Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 161

Thread: 96 BMW 328is LS1 to LS2 Conversion Bimerok

  1. #51
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    No, I have my own "kit". The only one wire that is close to the header now is because LS2 wires have different design with longer connector and my headers were made around LS1 wires. From what I've seen on Vorshlag headers, mine are designed way better with more clearance everywhere and a lot easier access to spark plugs themselves. I don't need aftermarket wires.

    I already ordered a set of brand new LS3 wires that supposedly look exactly as LS1 wires for $30 shipped off ebay. If they are as on the picture, I will be all set. Thanks for the info though!
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  2. #52
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Was able to work on the few small items over the weekend. I have the brand new set of LS3 wires finally delivered and that solved my issue that I was having. Tried taking few pix, but again, not very visible and camera crews with perspective...

    Here is where the LS2 style wire was touching the header on passenger:



    And this is where the wire was touching the brake line off the ABS unit on driver's side:



    This is the difference of LS2 vs LS1/LS3 style wire


    Started replacing LS2 wires in favor of LS3. This is the one that was touching the brake line before. Now there is plenty of room.


    So now I'm good with all the spark plug wires again. I have all my clearances back.

    Also some of the things I started is working on redoing some and routing my intake. LS1 was ~3.5" and LS2 now has 4" intake. I got some of the 4" aluminum tubing and 4" silicon tubing.. Now I'm waiting on a new filter that has 4" neck as the one I have is too small and won't even fit on the MAF.

    Another item I checked off the list is making a stopper for the gas pedal. The original bolt that was meant for BMW pedal was not long enough. So I got a longer bolt and made a rubber top so there would not be metal on metal click every time you hit the bolt (oritinal pedal was plastic, new pedal has metal). So far no pictures of that.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    PA
    Posts
    2,238
    My Cars
    Too many to list...
    Nice work!

    Doug


    '97 M3/4

  4. #54
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Just to throw couple more pictures on here.

    This one is of my gas pedal limitter. Had to get a new longer bolt and come up with the way to attach rubber on top so it doesn ding every time I press accel 100%.


    Now, got my correct size air filter and finished the intake set up. I am very happy that I was able to place the MAF on the inside of my heat shield instead of on the outside (*wink, wink John*). Since the LS2 MAF has the intake air temperature sensor built in to it, unlike LS1, it is very nice move to keep it on the cooler side instead of exposing it to a very hot engine bay.







    Also was able to take the car out to do a little torture while having my carputor hooked up to OBDII and monitoring few parameters. I was mainly concerned with water temperature and my stock 328 rad. While cruising around the streets with some stop and go traffic and lights the water temps got between 199F and 220F. At that point the fan kicks in and drops it to ~197F and cycle continues. Whenever I get the car moving it stays below fan temps.

    As soon as I get to highway speeds the temps immediately drop to 196-194F and stay there. No matter how I tried on highway (within some reasonable sanity levels), including short bursts in lower gears and keeping the RPMs above 4K; I could not get the temperature to move above 196F.

    I know that this does not represent anything remotely close to a track environment and I know that my radiator will not be sufficient for a track anymore with the LS2, but as far as street goes, it should be fine.

    For the near future (hopefully), I will be looking to upgrade my rad to the same type that John (Maynor) used so I can run at the track. Thanks to his research and info posted in the rad thread. LINKED HERE... However I am thinking to experiment with double pass instead of triple pass setup. Any body got any feedback or something to share on that?

    Also as an added bonus with double pass, both inlet and outlet on radiator will be on the same, passenger side. This will clear even more room for the intake, which currently with my 4" set up slightly touches the top rad hose. Again if anyone got any feedback or tips on that, please share.

    Oh, I ordered myself a new set of Corvette LS2 fuel rail covers. They should arrive on Monday or so. Hopefully I will be able to make them work In the mean time I need to put 500 or do miles to break in my new clutch.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    West coast
    Posts
    1,316
    My Cars
    '00 540 6.0/4L80e/S480
    I have a double pass. It made hose routing a breeze. It also leaves a ton of room for the air filter setup. Just make sure you use a very capable fan with a shroud. I started with a Spal fan and had nothing but problems. The current fan is a dual speed Taurus with a Volvo relay. It works great. There is no question that it moves a ton more air than the Spal. If you go with a dual speed fan make sure you look into the proper relay setup (Volvo was my choice). You don't want power applied to the low and high speed at the same time. It will burn things up.

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Philly'ish
    Posts
    749
    My Cars
    "Hybrid" E36 M3
    LOL at the wink. Looks good! No experience with the double pass radiator design but I know a LOT of E36/46 race cars with a double pass radiator that love the performance. Don't think you can go wrong with that.
    John
    E36 LS3

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Quote Originally Posted by unnatrl View Post
    I have a double pass...
    Where did you get your double pass radiator from? Also did you have the M14x1.5 temperature sensor bung welded to it by the manufacturer?
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Livermore, CA, USA
    Posts
    103
    My Cars
    95 325
    Quote Originally Posted by bimerok View Post
    Where did you get your double pass radiator from? Also did you have the M14x1.5 temperature sensor bung welded to it by the manufacturer?
    This is a shameless plug for parts we sell.

