ILC's E46 wagon

[Jdesign]

i_love_cars said:

Not a ton that is noticeable to the user. Currently there are transmission fault codes being thrown which trips the CEL, and there are other small things for example like cruise control that obviously won't work right because functionally cruise control is required to automatically disable in a manual trans car when you change gears, compared to an auto trans that will manage it all.

First off, I am really jelly you now have a manual wagon.

Second, could you just use a manual trans cruise control unit or trick the auto into always thinking its in gear? Or is it not that simple?  I mean its always engaged unless you are stepping on the clutch or brake, which then will disengage it anyways.

[i_love_cars]

Jdesign said:

First off, I am really jelly you now have a manual wagon.

Second, could you just use a manual trans cruise control unit or trick the auto into always thinking its in gear? Or is it not that simple?  I mean its always engaged unless you are stepping on the clutch or brake, which then will disengage it anyways.  

Let's call it even then because you've got a 1JZ swap  =P 
 

honestly i'm sure you could finagle it, but I think the overarching issue is just that the coding basically changes the vehicle load order and indicates what the car does or does not have. Drivability-wise I haven't read anything definitive, but I do know that there a bunch of transmission codes that get thrown when you don't recode, and that could have some effect. I would assume cruise control is the same part between both cars, and it's just a matter of what the computer thinks needs to happen based on if it's programmed for a manual or auto car.

[i_love_cars]

This is likely the last post of this thread until Spring season when I start to do some not-very-interesting-but-required aesthetic mods like tint, wheels, black out the chrome window trim, kidneys, etc. 

So the car is officially on the road and overall driving great. Blizzaks were mounted yesterday. Still has a CEL for a bad o2 sensor, and I have noticed a couple things now after 150 miles of driving that I'm going to deal with. I used MT-90 fluid in the transmission and I believe that's a bit too thick for the cold climate as when the transmission is not warmed up, it's pretty fussy about the gears. This week I will be putting in MTL instead which should be more viscous. The rear passenger shock is blown and leaking so I have 2 new rear shocks on the way from FCP right now and will install those this week as well. 

Overall I'm pretty much ecstatic about where the car is at right now and have been taking excuses to drive it whenever possible. Obviously working from home doesn't give me a lot of reasons to go out, but I'm trying to find them anyway because for the work I've put into the car, I'd like to enjoy it a little bit. It's crazy how much more engaging this thing is with a manual transmission. 

Pic for posterity - yes it makes it up to 5th gear and does freeway speeds: