LS3 Swapped 528i BMW

[vintagespeed1956]

pretty awesome, subscribed!

i sure hope you're going to drop that thing & throw some wheels at it.....nothing worse than that big old tire gap on that big old car.

 

[Aquaticbob]

Started on the mounts today. Getting going on the passenger side to start this off. Still have a bit more work to do on this side but it's a start

 

[plow]

Subscribed.


I gotta get me one of those plastic blocks.

 

[Aquaticbob]

The plastic block is invaluable. However I would say the threads could be deeper to actually fit the bolts that are supposed to go into the spot. I would say this whole piece weighs 50 pounds with hollow transmission, intake, timing cover, oil pan

 

[Aquaticbob]

Now the driver side and passenger side are finished off. Time to start on the headers tomorrow! Looking at it though, it looks like a block hugger shorty would work on both sides which seems like it would be a first. I would try it out, but I can't order a bunch of headers and send them back

 

[Aquaticbob]

Heads fully rebuilt with new valves lapped in and new valve springs. We are going to test fit some OEM exhaust manifolds, and some aftermarket shorties since it looks like they might work out very well. Motor should go all the way back together here in the next day or so

 

[nine4gmc]

 

[tms0425]

Nice looking wheel back there too

 

[GRN96WS6]

Dang!!

 

[Aquaticbob]

Nice looking wheel back there too

Lol yeah, they are extremely nice. Lightweight forged aluminum racing wheels. Those 18x9.5 weigh about 20lbs. My 17x10.5s weigh 19lbs

 

[Fordguy1964]

Nice. I bet it will catch a few people off guard... if they are deaf!

 

[404]

Please excuse my awkward question, but if the mounts are made off the foam block, will the original BMW rubber isolators sag a bit with the weight of the real block, and have the oil pan hit the steering rack?

 

[TauntDevil]

The plastic block is invaluable. However I would say the threads could be deeper to actually fit the bolts that are supposed to go into the spot. I would say this whole piece weighs 50 pounds with hollow transmission, intake, timing cover, oil pan

Curious on the cost for one as last time I looked, was about $900 to get just the block. Which I decided to buy another engine instead. Wondering if they have come down in price at all?

Keep it up though.

 

[Aquaticbob]

I'm sure they will compress a bit more, but I doubt it will become an issue. I have plenty of clearance as it is to the rack anyway. If it settles lower it might be beneficial anyway

 

[Aquaticbob]

Curious on the cost for one as last time I looked, was about $900 to get just the block. Which I decided to buy another engine instead. Wondering if they have come down in price at all?



Keep it up though.

Yes, they are half that price now actually. I got my LS with heads for $430 on summit.

 

[Aquaticbob]

Tomorrow... I am waiting on a stupid gasket plate thing... Couldn't find it today and I had to wait for it to come from Portland (I'm slightly north east of Seattle). In the meantime I added a fancy new digital torque wrench with angle torquing to my arsenal today. First one I've had, looking forward to using it

 

[LCG]

I think you have seen this.
http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54043

If you have not, then it could be useful for you I hope.

 

[Riley]

Looks like a great project!

Not sure if you've heard of these guys but they have been doing this swap in a variety of platforms for several years and have many of the details sussed.

http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=1_8_281

http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=42

 

[StolenFox]

Looking forward to seeing your results as I'm doing the same. I've got an 83 533I that I've swapped in a GT40 Ford 5.0L. That drive train is going to be replaced with an Iron LS2/LS3 combo.

Good luck!
S.F.

 

[autonaut]

This is how most bmw's should come equipped. With a GM v8!

Everything gets better with a GM v8 i believe!

 

[Aquaticbob]

Looking forward to seeing your results as I'm doing the same. I've got an 83 533I that I've swapped in a GT40 Ford 5.0L. That drive train is going to be replaced with an Iron LS2/LS3 combo.

Good luck!

S.F.

I've got a 5.0 swap as well, in an E36 though. Great for sub 400 wheel in my opinion, especially on the cheap side of things. Had a lot of fun with mine till I bent the con rods and block lol


https://vimeo.com/138486215

This is how most bmw's should come equipped. With a GM v8!



