S52 in a 1999 Cruise Control
 

I recently purchased a 1999tI with a '98 S52/5speed swapped in. The car was originally a m44/auto.

I'd really like to get my cruise control working. I have no idea what I'm looking for or at. I've always been an old car guy so CC is way out of my league along with most electrical stuff. I don't know if I have a CC module retained from the swap or what to look for. Could somebody point me to the things I need to be looking for or hooking up? I've looked at realOEM but black line drawings don't really convey what parts I'm supposed to be looking for.

I can confirm that this IS possible. I've personally done the exact same and had working cruise when I was done.

There are many things that need to be done correctly during the swap for this to work.

Can we start with an engine bay shot? Let's see if the actuator is there and hooked up first.

Wait..... maybe this is my car?

Not your car, but that would be funny. She's an Avusblau base model from the Atlanta area.

I've found a few diagrams and followed the throttle cables and found the module. It is hooked up to the TB as well as into the electrical system of the car. I guess my next step is to test the electrical connections on everything. Sigh... electronics... I was really hoping to find a "plug it in and fixed" solution but that's way too easy.

Hey cool, just would have hated to debug my own build.. :)

Ok so next question as swaps vary in their details, do you have to depress the clutch to engage the starter, or will it crank without the clutch pedal on the floor?

Might have a neutral switch issue.

There is a neutral switch in the car, but as the car was originally an automatic it isn't hooked into anything. That would make sense as to where the problem may arise from though.

That is 100% the issue.

RULE: The Neutral Safety Switch (NSS) must be grounded to start the vehicle, but OPEN for the cruise to engage.

In an Auto, the NSS is grounded in PARK and NEUTRAL.

In a Manual, the NSS is grounded when the clutch pedal is all the way down via the clutch switch. (That way, you have to press the clutch to start the car AND pressing the clutch in disengages the cruise.)


If the NSS is rewired from the console to the proper clutch switch, all will work as if it was a manual from the factory.

I'm assuming that when the PO did the swap they made the car think that it's always in neutral. That makes good sense and doesn't sound like too terrible of a problem from the outside. However, I really don't look forward to digging through all those wires and such. Should just be like two wires to splice into the little switch on the clutch right?

Just two wires for the switch yes.

Honestly I started out the same way, but my goal was to get everything working as it would be stock and after studying the wiring diagrams for hours, that's how it works.

The two wires are probably still in the console there by the shifter. I'd look for two that were cut from the range selector (PRND slider) and were spliced together (car thinks its always in park or neutral).

They should be easy to locate.

(Miss my //M3TI..... :frown:)