MAKE LEMONADE WHEN YOU GOT LEMONS?
06-10-2022, 05:44 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
MAKE LEMONADE WHEN YOU GOT LEMONS?
I have researched this subject matter in the past and now the past has caught up with me. The CLS55 transmission may have met its maker, just the last few days I have noticed a severe degradation in the operation of the automatic trans. I haven’t had time to start the diagnostics to try to determine what is going on but I can tell that I have become addicted to the improved performance of the m113k motor after the last round of modifications. I agree with all those that appreciate the performance of the modern automatic transmissions, they do everything short of making me a cup of coffee in the morning. They shift quicker and with no missed gears than manuals do, hell they rev match, launch like crazy and make it so easy to loaf in heavy traffic without a worry in the world!!
So what’s my problem? It’s that my last 6 spd just happened to be a 2003 E39 M5, and by god I loved rowing that monster. In a world of artificial everything that was one awesome interactive experience, the difference in the driving experience is night and day between an auto and a 6 speed. Talk about being engaged, driving a highly tuned luxury sport sedan that has 500 hp is a transcendental joy when you can control the transmission as in a 6 speed. It becomes supernatural when the hp # starts climbing toward 700 hp which is where the CLS is heading. So now the ***** back in my court, the 5 speed auto is possibly on its way out, anyway I cut it I am looking at a repair cost that will be into the thousands regardless of how much work I chose to do myself.
In the last few years there have been a few decent conversions from auto to manual with the m113k motor, some notably have leaned on the unholy marriage of Chrysler and MB and the devils spawn the “Crossfire”, apparently the swap is not only possible but almost a natural. The only drawback is it’s difficult to find much information on the capabilities and limits of the manual tranny in that vehicle. It handled a 6 cylinder that at best came up short of 400 hp, how would it fare with 680 hp and 800+ tq hiding in the CLS? After persistent searching I found the company in Canada that spooked out a slick design/fabrication of CNC machined components that adapt to the m113k motor and the 6speed transmission and clutch for the Z cars from Nissan. There is plenty of information regarding the capabilities of the Z components regarding power thresholds and gearing combinations. Even the electronics have been solved, they make a emulator of sorts that will integrate the system with the ECU.
The $ aren’t much more than having the existing transmission pulled and rebuilt with the improvements necessary to support the higher power numbers. That is with me doing the swap in my shop at my pace which is a bit slower but very methodical and conducive to some upgrades in the handling and weight distribution. It is becoming more and more enticing, after all who wouldn’t mind shedding a couple hundred pounds of dead weight as well as suddenly improving the parasitic loss of power from 14% to maybe 7-8%? And best of all getting that subliminal satisfaction of knowing exactly how much power you are sending to those 295’s out back as you just brutalize the road ahead including the sharper turns, the ultimate control of the rear tires!
It’s weighing heavily on my thoughts, I can literally feel the CLS squatting down under hard acceleration and then feathering the throttle as it does that delicate dance of way too much power against gravity and inertia as it clings to the point road in a tight turn and unloads coming out of the sweeper and just rowing the gears up down the straight just to row them down into the next curve!! I don’t own my cars for someone else’s concept of right or wrong, I own my cars because of the joy I find in driving them, I believe a six speed manual is just what a blown CLS needs. I have to think this through and make a decision soon, the car is not drivable in its present state.
So what’s my problem? It’s that my last 6 spd just happened to be a 2003 E39 M5, and by god I loved rowing that monster. In a world of artificial everything that was one awesome interactive experience, the difference in the driving experience is night and day between an auto and a 6 speed. Talk about being engaged, driving a highly tuned luxury sport sedan that has 500 hp is a transcendental joy when you can control the transmission as in a 6 speed. It becomes supernatural when the hp # starts climbing toward 700 hp which is where the CLS is heading. So now the ***** back in my court, the 5 speed auto is possibly on its way out, anyway I cut it I am looking at a repair cost that will be into the thousands regardless of how much work I chose to do myself.
In the last few years there have been a few decent conversions from auto to manual with the m113k motor, some notably have leaned on the unholy marriage of Chrysler and MB and the devils spawn the “Crossfire”, apparently the swap is not only possible but almost a natural. The only drawback is it’s difficult to find much information on the capabilities and limits of the manual tranny in that vehicle. It handled a 6 cylinder that at best came up short of 400 hp, how would it fare with 680 hp and 800+ tq hiding in the CLS? After persistent searching I found the company in Canada that spooked out a slick design/fabrication of CNC machined components that adapt to the m113k motor and the 6speed transmission and clutch for the Z cars from Nissan. There is plenty of information regarding the capabilities of the Z components regarding power thresholds and gearing combinations. Even the electronics have been solved, they make a emulator of sorts that will integrate the system with the ECU.
The $ aren’t much more than having the existing transmission pulled and rebuilt with the improvements necessary to support the higher power numbers. That is with me doing the swap in my shop at my pace which is a bit slower but very methodical and conducive to some upgrades in the handling and weight distribution. It is becoming more and more enticing, after all who wouldn’t mind shedding a couple hundred pounds of dead weight as well as suddenly improving the parasitic loss of power from 14% to maybe 7-8%? And best of all getting that subliminal satisfaction of knowing exactly how much power you are sending to those 295’s out back as you just brutalize the road ahead including the sharper turns, the ultimate control of the rear tires!
It’s weighing heavily on my thoughts, I can literally feel the CLS squatting down under hard acceleration and then feathering the throttle as it does that delicate dance of way too much power against gravity and inertia as it clings to the point road in a tight turn and unloads coming out of the sweeper and just rowing the gears up down the straight just to row them down into the next curve!! I don’t own my cars for someone else’s concept of right or wrong, I own my cars because of the joy I find in driving them, I believe a six speed manual is just what a blown CLS needs. I have to think this through and make a decision soon, the car is not drivable in its present state.
