Prospective VX owner looking for a little advice & direction

[eternal21]

so the 5 speed swap was free? great deal! (in other words you sidestepped a $2000 rebuild)

Yeah, when everything was said and done, it was free. When I picked up the wrecked Trooper, I figured I would be able to get what I needed and flip it to cover the investment, which has turned out to be true. I sold the wheels and tires and a fender, and I was even. Still have the engine/transfer case/shell/interior, so I'll actually come out ahead.

But even then, $2000 for a tranny rebuild/swap over 3.5 years is still ~$600/year on average. Beats a car payment *lol*

And the tranny wasn't the problem. The problem is that the gaskets for the reservoir pan kept leaking. I didn't want to have to deal with the leak, and pretty much everything I have ever owned is a manual tranny, so I figured I'd go ahead and do the conversion.

and like i said - if you love to work on cars, which you obviously do since you converted everything stock to different operating systems, then there is no problem

And I wouldn't say that I love to work on cars; I would say
a) that I have ideas about what I think my vehicles should look/function like, and I don't mind doing a little wrenching to make my revisions come to fruition and
b) I *hate* paying exorbitant prices for shop labor when, with a little elbow grease, I can do the work myself and learn a little in the process. I'd rather be self-reliant, so at least I can make sure there were no short cuts taken when the work was done.

Besides, a lift w/big tires really brings the truck to life! *lol* The interior is getting to be a little dated, so there is some refreshing that needs to be done there, which has prompted some of my current/future mods.

I really don't care much to work on cars that I don't own, but I will help those in need when I can.

OP, what year 650i? I have a MT '08 E90 M3. Any mods?