Manual trans owners--both 4 and 5

[My1stCadillac]

My transmission is due from Detroit via Mexico sometime between now and the 17th. That will mean about 21 days in the shop +/-

 

[My1stCadillac]

New transmission is installed. I picked up the car from the dealer yesterday and put about 50 miles on it today. The 1-2 shift is improved but probably never will be as good as it should be. It is livable and the car is fun to drive.
The dealership had a lift that is more designed for full frame pickup trucks when they should have proper adapters for it. The technician put the lift under the spot in the picture instead of the pinch weld. There is now a slight bend where it was lifted but it doesn’t impact how the car drives. I hope this doesn’t hurt the car long term. I really don’t know if it will or not.
I take so much care when I have to lift any of my cars so to see damage from stupidity is really irritating but it is under the car and can’t be seen unless the car is in the air.

 

[RDATLTE]

New transmission is installed. I picked up the car from the dealer yesterday and put about 50 miles on it today. The 1-2 shift is improved but probably never will be as good as it should be. It is livable and the car is fun to drive.
The dealership had a lift that is more designed for full frame pickup trucks when they should have proper adapters for it. The technician put the lift under the spot in the picture instead of the pinch weld. There is now a slight bend where it was lifted but it doesn’t impact how the car drives. I hope this doesn’t hurt the car long term. I really don’t know if it will or not.
I take so much care when I have to lift any of my cars so to see damage from stupidity is really irritating but it is under the car and can’t be seen unless the car is in the air.

If your fender / door gap is good you should be good.

 

[My1stCadillac]

Door and fender gaps are good, the car tracks well, still rips around the back roads, no weird rattles or anything, all the fasteners are back in place. It’s just annoying AF to know there is a bent part underneath that should not be bent and would never be bent under my care. We spend a lot on our cars and they should be treated with more care. I will put it back on my lift this weekend and look more closely to make sure nothing is out of place.

 

[Dubbed.theB]

This is an AMERICAN car forum.
The Fast and Furious crowd absolutely ruined the American car scene.
Please take all this Ricer shitbox talk elsewhere.

 

[TTc8HTC]

Same garbage that ruined the car scene in America.......

 

[Dubbed.theB]

I'd rather deal with the ricer car scene crowd over the current "takeover" idiot car crowd that is out there these days.

 

[TTc8HTC]

I'd rather deal with the ricer car scene crowd over the current "takeover" idiot car crowd that is out there these days.

They are one in the same.
The Ricers always worshipped the Thugs that Dodge introduced to the car scene with their ghetto focused products, that have been the nail in the coffin of the American Car Scene, especially Street Nights.

Gunfire and murders were never part of the street scene that's been around since the 1940s, until the Thugs invaded it.

 

[Head Hunter]

Only got about 70 miles with the tremec, but it's the smoothest shifting transmission I've had in 20 years. Very impressed

 

[Neveready]

30 days have passed, the parts to rebuild the trans came in Tuesday but no progress has been made. Since the 4th is Tuesday it may not get completed next week. It will be interesting to see what they find the culprit is when they open the case. I've had the loaner for so long I may need to bring it in for it's first service, the oil life is at 7%.

 

[Seth]

Is changing manual transmission fluid something that’s easy to do, and if so can someone direct me to a step by step guide if one exists. My first to second has been clunkier

 

[Newt214]

@Neveready
Any update? Did you get the car back?

 

[Neveready]

It's not going well, my patience is running thin and I really miss driving my car. It's still at the shop, the car has been apart and the transmission is on the bench unopened for weeks. The latest update is they were attempting to open it but they realized there were bolts that are on backorder with no ETA. They requested a new transmission over a week ago.

 

[Neveready]

Update week 10 and about to be on loaner #4: I got word from my SA that GM has shipped a new transmission, but no ETA.

I'm currently working with GM corporate at this point and I'm expecting to have more information this week on my options. And I thought the goat rodeo wait was long.

 

[Neveready]

Update week 10 and about to be on loaner #4: I got word from my SA that GM has shipped a new transmission, but no ETA.

I'm currently working with GM corporate at this point and I'm expecting to have more information this week on my options. And I thought the goat rodeo wait was long.

Folks,

I no longer own a Blackwing. It was a tough decision, but ultimately the best solution was to take a generous payout from GM. The customer engagement team and the repurchasing coordinator were very helpful, they did all they could to rectify the situation quickly...Back to the goat rodeo.

 

[Newt214]

Here's my update. I drove a forum member's car (dirkbg) at the Cincinnati v-club meet over the summer and it was MUCH better than mine, so I bit the bullet and went to the dealer on 8/23. 7 weeks later(yesterday) I got the car back. It appears they replaced 2nd gear and all the components of the 1-2 synchro. It is significantly improved from what I can tell in limited driving so far, but is definitely not as good as Dirkbg's was. I'll need to drive it some more to be sure, but if it stays like it currently is I can live with it. While I wish it was the "super fantastic" trans the car mags rave about, it is ok enough that the rest of the car makes up for it. If I end up keeping the car long term, someday I may end up having a built RPM trans installed if the stock one bugs me enough in the future. This makes 4 manual BW's I've driven (mine pre and post fix, dirk's and a new one at a different dealer) and they were all different. Dirks was what I would expect it to be--smooth, single "click" positive engagement with just right level of effort. The dealer new was very firm effort and notchy feeling. Mine pre-fix was as previously described and all over the place. Now post fix it is somewhere between dirks and the dealer new-- shift effort is a little high but ok and it is still a little notchy feeling, but it at least isn't fighting me to go into second and it seems consistent. Either there was a run of bad trannies or quality control at Tremec is lacking.

