Is it possible to change a 740i to a 5 speed manual?

I'm curious to see if it is possible to change an older 740/735 auto transmission to a 5 speed manual. There are so many 740's available for short money but all auto's. And yes i know anything is possible for lots of $$$, but seriously how difficult would it be to change it without having a 740 manual trans laying around - that is using 5-series parts possibly?

Anyone?

This is the closest I've seen to what you're talking about :
http://www.robertlevinson.com/seven/

tx, thanks - rather than 5-series trans he used 8 series...sounds like it makes it more difficult..but intriguing none the less...

Now that I think of it I do remember a "sport" model 740i short wheelbase that had a manual. I looked it up on wiki and found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E38

It says it was available with an automatic and a manual. Heres the best pic i could find to describe this "sport" version short wheelbase 740i

if i recall something like this was done by uuc motorwerks. you can hop onto their website and look

If I remember correctly, the star car in the first Transporter movie was a manual trans. 7-Series.

manual 7's were available in Europe. But of course no love in the US. You could probably swap out a 6 speed from the 540i, but you would have to find a wreaked 540i 6 speed which would be a challenge in itself. It could definitely be done, but why would you want to, the 7 is more of a cruising car anyway.

I believe the Transporter used a manual E38 but it was a 735 - which doesn't make sense to me b/c i didn't think the E38 came in anything but a 40 or 50 (it is just a movie)

True that the 7 is more of a cruiser, but having come from an '02 Maxma SE 6MT - there is something about a large sport sedan in a manual trans that is pretty fun. I was thinking the same thing about a 540 trans - but that is not nearly as rare as a wrecked 840/850 with a manual trans.

Although claimed as a 735 by Statham in the film, the car was a special order 750 manual.

As others mentioned above E38 740i were available with 6speed manuals in Europe and probably in many other continents as well, except for NA. So the swap could be done. I also think that 740i 6speed would be pretty cool, however, I'd rather get E39 540i 6speed than going through all the PITA stuff to convert the E38.