Everything gets better with a GM v8 i believe!

I agree! I'm getting a couple more actually lol. I'm ordering another LS3 in a couple weeks for a formula drift car, and I'm pricing out a 5.3L twin turbo build for an E36 drag/drift/show race car. Lots of fun with GM V8s!

 

[Aquaticbob]

Motor going back together finally. USPS delayed me quite a few days... But here we are finally. Head work all done, and they are back on with fresh gaskets. I also upgraded the rockers a bit by adding full roller trunions


Pressing old ones out, actually don't have pics of new ones

 

[Flat-rate]

That's a DOD block, they use a crazy high volume oil pump with a blow off valve in the pan. One of the fixes for oil consumption is a shield to redirect the spray away from the cyl walls. Make sure you have the sheild installed.Would even consider replacing the pump with normal volume type.

 

[StolenFox]

That's a DOD block, they use a crazy high volume oil pump with a blow off valve in the pan. One of the fixes for oil consumption is a shield to redirect the spray away from the cyl walls. Make sure you have the sheild installed.Would even consider replacing the pump with normal volume type.

I would also strongly recommend ditching the stock LS3/L99 timing chain tensioner and replace it with the LS2 style fixed damper. With the LS3 piece it's not If but when it fails.....

S.F.

 

[Flat-rate]

Some info here about DOD pumps

http://www.lsxperformanceparts.com.au/ls-mellings-18-high-volume-oil-pump/

 

[Aquaticbob]

It's actually not a DOD block, but I see what you're saying. We have valve relief Pistons. And it does have a windage tray, so that helps.

In terms of the timing chain tensioner, I can see why they fail. I figure this one will last for now. The motor will probably get a bigger cam in the near future.

 

[vintagespeed1956]

...We have valve relief Pistons...

you have pistons with relief valves in them?

 

[Aquaticbob]

Valve relief Pistons have "slits" in them to accommodate larger lift cams and to prevent valves from hitting the piston tops

 

[vintagespeed1956]

Valve relief Pistons have "slits" in them to accommodate larger lift cams and to prevent valves from hitting the piston tops

i've always called them "pockets" or "relief cut" or "relieved pistons". syntax i know, blah blah.

how many cc's are your valve relief pistons? what's the deck/quench/squish or whatever u wanna call it?

 

[Aquaticbob]

Motor all back together ready to go in minus the rear main

Finishing the rebuild on the 4L60e. Did some parts upgrading while we were in there

Gear vendors unit attached and ready to go onto the motor

Motor is strapped up getting the new rear main seal before being put in

In its final resting place. This fits incredibly well in the engine bay

Getting the front end put back on so we could make the cooling lines

Hardlines for the heater core. Because the output is on the passenger front side, but the heater core is on the back driver side we decided it would be best to run hard lines to the back.

 

[Aquaticbob]

90* to the passenger fender, then 90* to the back of the car. Clearing the starter so we wouldn't over heat anything was an interesting task lol

Completed exhaust. The goal was to keep it very sleeper so the exhaust utilizes the stock resonator and muffler.

Getting the wiring done. Went with a standalone harness from Speartech. If you want to do an LS swap, get your harness from these guys. They are the best.

Ecu in place with lingenfelter box

Fuel lines all done as well. We did stainless steel braided lines pretty much everywhere except for coolant
https://vimeo.com/146566436
https://vimeo.com/146566536
Running open downpipe off the headers in both these videos. We are breaking the cam in here on both videos. The power went out right after the first video so we just opened up all our garage doors and kept going lol. Motor ran great after the pcm figured everything out

Hot headers need some plug wires that can handle the heat! I use these accel ceramic boot wires for pretty much everything

 

[fergus]

Hey man. Nice work so far!

 

[STANIMAL]

Nice ! I love swapped E39's. I am looking to do a 540 sport in the near future.

 

[CGT80]

Isn't this a Gen III engine with a roller cam? It sounds like it is just idling, so what was the cam break in procedure for this cam vs. a flat tappet cam? What are the specs on that cam?