 

[My1stCadillac]

Here's my update. I drove a forum member's car (dirkbg) at the Cincinnati v-club meet over the summer and it was MUCH better than mine, so I bit the bullet and went to the dealer on 8/23. 7 weeks later(yesterday) I got the car back. It appears they replaced 2nd gear and all the components of the 1-2 synchro. It is significantly improved from what I can tell in limited driving so far, but is definitely not as good as Dirkbg's was. I'll need to drive it some more to be sure, but if it stays like it currently is I can live with it. While I wish it was the "super fantastic" trans the car mags rave about, it is ok enough that the rest of the car makes up for it. If I end up keeping the car long term, someday I may end up having a built RPM trans installed if the stock one bugs me enough in the future. This makes 4 manual BW's I've driven (mine pre and post fix, dirk's and a new one at a different dealer) and they were all different. Dirks was what I would expect it to be--smooth, single "click" positive engagement with just right level of effort. The dealer new was very firm effort and notchy feeling. Mine pre-fix was as previously described and all over the place. Now post fix it is somewhere between dirks and the dealer new-- shift effort is a little high but ok and it is still a little notchy feeling, but it at least isn't fighting me to go into second and it seems consistent. Either there was a run of bad trannies or quality control at Tremec is lacking.

Glad to hear you got your car back and it is livable. I am about 2,500 miles into my new transmission and it is just okay - like yours now. The 1st manual BW I drove was at a dealership about 30 miles from my home. That car was great but it was highly optioned with carbon, etc. - a little too much for a daily driver. I didn't know it then but that was the car I should have purchased - the shifts were great. I drove 2 more manual 4BW at Spring Mountain and they both shifted like crap but it was also 115 degrees out at that time. My car with the original transmission shifted like crap (I was excited to get the car and figured it just needed to break in), I should have walked away. My car with the new transmission technically meets the requirement of a manual transmission but the shifts are not nearly satisfying enough to be considered enjoyable - 2nd gear shifting up or down is way too notchy and sometimes downshifting to 1st is too notchy also.

I found a new dealership with the correct car lifts to avoid additional undercarriage damage. I am waiting for them to call me back with the parts to fix the recall on the car and then I will take it there and have them opine on the transmission while there for the recall fix. It turns out that one of the guys I met at Spring Mountain is a mechanic there so he can appreciate what a manual BW should feel like.

 

[Neveready]

Folks,

I no longer own a Blackwing. It was a tough decision, but ultimately the best solution was to take a generous payout from GM. The customer engagement team and the repurchasing coordinator were very helpful, they did all they could to rectify the situation quickly...Back to the goat rodeo.

View attachment 21475

I was sick of waiting around for my order from 3 months ago. So I called several dealers and I picked up an almost identical build to my order.



Summit white
Top tier seats in tan with the $2900 CF back delete
PDR
Parking Package
Tech bronze wheels
Red calipers



This is the backup build I was planning to wait for, coastal blue was my first choice which I have yet to see one built.

I love the slicktop, getting rid of the CCBs is big plus to the wallet for track days. But the big change is the upgraded seats I always wanted in the tan color. Several of you chimed in on another thread and they are much more comfortable. It's such a different build from my first Blackwing and I'm grateful for it in many ways. As much as I loved it, I didn't want to walk in the garage and be reminded of the problems I had with my first one.

here she is, ill post better photos once it's PPfd.
View attachment IMG_1168.jpeg

 

[My1stCadillac]

Congratulations, the car looks great. You have been through a lot so it’s good to see the story end well.
How is the shifting compared to other BW cars you have driven?
Just curious, are the dealers still marking them up?

 

[Neveready]

Congratulations, the car looks great. You have been through a lot so it’s good to see the story end well.
How is the shifting compared to other BW cars you have driven?
Just curious, are the dealers still marking them up?

The shifts are way smoother and more consistent, 2nd gear is slightly notchy at low rpm but no where near as bad as my first car and what I'd consider normal operation.

After I got the settlement for the red car, I got a chance to drive it after it had a new transmission put in it. I'm really glad I opted for the payout. I don't know how they actually made it worse then when I brought it in, but I feel sorry for the next person that buys that car.

Compared to July 2022, I found several 6M 5BWs retail stocks available for a reasonable markup and Sewell had several available for no markup (and some had $1900~in addons to the RO when they did the PDI). I had my pick of the litter of some amazing builds. When I went back into this I knew that I didn't want to settle on a build just because it's at MSRP or for whatever build is closest to me.

Shout out to these dealerships that earned my trust and I would not hesitate to do business with. They will work with you and genuinely want to earn your business. These guys were hungry, they were persistent and they followed up me like the good old days pre-covid. See this post for more information:

Dealers That Are Not Charging Above MSRP

U better belive it. Good times don’t last continously forever 😉 Ain't the end of good times until they start discounting the CT5-V with the manual transmission.

www.cadillacvnet.com