    We have hose tees with the M14 x 1.5 p thread for the BMW temperature sender.

    The stock BMW location causes the fan to cycle on-and-off as it senses the coolant temperature coming out of the radiator.
    The fan may run for 30 seconds, and then shut off, only to turn on in another 30 seconds. Basically, you will get about
    half of the available cooling from the fan in stop-and-go traffic, and the temperature will creep up 10 to 20 degrees.

    If you put the sensor in the upper hose, the fan will cool better because it is sensing coolant that is coming out of the engine.
    This location makes a significant difference cooling the engine in stop-and-go traffic, and will keep the temperature more stable.

  9. #59
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Thanks Mike for posting this. And I was awere of the T Connectors that you sell (got one of yours for the steam line). Great quality!

    But I really want the sensor to be in the radiator across from the inlet the way BMW had it designed. One main reason for this is: I don't want to overload circutes by running fan for extreme periods of time as it won't stop untill it cools water in both engine and radiator, which can take way too long of a time. I know it's not a huge deal, but still.... I think having it stop until a "new batch" of hot water arrives is a little better solution. However if I will hit the wall with finding radiator who can do a metric bung or thread me one, your T would be the other option.
    Last edited by bimerok; 06-10-2014 at 02:08 PM.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  10. #60
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Livermore, CA, USA
    Posts
    103
    My Cars
    95 325
    Quote Originally Posted by bimerok View Post
    ... I was awere of the T Connectors that you sell (got one of yours for the steam line)

    ... I think having it stop until a "new batch" of hot water arrives is a little better solution. However if I will hit the wall with finding radiator who can do a metric bung or thread me one, your T would be the other option.
    We do have sizes that will fit in the lower radiator hose.

  11. #61
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    My LS2 Corvette covers arrived yesterday and this evening I found a small break between the downpour that we had to install them.




    The passenger side went on without a single modification and even the cutout for the dipstick matched perfectly






    The Driver's side had to be trimmed slightly. The opening for the fuel line had to be trimmed a little to shave the "wings" down a little. Then there is a little bit that had to be trimmed where it was interfering with the booster. About one inch was cut there. And finally a little square had to be cut from the cover near the pedal travel sensor on the booster. This was cut to allow some maneuver room when you getting the cover on.

    By the time I was done trimming the driver's side cover, it got cloudy again and dark...



    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  12. #62
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Colona, IL
    Posts
    148
    My Cars
    94 BMW 325is
    Very nice! Hopefully one of these days I'll get around to cleaning up my engine bay like yours. Excellent work.

  13. #63
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    West coast
    Posts
    1,316
    My Cars
    '00 540 6.0/4L80e/S480
    Quote Originally Posted by bimerok View Post
    Where did you get your double pass radiator from? Also did you have the M14x1.5 temperature sensor bung welded to it by the manufacturer?
    I want to say I bought it from Speedway. It was a universal fit. My setup uses the GM temp sensor in the cylinder head. The Holley EFI has the ability to control 2 fans at whatever temp you set the on/off temps at.

    I have considered going back to the BMW sender, as the 2 outputs for the fan could be used elsewhere- think boost by gear or speed. I'm still researching this. The stock E36 temps are a little higher than I prefer. If my memory serves me right, there is a different sender that lowers the high/ low speed temps. I agree about the cycling of the fan when the sender is in it's stock location. My daily driver makes me nuts with the constant on and off of the fan. I wish it would stay on or stay off. None of this 30 seconds back and forth crap.
    Last edited by unnatrl; 06-11-2014 at 02:08 AM.

  14. #64
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    PA
    Posts
    2,238
    My Cars
    Too many to list...
    Nice work Leo!

    Doug


    '97 M3/4

  15. #65
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    FL Gulf Coast
    Posts
    1,205
    My Cars
    E36 - 1998 328iS - LS2
    Bimerok, are you still letting the BMW temp sensor operate the fan with the LS2 or have you switched to PCM control? I'm thinking I'll let the PCM handle it, considering it's been reported that the E40 will turn the fan on when the A/C compressor is on, so might as well let it have full control.

    Tipsy

  16. #66
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Yes, my fan is still controlled by OEM BMW temp sensor that is in the radiator. I don't have AC so I don't have to worry about PCM controlling it. Also I did not have to touch a single wire to have the fan working. That circuit is self-contained even without BMW ECU.

