt too much heavier than a wagon Passat it is much less aerodynamic.
You cant do this conversion without a vcds. You cant set the abs or run the steering calibration without it giving you a Christmas tree display.
If you keep a stock hp tune, use a stock 1.8t flyheel set up once youve purchased your bhw car and v6 car your biggest expense is the near 500 for the tune to make it run properly.
Borrow or rent a vcds if you need it, seems there is at least a few members on here that rent specialty tools, ask around.
My bsm sounded fine but upon inspection i found a hex key with too much play. Another 10, 20 or 50k and it could have grenaded...maybe it would have lasted another 200k. Now i don't need to worry about it.
Also, there will be less work putting a 5 speed tranny from the v6 into a bhw passat than if you put the bhw engine into the v6 car. If you like wiring schematics go for it. I can't find a write up on a gas to diesel conversion but there are plenty on 5 speed conversions.

If you drive hwy a lot you may not like the v6 tranny. I have an excursion for vacations and trips

Lenard · Apr 14, 2018

PickleRick said:
I did a budget v6 5 speed conversion on my 05 tdi passat using a 99 v6 car for all the parts and tranny. I drive 3 miles of hwy a day along a near 70 mile day commute. It's morning rush hour and 60 is the best mph you could hope for. It works for me. I played hockey today and took the passat. I took the hwy home, 10 miles at 65 @2500 rpms. You won't get great mpgs at this rpm and if i were to road trip to Atlanta or Charlotte via i85 id get run over by traffic doing 90 to 100 mph. It not going to hurt the motor, Im sure many people who have swapped their alh, bhw etc into samuaris or jeeps have a very similar final drive or maybe even lower and still give rave reviews of mpgs. Keep in a mind while a 4 runner isnt too much heavier than a wagon Passat it is much less aerodynamic.
You cant do this conversion without a vcds. You cant set the abs or run the steering calibration without it giving you a Christmas tree display.
If you keep a stock hp tune, use a stock 1.8t flyheel set up once youve purchased your bhw car and v6 car your biggest expense is the near 500 for the tune to make it run properly.
Borrow or rent a vcds if you need it, seems there is at least a few members on here that rent specialty tools, ask around.
My bsm sounded fine but upon inspection i found a hex key with too much play. Another 10, 20 or 50k and it could have grenaded...maybe it would have lasted another 200k. Now i don't need to worry about it.
Also, there will be less work putting a 5 speed tranny from the v6 into a bhw passat than if you put the bhw engine into the v6 car. If you like wiring schematics go for it. I can't find a write up on a gas to diesel conversion but there are plenty on 5 speed conversions.
If you drive hwy a lot you may not like the v6 tranny. I have an excursion for vacations and trips

VCDS isn't a problem on the weekends. Good friend of mine, actually a couple have it. They live just far enough away that neither party wants to drive to each other after work lol. Only reason I haven't invested in my own yet. Getting out of the trailer park comes first there.

While my commute is 90% highway driving, her commute even after the move is done will be mostly county roads so 60mph max. It will get us by for now. Little upset about not picking up the car i found today because it had nicer seats in it and its one of the only fwd v6 cars within reasonable drive and reasonable price right now. All the rest are Quattro Audis or auto 4mo cars.

I've known about the v6 trans swao since before i even bought the car, only reason I was wanting to swap this engine into a transverse format was already having a trans on hand and in my area a decent mk3 shell can be had for around $100-200 less interior. But if I can find a sub $500 v6 car with the way scrap prices are right now id come out ahead if you factor in the cost of just picking up the trans swap from a bone yard and not having anything to part out and scrap to recoup funds.

The search continues for a v6 car. Thank you to the guys that showed up to help!

PickleRick · Apr 15, 2018

Be patient. With all the timing belt neglect i find them all the time.

Lenard · Apr 15, 2018

PickleRick said:
Be patient. With all the timing belt neglect i find them all the time.

Same. Until I just so happened to need one haha

BHW swap, what's the easiest car?

Lenard

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oilhammer

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dogdots

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Lenard

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Lenard

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dogdots

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jimbote

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Lenard

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Lenard

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Lenard

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mogly

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PickleRick

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Lenard

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PickleRick

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Lenard

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