So as many of you know, the DCT conversion has been done, so it IS possible. I've been doing a little bit of research and have put together a very *rough* plan to explore the reality of what would be required to make this work. I wanted to reach out to everyone in hopes that we could accumulate some useful info to help make this happen. So far, I've gathered the following:
1. The bell housing bolt pattern is the same between the SMG & DCT.
2. The shift lever is obviously different; mounting could be different as well as wiring. (will confirm later in ISTA)
3. The DCT transmission appears to have an external fluid reservoir. Lines would need to be run and a reservoir mounted. (Fairly easy)
4. The DCT flywheel has the same mounting bolt pattern as our. It appears that a DCT flywheel will bolt right up to the S85 crankshaft.
5. A vast majority of the wiring for DCT electronics is internal in the valve body. The only electrical connection to the trans is a round 20 pin connector.
6. The crank/trans speed sensors are the exact same PN between SMG3/DCT.
7. Shift paddles are also directly compatible. Electrically, they are the same. (dead short/open circuit triggers when pulled)
8. DCT gearbox suspension/mounting/crossmember appears to be different, but it looks like it could be modified/re-drilled to make the holes line up.
9. M drivelogic button would need to be wired.
10. There may be mechanical differences related to drive shaft length due to possible different length of the DCT trans. (If we're lucky the length difference is so slight it can me taken up in the slip joint allowing us to kep our drive shaft.)
11. Vehicle may need coded to look for DCT. Because DCT was never an option for E60, coding would need to be done with a ghosted VO similar to retrofitting combox. Doesn't the m5 DCT have an e60 M5 kombi in it? If not we may need to use an e90 kombi from a DCT car. (Vin conflicts/mileage issues are easily resolved from the software side.)
Everyone turns a blind eye to this retrofit because they are intimidated by electronics (which happens to be my profession), when actually, this is not very complicated electrically. The DCT connector only has 10 wires....2 are PTCAN, pwr, GND, wakeup, and the rest are from the shifter & M drivelogic button which is a simple bistable momentary ground switch with an integrated LED. It seems like the hardest part of all of this is the software/programming side making everything transmit the right messages and making everything interpret them properly. (Everything PTCAN related) If the DCT shifter transmits its messages on the GWS LIN in the same structure as the SMG shifter, they would essentially be a plug and play swap.
Anyone have anything to contribute?
I have a couple German colleagues who are looking into some additional details too as far as what was required for the M5 CSL project, which would be a huge help.
1. The bell housing bolt pattern is the same between the SMG & DCT.
2. The shift lever is obviously different; mounting could be different as well as wiring. (will confirm later in ISTA)
3. The DCT transmission appears to have an external fluid reservoir. Lines would need to be run and a reservoir mounted. (Fairly easy)
4. The DCT flywheel has the same mounting bolt pattern as our. It appears that a DCT flywheel will bolt right up to the S85 crankshaft.
5. A vast majority of the wiring for DCT electronics is internal in the valve body. The only electrical connection to the trans is a round 20 pin connector.
6. The crank/trans speed sensors are the exact same PN between SMG3/DCT.
7. Shift paddles are also directly compatible. Electrically, they are the same. (dead short/open circuit triggers when pulled)
8. DCT gearbox suspension/mounting/crossmember appears to be different, but it looks like it could be modified/re-drilled to make the holes line up.
9. M drivelogic button would need to be wired.
10. There may be mechanical differences related to drive shaft length due to possible different length of the DCT trans. (If we're lucky the length difference is so slight it can me taken up in the slip joint allowing us to kep our drive shaft.)
11. Vehicle may need coded to look for DCT. Because DCT was never an option for E60, coding would need to be done with a ghosted VO similar to retrofitting combox. Doesn't the m5 DCT have an e60 M5 kombi in it? If not we may need to use an e90 kombi from a DCT car. (Vin conflicts/mileage issues are easily resolved from the software side.)
Everyone turns a blind eye to this retrofit because they are intimidated by electronics (which happens to be my profession), when actually, this is not very complicated electrically. The DCT connector only has 10 wires....2 are PTCAN, pwr, GND, wakeup, and the rest are from the shifter & M drivelogic button which is a simple bistable momentary ground switch with an integrated LED. It seems like the hardest part of all of this is the software/programming side making everything transmit the right messages and making everything interpret them properly. (Everything PTCAN related) If the DCT shifter transmits its messages on the GWS LIN in the same structure as the SMG shifter, they would essentially be a plug and play swap.
Anyone have anything to contribute?
I have a couple German colleagues who are looking into some additional details too as far as what was required for the M5 CSL project, which would be a huge help.