    I did not want to reinvent the wheel when it was already all working as-is. The fan cools the water in radiator, so having sensor in the head controlling it was not something I wanted to have.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  17. #67
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    New Radiator Update:

    Finally got around to ordering myself a new radiator for my LS2 upgrade. This will be a step in advance for my on track use as I know the OEM 328 will not be enough with LS2 as it was on the edge of enough with my LS1 engine.

    Thanks to John's (Maynor) research and info I went with FSR 26X19X3 double row, double pass all aluminum radiator. For the price of roughly $250 shipped this is an amazing deal in my mind for what you get. When ordering my radiator I have asked FSR to make it without the filler neck (like BMW was). This is to avoid another pressurized cap that would be battling with OEM BMW cap that is on expansion tank. Also I have asked them to add a port for steam hose and a 1/2" bung for me to rig something up for BMW temperature sensor as they nor I could find an aluminum bung in M14x1.5 thread. So from the time of my order the radiator was shipped in 2.5 days and 3 days later I got my radiator.

    The packaging was very nice and sturdy. The quality of craftsmanship is excellent too. Being double pass radiator, both inlet and outlet is located on the same side (passenger), which is actually something I wanted as it frees up a lot of room for my air intake and the intake tube does not have to run over a hot radiator hose anymore. So it worked out for me well.





    When you have both radiators side by side, you can see a fairly significant difference. The OEM 328 radiator's core measures 21.5"X17"X1.6" where is my new radiator's core is 22.5"X18.75"X2.3". You can see a fairly significant difference there.





    The only unexpected thing for me was the location of the bung for the steam tube. I forgot to explicitly tell them where I want the tube and only mentioned that I need it to be on the driver's side, so they welded it in their default location which is on top of the radiator tank. This was easily fixed with a 90 degree aluminum fitting that I bought from summit.



    Also from Summit I bought couple of different 1/2 inch plugs that I was going to use to make an adapter for my BMW Temperature sensor. I got stainless steel ones and aluminum. For the obvious reasons I went with aluminum plugs to make my sensor adapter. I carefully put the plug into vise using wood on both ends to avoid damaging the threads and then drilled it out and tapped it in M14x1.5 tap.









    The sensor adapter turned out pretty good. It was a little easier than I expected. Next on the list to tackle was the expansion tank. Instead of stock, on-radiator tank I needed to use euro style/e30 expansion tank that would have to go on tray on the passenger side. Since I already had my heater control valve there, I could not mount it using stock mounting solution and it had to be placed across instead of along side. This required me to come up with a mounting solution, which I had to fab up. I decided to use a little mount that is on the strut tower and once held BMW diagnostic port. So having it as my target I started making my mount.















    After few hours of coming up with the mount idea and making the mount, the new location for expansion tank was all set. It is sitting there nice and tight. The next big piece was to come up and make the main radiator mounts. After thinking over few different design ideas and where and how to mount it to the chassis I settled on what was the simplest idea I had and did not require me to do the welding on the chassis side. My mounts utilized the original metal brackets that held the stock plastic radiator mounts at the bottom. Instead of welding, I made my brackets so I could bolt on to that location. So I wend to cutting and welding pieces toget












    Then I added some rubber padding to the inside of the brackets to avoid metal on metal contact and bolted them onto the car.






    After test fitting everything I decided to add a cross bar between two sides to make it more sturdy. As always good ideas come a little later than desired and I had to strip some of the paint off to weld cross bar and repaint it again. Not a biggie though. Also having about 27.5 or 28 inches between the frame rails allowed me to have enough gap between the radiator and the frame to use the bolts.



    The final step in the mounting puzzle was to come up with the top radiator brackets. Initially I was thinking of a way to reuse original BMW top plastic brackets, and even started on making the adapters, but again the design for that was getting more complicated than it needed to be and required me to cut the to plastic cowl. So I abandoned that idea and made very simple bracket that actually holds radiator super steady in place and is not visible once the cowl is installed.








    One trick when bending the aluminum to avoid cracking is to heat the piece prior to bending it. But if you under heat it will still crack and when you over heat the aluminum it looks like it Is bubbling on the surface and becomes rough. So the trick is when using your propane or mapp torch is to heat it up just until the point when your flame that hitting the metal start burning with yellow tint. As soon as you see your flame yellowing stop heating it immediately and start bending.

    That pretty much concluded my bracketry for installing everything. I will leave out the "fun" of running around all of my local auto parts store to get all different hoses that I needed including the lower rad hose that was now different size and needed to be longer, etc...

    So with the top cowl on, this is how it looks like.








    Also to be able to fit the lower plastic undertray, I had to modify it by cutting a little from the place that is going up to the radiator due to new rad being bigger and extending down more. That was not too big of a task and hack saw did just fine there. Once it was cut and placed back on car I again taped all the surroundings so the air is going only through radiator and not through any gaps around it. Then Placed my power steering cooler on the front of the new radiator.




