01E Swapped S6 Owners, where are you?

[Jesse_Boyer]

Literally, where are you in the country? I have an S6 with a bad trans and have an A6 6sp waiting to donate parts, but I'm suddenly hoping to drive one before going through all the work of swapping this car and parting out the A6.

I'm near Sioux Falls, SD and would welcome a drive to see/feel if this is a smart idea.

[rollerton]

I'm near Sioux Falls, SD and would welcome a drive to see/feel if this is a smart idea.

Believe me, it is. You crazy?
A *perfect* brand new trans in an S6 is pretty damn nice, but the manual trans in that car is epic. Just do it.

[Jesse_Boyer]

It wouldn't be the first time I've been called crazy. I don't have much invested in the S6 or the A6 and parting and/or combining parts to make my Allroad better is also an option.

I have three options as far as I can tell:
1. Swap it for the 6sp, keeping the 4.2.
2. Swap it with the 2.7t and 6sp entirely. (Already have a nice 2.7/01E Allroad, so this is a rather strange path.)
3. Part it all out, S6 and A6. S6 Alcantara bits into the AR, 6sp bits into the AR to lower gearing, etc.)

I didn't mention it, but the S6 isn't in marvelous condition. Needs a bit of paint/body work and honestly, the Alcantara bits are probably going into the AR. It gets the nice bits, the S6 will be the winter-beater-battle-wagon that gets filthy regularly.

[Jesse_Boyer]

Believe me, it is. You crazy?
A *perfect* brand new trans in an S6 is pretty damn nice, but the manual trans in that car is epic. Just do it.

PS: how far are you from Seattle? I'll be there in June/July and have zero issues waiting to start this project until then to verify this is a good idea.

[A Stupid Turtle]

Street sauce torque converter (2800rpm stall) in the rebuilt trans is more fun than you would expect.

Trans+ECU tune ..... $600 (ish?) from Daz Dillenger
Rebuilt Auto...... $1500 (bought one rebuilt 100% for this, 0 miles)
Street Sauce converter ...... $550 (Scott DeWitt from Advanced Automotion)
$2,650 plus labor.

Not sure how much a full 6 speed swap ends up being... but a lot more labor.

A lot of people offered me $2k more for my S6 if it had the 6 speed, but I couldn't drive manual daily due to knee issues. Resale is worth it for the 6 speed, but is the initial investment worth it?

[Jesse_Boyer]

Street sauce torque converter (2800rpm stall) in the rebuilt trans is more fun than you would expect.

Trans+ECU tune ..... $600 (ish?) from Daz Dillenger
Rebuilt Auto...... $1500 (bought one rebuilt 100% for this, 0 miles)
Street Sauce converter ...... $550 (Scott DeWitt from Advanced Automotion)
$2,650 plus labor.

Not sure how much a full 6 speed swap ends up being... but a lot more labor.

A lot of people offered me $2k more for my S6 if it had the 6 speed, but I couldn't drive manual daily due to knee issues. Resale is worth it for the 6 speed, but is the initial investment worth it?

Interesting option. I'll bet that would come out of the hole like a rocket with a decent converter. Where did you find that trans for $1500 though? I haven't seen anyone price one at that level.

I prefer to drive a 6sp manual, but I'm a bit curious as to what the 4.2 and A6's 01E gearing will be like; 80mph and 3000+rpm may get old quickly. Hence wanting to drive someone else's creation prior.

Regarding parts, I have an entire A6 waiting to donate the 6sp parts. The car was pretty cheap and I'll part the rest of it to make a little money back.

[8520]

I'm near Seattle, but I'm doing 2.7/o1e in to my s6. Not quite a fair comparison.

[rollerton]

I prefer to drive a 6sp manual, but I'm a bit curious as to what the 4.2 and A6's 01E gearing will be like; 80mph and 3000+rpm may get old quickly. .

The 01e does 80 mph @ 2900 rpm w/ 245/40/18's just like most other Audi cars. My 1.8t does 2900 @80mph. It's a trade off. if you lower the rpm any more you have to shift any time you touch the gas.
As for labor on the 6 speed swap; honestly unless it's a trans shop or you have a garage stocked with proper jacks and whatnot then I call it break-even. Another thing to consider is how AWESOME the thing is to work on after the 01E is installed.
But, unfortunately once you have your 6 speed dialed in there's no reason to ever go back under the car.

