so how much of a pain in the *** would it be to swap an auto S5 to a stick?

 

big pain. If you are skilled do it if not dont. Problem is they mount in different spots on the body. The best way to do it is to drill out the spot welds on a donor car or junk yard car and weld them onto your car. As far as I know no one makes a kit to fix this problem. You can have brackets made but it is best to do it right.

You need to change the wiring harness over or at the very least jump out the neutral safety switch in your automatic harness. This is the smallest harness on the car so it really isnt a big deal to swap it.