can it be done? im not talkin the sport shift, im talkin manual with clutch and stuff. or even better, haveing hydralics shift, for faster shifts and total control when in sports shift like the bmw SMG or ferrari steering wheels shifters. how much would this cost and is it necessary?

 

I'd say the CL-S 6-speed could be retrofitted for $5k-$10k, depending on where you got the parts, and how much you're willing to do yourself.

For that price, you might as well go get an '04.

 

OK first of all, that's a huge risk. It would require an enormous amount of money, not to mention incredible technical skills, and in my opinion it would probably never work right. T Ho is right, sell your TL, and put the proceeds plus the $5-15k you'd spend on the tranny retrofit and get an '04 that was actually designed to have a manual. Or, take the price of a TL, add the $15k, and you can get a 3-series with SMG -- no assembly required.

Second, what do you mean "Is it necessary?" Necessary?? For what??? Obviously not! There's hundreds of thousands of TLs on the road and up until the '04 model year, NONE of them had manuals.