Consider the feeling you'd have if you did a full Auto rebuild, TC upgrade etc.. and for some reason had a problem with ANYTHING under the car. Just looking at the Tip trans under there would be enough to push the car off a bridge. Rebuilt or not I trust one of those Trans's about as far as I could throw it.

[A Stupid Turtle]

My trans was from a shop owner who rebuilt it for his S6, but it sat around for awhile before he sold his S6 instead. The purchaser of my trans and the shop owner are good friends apparently. For all I know they just pressure washed it, resprayed the pan, slapped some deer blood in with some ATF and just passed it off to me...

The car does come out of a hole pretty quick. Never timed it, and don't do that often... maybe I should make an exception for this though.............

[4rings2turbos]

Is there an S6 01E writeup somewhere? I'm half heartedly looking around for an opportunity to scoop parts/full car to swap.

209k on original trans, is this real life!?

[rollerton]

Is there an S6 01E writeup somewhere? I'm half heartedly looking around for an opportunity to scoop parts/full car to swap.

209k on original trans, is this real life!?

There are some write ups and a few little build threads. Seems like the old threads aren't easy to find or they're gone.
but basically:
Add clutch pedal and clutch master and line to slave.
Add wire from pedals to pin 39 Ecu, jump wire from brake switch to clutch switch.
Remove exhaust.
Remove old trans, TCU and shit, flex plate, driveshaft, shifter and that junk.
Add flywheel clutch, etc.
Install shifter, 01e trans and axles, driveshaft.
Gut catalytic converters. Reinstall exhaust
upload your 559E file w/ Nefmoto. Do some coding and drive.

There are a few little things on the side like shifter adjustment and reverse switch wiring. But for the most part it is really pretty straightforward.

[Jesse_Boyer]

I'm near Seattle, but I'm doing 2.7/o1e in to my s6. Not quite a fair comparison.

Not exactly, but your build thread and a couple "while your in there" references elsewhere to putting in a 2.7/01E a S6 has me on the fence ;)

My trans was from a shop owner who rebuilt it for his S6, but it sat around for awhile before he sold his S6 instead. The purchaser of my trans and the shop owner are good friends apparently. For all I know they just pressure washed it, resprayed the pan, slapped some deer blood in with some ATF and just passed it off to me...

The car does come out of a hole pretty quick. Never timed it, and don't do that often... maybe I should make an exception for this though.............

I doubt it. The owner wouldn't have passed a piece of junk off on a friend. You're good to go.

The 01e does 80 mph @ 2900 rpm w/ 245/40/18's just like most other Audi cars. My 1.8t does 2900 @80mph. It's a trade off. if you lower the rpm any more you have to shift any time you touch the gas.
As for labor on the 6 speed swap; honestly unless it's a trans shop or you have a garage stocked with proper jacks and whatnot then I call it break-even. Another thing to consider is how AWESOME the thing is to work on after the 01E is installed.
But, unfortunately once you have your 6 speed dialed in there's no reason to ever go back under the car.

Consider the feeling you'd have if you did a full Auto rebuild, TC upgrade etc.. and for some reason had a problem with ANYTHING under the car. Just looking at the Tip trans under there would be enough to push the car off a bridge. Rebuilt or not I trust one of those Trans's about as far as I could throw it.

That's not terrible. I had the the wrong numbers in my head since my AR spins so many RPM.

You're right, I'd be livid if I put in a used TIP only to have it fail again soon. (There is zero chance I'm having someone build it if the real cost is really 3-5k, so used is the only option for a TIP.)

[rollerton]

There is zero chance I'm having someone build it if the real cost is really 3-5k, so used is the only option for a TIP.)

I have a great 5hp24 trans in my shed fresh from a rebuild (well, has 4k miles on it). The receipt says it was a little over $3k.

That's what $3k gets you for a rebuild in one of these piles of crap = 4000 miles. I'd probably trust Scotty to build one of these. But outside of an 'unlimited warranty' on a rebuild I would ONLY put an auto back in if it came straight from Audi brand new and someone else paid for it.

[Jesse_Boyer]

I'd have one less S6 if that happened.