The dilemma: I now have a '05 MCS auto with a dying transmission (valve body again) and nearly dead gearshift linkage. I just bought a '06 MCS manual JCW with 40k less miles. The '06 was purchased for the well-maintained JCW engine. The problem with that car is minor rust issues across most of the body and subframe. I knew it was going to need to be painted; I just didn't know how much additional work it was going to be with the rusted pieces. A friend of mine who does restoration work said I should avoid dealing with the rust and just pull the panels from the '05 and repaint them.

I wanted to make the '06 my "final" R53, being that it is a manual JCW built in July '06.

The '06 also has something weird going on with its body, it seems. When I had a chance to compare the two cars side by side, the '06 had some bad body gaps, and the rear hatch doesn't close flush. I have other concerns about it too -- like why is the door sill labeling installed backwards?

The '05 has no rust, and the body is in great shape. Everything feels solid about it. The headliner is the only cosmetic thing that needs to be fixed. Everything is good on the car except the transmission and linkage.

So, the question is: Do I pull the engine from the '06 and put it in the '05 (changing the auto to a manual), or do I pull all the body panels (and front subframe, etc) from the '05 and put them on the '06? I am leaning towards doing the auto-to-manual swap, knowing that it's not an easy procedure, and I'll have to hire someone to do it.

Knowing that either choice will not be an easy solution, which would you recommend?

 

I would probably swap all of the jcw stuff from the 06 to the 05. You can start digging into the 06 and that rabbit hole could suck, the body work would be the part that I would try to skip.

 

I pulled both into the garage today and did a side-by-side inspection. Did a list of everything on the '06 that would need to be fixed to get it to the level of the other car, and it looks like the overall better bet is the JCW swap into the '05. Ah, fun times ahead.

 

Sound like the 06 has been in an accident or 2... i would 2x the frame and everything on it very closely befor you proceed deeper into it..
body panel gapping and trunks and or doors not shutting is a baaaad sign. But the stops on the doors and stuff can always be adjusted to allow the door or what ever to close further in or out..my trunk over time worked its self back and wouldn't latch properly and just needed some adjustment

 

+1 for keeping the better body (and possibly frame). I’d rather swap the whole drivetrain than chase down body panel gaps.

Is this another build thread in the making I wonder?

 

It looks like that's the direction I'm going now. I'm putting together the laundry list of parts I want from the '06 and trying to decide who to do the work. I have my regular mechanics in southern CA, but I live in Las Vegas now.