E36 LSx Manifolds

[Kaane]

I am getting GTO engine covers, no one will know what it means anyway

[invictuse36]

Plastic welding is your friend :-)

Think it would good enough to fool the uneducated?


"A 340i?.... yea they didn't make many...."

[series8217]

What if you used heat shielding to cover the manifold?

I am seriously considering running an LSx engine in my e36 but as research and this thread has shown, OEM headers just won't work. If I push forward, I was going to get the headers ceramic coated, run heat shielding so the headers are not visible and then place the cats under the car where they are in the e36.

Does a referee have to visually see the headers? Would he make you take them off for inspection?

Heat shielding will mask modifications to some degree, but you're unlikely to get away with covering up a set of headers. It's not really worth the risk of having to completely re-engineer your swap in the likely outcome of getting failed for the headers.

[Pzary3233]

Think it would good enough to fool the uneducated?


"A 340i?.... yea they didn't make many...."

Yeah I seriously want to find an E9x M3 engine cover for my LSx M3.

Heat shielding will mask modifications to some degree, but you're unlikely to get away with covering up a set of headers. It's not really worth the risk of having to completely re-engineer your swap in the likely outcome of getting failed for the headers.

Yeah, the refs are not exactly stupid - At least that is my understanding. you would not be able to mask headers enough to fool anyone...

[Bimmer Man]

I figured shielding wouldn't be enough. Kind of a bummer because I am not going to do it if I can't get it to pass the BAR.

[series8217]

Kind of a bummer because I am not going to do it if I can't get it to pass the BAR.

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to thoroughly investigate this before I even commit to buying an E36 chassis. I'm still fairly motivated at this point so hopefully I will find a solution by the end of the year.

[series8217]

I sent some manifolds to Vorshlag for test fitting in their E36 and E46 swaps.

The LSA and LS3 manifolds are surprisingly close fits in an E39. See this build thread by zr6sbc titled "540i-LS3-TR6060": http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1766180

zr6sbc's method of doing the LS3 E39 swap is a viable candidate for a California-legal LSx BMW swap. I intend to get some of those manifolds to test fit in an E36 and E46 and see how close they are.

[zr6sbc]

Im pretty much in the CA registration boat which is why I stuck with OEM manifolds. It was good to read about the possible wiggle room associated with the cat location.

Coincidentally, rao posted a manifold thread on LS1tech. Someone there introduced these Holley manifolds. Maybe they'll get the CARB stamp? Maybe a new candidate to chew on.

http://ls1tech.com/forums/15661126-post26.html

[sivart173]

Non-Ca resident but how does the DMV know if your engine has CARB approved headers?

[series8217]

Non-Ca resident but how does the DMV know if your engine has CARB approved headers?

Bi-annual emissions tests which include visual inspection of the vehicle. For engine swaps, the vehicle has to be taken to a special state-operated BAR referee station where the swap is inspected with a fine-toothed comb. They will look at part numbers on catalytic converters, scan the ECU for the software version, look for modified parts, and make sure everything is installed in the new vehicle as it was in the donor. The special engine swap inspection only occurs once, and then normal inspection stations can test the vehicle. They are less likely to spot something like non-stock manifolds that the BAR referee usually notices.

I know I'm bumping my 2-year-old thread but I have a car now (E46) and I still want to do this swap eventually.

I did send a bunch of manifolds to Vorshlag so they could test fit them on various LS swaps but I haven't heard back from Terry Fair in over a year, so they probably haven't made any progress on it and I haven't had time to bug them.

[LQ4 E36]

Anybody try these out?

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tru-R...hed,53710.html

[unnatrl]

Anybody try these out?

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tru-R...hed,53710.html

I used a block hugger that had a very similar profile. It worked on the passenger side without issue. The drivers side still interferes with the steering shaft. I made a custom 3 jointed steering shaft to make room for the header.

[LQ4 E36]

Any pics of the shaft you built? I am just having such a hard time coming to terms with $1200 headers in a car I paid $1000 for.