My LQ4/T56 540i Sport conversion thread

[James39]

"AC can wait"...must be nice! LOL

Seriously, awesome progress, keep it up!

I can't take all the credit (except for my ambition to get the job done). I spent about 5x the amount of time doing research online and in the Bentley books and trying to order parts as I have actually spent wrenching. Lots of credit needs to go to the guys (Bmwman528e, Schitzo, rao) that have already done this for making my project go as smoothly as it seems to be. They are all hard acts to follow, but I greatly appreciate their willingness to share information.

And yeah, sometime in late august or early September, the need for AC drops significantly around here. Although I wish I had it in my shop - I think it was 100+ degrees in my shop every night I've worked on it so far

[James39]

Spent the weekend riding




Dropped driveshaft off for inspection and cutting. Removed the diff. Looks much better than the old one and has 3.15 gears.

How do you know if a half-shaft should be replaced?



Spent time in the electical box identifying the connections I need to make. They are all right there! - Couldn't be much easier. Well, it would be nice if the fuel pump and DME relay were switched 12v instead of switched grounds to activate, but we'll get around that.

Investigated factory fuel line config. Nice to see the FPR is already built into the fuel filter. A little bit of re-routing and the 'vette FPR/fuel filter should bolt right in.

Re-coded my instrument cluster to use analog tach and water temp signals. Still needs to be removed for new wiring. Now trying to figure out how to supress IKE warnings for DSC and check engine lights, etc....

Installed C5/6 accessories and LS6 intake. AC will not fit without relocating and possibly using a different compressor. I gotta have some kind of fun fabricating on this, right? (I think the truck throttle body will clear on the LS6 intake. There's no way this would work with the full truck accessory package in case you were wondering)

Intalled headers (nice work Bmwman528e)

What is this (indicated by #1)

and I think #2 was the coolant line going to the alternator? (anyone know how to bypass or delete that? Where does the hose go?)



It's too early to be certain, but this swap is turning out to be a lot easier than when I swapped this engine/trans into my 1968 C10 last year. Everything is sitting there just waiting for you to splice/re-route, etc.

That ball of wires looks like a nightmare. Fortunately it's just the standalone harness I already had made up for the last project. It's not as bad as it looks

[douglee25]

Looks good!

Doug

[rao]

#1 is part of the ABS system

I can't see what #2

[James39]

#1 is part of the ABS system

I can't see what #2

Ok, then I guess that can stay.

I'll get a better pic of #2, but it looks like a coolant or vacuum hose that disappears into the fender well. Wish I could remember where I pulled it from.

[James39]

Here it is:

[douglee25]

Doesn't that go to the emissions control pump?

Doug

[DieselGhost]

Could've done this in a lot easier manner !

But awesome job you've done, although i don't see the benefit of a LQ4 over the M62 :P

[James39]

Could've done this in a lot easier manner !

..... says the man with the broomstick holding up his hood

It wasn't as bad as I thought getting it out the way I did. I don't think it took me much more time, just a little more effort wiggling it out.

Original engine and trans in the car are in need of complete refurbishing. I don't think you'll get 450-475hp at the crank and a rebuilt 6-speed, clutch ETC in the BMW flavor for what I'll have into this setup

[modular93fox]

You said you recoded the cluster to use an analog tach? what equipmenmt did you use to code it? how do you have your wiring for the tach?
clint

[modular93fox]

You said you recoded the cluster to use an analog tach? what equipmenmt did you use to code it? how do you have your wiring for the tach?
clint

[James39]

The equipment I used is here: http://www.bmwcoding.com/showthread....in-with-K-DCAN

There is supposedly a more direct connection you can make without all the adapters (someone links to the less cumbersome setup in the thread linked above), but I already mis-guided myself into buying the one I started with, so I figured what the hell, might as well try it and see if it worked. Well, it did It seems that with the new hardware I bought, I can code just about any e39 to present BMW's. Seems better to me than buying an interface made specifically for later model 20-pin equipped cars.

The software is called NCS Expert, I followed the walkthrough in the PDF posted here to actually do the work: http://www.bmwcoding.com/showthread....oding-your-car

The re-code procedure tells the instrument cluster to look for analog signals instead of can-bus messages, so I am going to add 2 new pins to the back of my instrument cluster in the same place they go for a 1996-1997. What could possibly go wrong?
These are all on 26-pin blue on 96-97 WDS:
#3 tach

#18 BR/GE and #19 BR/VI coolant temp (was hoping to use a second 1-wire coolant temp sensor, looks like that won't work will probably splice into GM sensor)

#13 injection signal (I wonder if setting that to analog and tying in one of the GM injector signals will make the gauge move?)

18-pin black
Check engine light on the early models is power through X16 #17, ground is X16 #2 Not sure if the bulb/circuitry is in the newer clusters or not.

[e30bimmer89]

The swap looks like its going good. I kinda wish my 540i's engine would take a crap on me so I can do this lol. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[modular93fox]

I wonder if that 100 dollar cable will work with the gt1 software I have on my laptop? I tried to download the files on rapidshare but it didnt work.. might have to sign up or something?
clint

[James39]

The swap looks like its going good. I kinda wish my 540i's engine would take a crap on me so I can do this lol. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Me too! I'm thinking about burning a vactation day, or this could drag on for quite some time. I need a day or so to just power through.

I wonder if that 100 dollar cable will work with the gt1 software I have on my laptop? I tried to download the files on rapidshare but it didnt work.. might have to sign up or something?
clint

Make sure you click the right buttons on rapidshare, or it will ask you to pay to download.

I don't know what gt1 is.

[modular93fox]

GT1 is the last generation of BMW diagnostic tools.. now we use ISID diagnositc computers.. pieces of crap.

Clint

[STANIMAL]

I might have missed it , but did you make the mounts or buy them ?

[James39]

I bought the engine and trans mounts, headers, and had the oil pan done here:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1685796

The only thing that isn't a bolt on with Corvette or F-body accessories is the AC compressor.

[AutoRotate]

Someone needs to produce mounts and headers for the I-6 models...

Anyone? Beuller?

[rao]

For the size of the market and the amount people are willing to pay it really isn't worth it. Plus you need to modify the sub-frame which makes a kit difficult.

[James39]

Got some work done on the e-box and engine bay. I'm hoping I didn't remove something I needed... Like the green relay in the e-box. Don't know where it went, but nothing was hooked up to it anymore, so I'm hoping for the best. I did have the fuel pump working, but after my wire hacking, I can't tell if it's still working or not because I finally got the aftermarket fuel rail to seal...

Re-used the 5-slot fuse holder - 2 are hot all the time, the other 3 are powered by the DME relay.

Used 2 additional relays to convert polarity since BMW wiring wants ground to activate the DME and fuel pump relays.

I left plenty of length coming out of any connector I messed with in case I cut something that was needed. I spent a good bit of time checking and double checking where things went. If it went back into the wiring abyss in the E-box, I left it alone.

Still have not heard back from the driveshaft shop. I'm considering buying a reman from turner and having someone else weld the 1310 yoke on the front. I have a feeling he's just going to call me one day and tell me it needs a new CV and center bearing and it will cost about $600 for everything. At that point I'm better off getting the reman with the servicable u-jont.





This is about as good as the wiring is going to get across the engine. Glad there's enough room behind the engine to hide some of the wires

[douglee25]

Looks good.

Doug

[hefftone]

Looks nice! Those accessories corvette???

[James39]

Yep!

[modular93fox]

a front cross over fuel line ran like this might be better for fuel flow ?