Opinions on cruise control in an S50 car?

[butters]

I'm beginning the process of moving from central MA to Cleveland. I'm having a buddy help load and drive my daily mk4 Jetta to my home outside Philly while I tow the E30 behind the Penske truck. From there I plan on towing the Jetta and leaving the E30 at home for awhile, driving it to Cleveland later on in the spring (weather permitting).

That's a 7-hour drive, and my 318i w/S50 does not have cruise control. I managed without it the couple of times I drove to Philly, but the northeast drive is a little more lively and not as boring and flat as going across PA and Ohio. I'm thinking of adding cruise control, but I don't want to go through all the trouble if it doesn't work well with the S50 in terms of smoothness and meshing of E30 & E36 parts. I'd also like to have it for fair-weather commuting, but it's not critical for that.

Anyone care to comment on their experience with it? Any tips on doing the job overall? I know that I need an M42/44 E36 actuator cable and actuator mounting brackets, and as complete an E30 cruise system as I can find. Diagrams show two actuator brackets in the E36 - I assume I need both?

[bimmer630]

I moved to cleveland once. That was a mistake.

But anyway I've b een told all you need is an e36 cruise cable. Pop it on the e30 actuator and that's it.. although I haven't tried yet. Ill let you know when I do

[RoadHazard]

I have cruise control in my car and it works well. It's nice to have one for a long drive. I use the entire E30 system except that the end of the cable needs to match the mechanism that open/close the throttle body on the M50/S50 engine. You can use stock E30 mounting location and hardware if you have it. Otherwise, just mount it wherever you have room.

[Ryann]

^16v e30s didn't come with any cruise hardware.

[R3Z3N]

I desperately miss having cruise control. Had it in my M50 swap, but not with the S52 swapped car.

[butters]

I moved to cleveland once. That was a mistake.

Ha. Luckily for me it's a temporary 6-month gig then I'm back in my hometown outside Philly.

[treff-7]

I have cruise control with my s52 swap. like others said all you need is an e36 cable besides the e30 pieces. it works just as well as it does with the original engine. the only thing that i dislike a bit is that it accelerates too fast for my liking (i guess this is the first someone has a problem like that...). i don't know if it's adjustable or not. mine was a bit jumpy with the m20 as well.

[bimmer630]

I just drove mine ...cruise did not work. Is there anything with a road speed signal I need to know about?

[e30rapidic]

Its too tempting (and fun) to put my foot down on the highway....so use the cruise on my S50 e30 a lot.

[MrSlacker]

I have driven 5 hours without cruise control in my E36 and its just fine. Keeps you awake on the road

[butters]

I have driven 5 hours without cruise control in my E36 and its just fine. Keeps you awake on the road

I did it in the E30 twice a few months back. doable, but pushing my limit of fatigue. approaching 7 hours I don't want to find out how uncomfortable it becomes.

[bimmer630]

I actually get fatigued USING the cruise because theres no place to stick my right foot. I wish the pedal would have some more resistance on it so I could rest my foot on it without acceleration

[butters]

I actually get fatigued USING the cruise because theres no place to stick my right foot. I wish the pedal would have some more resistance on it so I could rest my foot on it without acceleration

this is true, and I finally realized the point of mounting the gas pedal off the floor as I stretched out during the 5hr journey in my mk4 VW. in the e30 all you can do is hook your right foot around the back of the pedal, but I can see how this might not be possible for every body type.

[RoadHazard]

I place my right foot over my left thigh.