I have not been around any performance LS/gen III builds. I had a Gen I 406 sbc built for my 79 pickup: forged crank precision ground and re-heat treated, 10.2:1, aluminum heads and intake,roller conversion, full roller rockers, head and intake work, tri y headers, built th400 with some 4l80E internals, 32 element sprag setup and plenty of other upgrades, Gear Vendors overdrive unit, 4 wheel disc brakes, etc. It is a C20 and is built for hauling a load and towing, but it is no slouch when the air is nice and cold (carbed) and I get on it.

That doesn't sound like any BMW I have heard. I want to hear it with the exhaust hooked up. I doubt it will sound stock. My truck sounded mean with a flowmaster super 44 series, but I switched to a 70 series to quiet it down. People still know it isn't stock and it is a night and day difference from the 88 350 tbi in my K5 blazer, which has the same muffler.

 

[RogueFab]

Cool build. I have seen quite a few 8 cyl swaps in 3 and 5 series cars, but suprisingly not usually with an LS. Great looking work so far. I hope you get the power numbers you want. Are you going to check the corner weights when you're done? Have it balanced? At least dyno it? Sorry if answers are in the thread. I didn't read every post

 

[Aquaticbob]

Isn't this a Gen III engine with a roller cam? It sounds like it is just idling, so what was the cam break in procedure for this cam vs. a flat tappet cam? What are the specs on that cam?

I have not been around any performance LS/gen III builds. I had a Gen I 406 sbc built for my 79 pickup: forged crank precision ground and re-heat treated, 10.2:1, aluminum heads and intake,roller conversion, full roller rockers, head and intake work, tri y headers, built th400 with some 4l80E internals, 32 element sprag setup and plenty of other upgrades, Gear Vendors overdrive unit, 4 wheel disc brakes, etc. It is a C20 and is built for hauling a load and towing, but it is no slouch when the air is nice and cold (carbed) and I get on it.

That doesn't sound like any BMW I have heard. I want to hear it with the exhaust hooked up. I doubt it will sound stock. My truck sounded mean with a flowmaster super 44 series, but I switched to a 70 series to quiet it down. People still know it isn't stock and it is a night and day difference from the 88 350 tbi in my K5 blazer, which has the same muffler.

This is a gen IV motor with a roller cam in it. It has the rectangular port heads that flow significantly more than the cathedral port heads. I don't have all the cam specs on hand, so I'll have to get them. The lift is .571/.581. We broke it in running it at a higher speed then letting it idle for 20 minutes. We just got the exhaust back on, but I don't have a video of that yet.

Sounds like you had quite the build yourself. I'm really excited to use the gear vendors unit.

Cool build. I have seen quite a few 8 cyl swaps in 3 and 5 series cars, but suprisingly not usually with an LS. Great looking work so far. I hope you get the power numbers you want. Are you going to check the corner weights when you're done? Have it balanced? At least dyno it? Sorry if answers are in the thread. I didn't read every post

We will be getting it on a dyno probably in the spring, there will be some street tuning before then though. There will be some corner weighing and balancing in the future. For now it's just focused on being a highway driven DD pretty much

 

[Aquaticbob]

It's finally back together, and went for its first test drive around my building. Next up, finishing touches and tune

 

[jayoldschool]

It's a roller cam. There is no break in.

Bad *** car, nice work.

 

[Aquaticbob]

Every car needs wheels! Here's a set of matching 17x8.5 wheels. Well, sort of matching lol. This was pre blasting


Bare aluminum


A painted set


Lookin fine!

https://vimeo.com/157372684
Little idle video with open headers before we made our 2nd rendition of the exhaust


Time to fix an oil pan leak! What a pain...

 

[Aquaticbob]

Mmmmmm cut outs. Dual 2.5" cut outs for this were interesting to fit


Needed to open up the stock resonator to learn its magic, and reconfigure it to be dual in and out for 2.5" pipes


Building


Building some more


2 cut outs with turn downs, and pipes to the resonator!