WOOOOO, long time lurker, seldom poster.

Our main car is a 04 r53, manual with 230k miles of abuse. I picked up a nicely optioned, stock 06 r53 automatic with 96k miles for little to nothing. It wasn't running, with signs of water damage and hard to turn over so I decided to cannibalize it. Ended up finding out it was a blown head gasket between #1 and #2 after removing the head. I swapped the interior, hood/bumper, and other odds and ends that were worn out over to mine. I've put the head, intake, SC/water pump, starter, computer... I guess that's it... on a shelf for replacements, or experiments for port/polish. I dropped the subframe and started to dismantle the suspension in order to replace the bushings, then replace the worn stuff on our main car. Before I sell it to the junkyard or list it...

What all would yall put back for safe keeping? Does the LSD interchange from manual to auto cars? When retuning the computers, do they have the ability to reprogram the 06 brain to talk to the 04 body? I'm not new to the r53, but when it comes to the reprogramming and computer work I'm ignorant. I can swap parts with the best of monkeys, just trying to improve my overall knowledge.

For information, ours has Milltek catless header, WMW resonated catback, 17% reduced, Alta intake, bigger rear sway, Koni FSD or whatever, worn out Ireland fixed camber strut mounts (replacements on hand), and strut bar. I think that's it.

Thank you for your time.

 

Some stuff can swap over and some stuff that is electrical will not. Good thing is most stuff from an 2005+ can go on an 2002-2004 as a upgrade. Brain and body stuff is trial and error, also you might need someone who can reprogram those things.

 

I have no direct experience, but I've done plenty of reading. In general, you can direct swap electrical components, but usually only when swapped from a car that had the exact same options enabled. Based on my understanding, you can swap a BCM (Body control module) from one car to another, if they both had heated seats, sunroof, etc. Otherwise the mis-matched features will not work.

The EWS (immobilizer) is programmed to specific keys. New keys can be added, but it does require specialized knowledge and equipment.

Some modules are easier to swap. I believe the tach is mostly universal, but there are subtle differences on things like the headunit. You'll have to investigate each part number specifically to understand. It's not impossible...but its not intuitive either.

Realoem.com is useful for finding part numbers (and superceding part numbers). I've found failure to be so rare that I don't keep spares of electronic modules. Throttle body? Yes, BCM? No. After spending 6 years with a garage full of spares of EVERYTHING, I've begun to seriously pare down my collection.