Quote:
Originally Posted by bcredliner
It's fun to break new ground. I applaud those that take the risk.
Based on your first post your goal is to get away from the stock automatic transmission you are having problems with and perhaps improve economy.
Going to 2wd will gain some HP/TQ lost in AWD hopefully resulting in better economy. And, a manual transmission driveline fully locks where the torque convertor always allows some slip. Also, to best of my knowledge it would be one of a kind if that is important.
Even though you already have a manual 6 speed, there are so many unknowns in a conversion and still considerable cost and time investment, I would have the transmission rebuilt, add Dinan transmission software and be done with it. I am at about 117,000 miles on original transmission in 4.6 that is heavily modded. I have the Dinan transmission software and have changed the fluid with ZF fluid every 40,000 miles. I recently replaced the internal wiring harness--that's it. The Dinan software will give you more attributes of a manual transmission and you can add more fun if you do a paddleshift steering wheel conversion.
If you want to improve economy I would first try tires that were at least an inch taller to see what happens to economy and if you like how it is on the highway. If that gives you what you want then find diffs that get that same highway rpm with stock tires. The reason to try tires first is the change might not improve economy if the engine is not running as efficiently as much of the time. Rather than seeking a particular highway rpm I would try to get as close to the rpms where the engine is most efficient at the speed I normally travel.
FYI, due to frontal area and weight, the maximum speed of a stock 4.6 is 153 mph. Wind resistance is then a wall.
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Good day!!
All I really want to do is be able to pop-start the X if the battery is low.......
Okay, not really... Being rare is a bonus, but I'm really after the fun factor of my E39 540i/6 squashed into the roomier and bigger SAV equivalent... I love my 540i6, but I've gotten use to sitting up a little higher...
Going 170 MPH really isn't my goal, unlike what I kinda said earlier... It is just a by-product of what I really want; lower RPM's at a given highway speed... I have gone 155 MPH's when I was stationed in Germany for that short year... It is completely worth it if you have the means... To be "allowed" to cruise at or near the electronic limit of the vehicle is truly worth the price of admission!!! BUT, I wouldn't want to do that in the X5... It's just got such a big butt... It would be difficult to really control in any sort of cross wind...
I think initially I wanted to get rid of my problematic 6hp26 in the 2004... But that is going to be down the road as the parts to convert it have not yet hit the "cheap" area that the E39 540i parts have... I thought about purchasing another 2001-2003 so I don't mess with my 2002 4.6is since it still works great... I can't seem to get it back from my better half... That is a little frustrating, but a totally different topic of conversation... Oddly, I purchased the 4.6is with the impression from the seller it had a bad transmission... It ended up being the "aftermarket splined" front drive shaft... The DS failed but didn't even mess with the TC splines... I didn't think it was possible either until I looked at the TC... The TC in the X had better splines than the one I purchased to replace it... So, it became my daily driver... I was going to pull the TC and weld the planetary gears to have a locked RWD until I got my replacement TC... That didn't happen, but for the better...
Okay, book is long enough... Sill waiting on the 2006 to get resolved... It just sits out there and looks at me with a evil sort of smirk... It agrees, I think, that it was a little warmer so things could progress with it's repairs...
Cheers!!!