    For my new set up I decided to convert my pusher fan to a puller fan and mount it on the engine bay side. With the new radiator being a lot thicker than my previous one it really did not leave me a lot of room there, but it had just enough to make it work.




    With everything assembled and the system all filled up with coolant now came the most important part. How did it perform?

    As mentioned in few posts above, my OEM Rad made the car run between 199-220F in city stop and go traffic with fan constantly coming On and Off. At highway speeds the temps were dropping to 194-196F.

    With this new set up and the ambient temperature being in the same range as my initial test the results were amazing right from the get go! Even sitting at idle it would take significantly longer for the temps to get up and turn the fan on. After warming the car up in my driveway to 196F I start pulling out from my development. As soon as I start moving the temps went down to 194F. Driving on the street with somewhat stop and go traffic temperatures stayed at no higher than 196. Previously it would require me to be at highway speeds to stay in that range! As soon as I could be at 30-40mph in the short distance between traffic lights, the temperature would go down to 192-188. Also standing at the light did not make my fan to turn on even once! I think this is actually an amazing result so far.

    I haven't gotten a chance to drive on highway to see what temps would look there, but what I've seen so far makes me very happy. Now the real test would be at the track and I'm fairly confident that I will be OK there.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  18. #68
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Philly'ish
    Posts
    749
    My Cars
    "Hybrid" E36 M3
    That is a clever fan sensor adaptor. Nice job on that plus all the other brackets.

    When I bought mine, It was off the shelf so it had the radiator cap and no steam port. I bought a cap that matched the rating of the BMW and so far, even without a steam port, no issues.

    Like your results around town, I'm amazed at the cooling performance. I rarely turn on my manual fan even idling for extended periods like in the hot pits on track. I'm sure you'll love the on track performance in July!
    John
    E36 LS3

  19. #69
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Columbia, MD
    Posts
    324
    My Cars
    96 M3 TT LSx
    The higher temperatures around town are completely fan related, not radiator. I run stock radiator with aux fan mounted in OEM location (like 5 inches away from radiator, with no plastic cowl to cover the gap up top (highlyyy inefficient). I wired my aux fan to the PCM and set low to 185 and high to 195. My coolant temp has never gone past 195, which is when the thermostat opens. I don't doubt a better radiator and fan setup is good for track use, but for the street stock rad/aux fan is just fine if you wire fans into PCM and set the temps accordingly.
    96 M3 | Forged LSx | Twin S366 | Injector Dynamics | E85 | AEM Infinity
    90 Schwarz 325i

    IG : sdobart

  20. #70
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Quote Originally Posted by Maynor View Post
    Like your results around town, I'm amazed at the cooling performance. I rarely turn on my manual fan even idling for extended periods like in the hot pits on track. I'm sure you'll love the on track performance in July!
    Thanks John. Now that my cooling is hopefully all resolved and air intake finalized I will be giving a call to cartek on Monday to see if they have opening on July 10 or 11. That will determine if any more upgrades are required or if the car will be ready for the track

    Quote Originally Posted by sdobart View Post
    The higher temperatures around town are completely fan related, not radiator. I run stock radiator with aux fan mounted in OEM location (like 5 inches away from radiator, with no plastic cowl to cover the gap up top (highlyyy inefficient). I wired my aux fan to the PCM and set low to 185 and high to 195. My coolant temp has never gone past 195, which is when the thermostat opens. I don't doubt a better radiator and fan setup is good for track use, but for the street stock rad/aux fan is just fine if you wire fans into PCM and set the temps accordingly.
    Not sure I will agree with that. I'm pretty certain that the higher temperatures are completely related to the radiator. Prior to upgrade I had this fan setup and OEM radiator with my LS1 that was working fine around town, highway and track. After installing LS2, The exact same setup that worked good on LS1 wasn't enough anymore for the bigger engine, which was expected too.

    You just can't compare the BTU capability of stock rad vs this one. Even sitting on the driveway it takes much longer for the temps to go up and trigger fan than it did with BMW Rad. And my fan is still triggered by the same temp sensor in the radiator. Also, after you just start to move this radiator drops the temps down immediatley, where with stock rad it was not the case. My fan hasn't turned on once while on the street, not until I parked the car and let it idle. So I doubt any of that is fan related.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  21. #71
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Columbia, MD
    Posts
    324
    My Cars
    96 M3 TT LSx
    Stock rad switch is 195F low and 210F high I believe? And as mentioned above the cooling fan cycles on and off due to sensor location. So the LS2 obviously adds more heat load into the radiator over the LS1, enough to push temps up to 210-220F to trigger the high fan speed in stop/go traffic. But when it gets to this range, the fan is still cycling on and off - not staying on consistently, thus not cooling as efficiently as it can. If you wire the fan to to the PCM (2 wire hookup) you can make the fan stay on constantly, as well as come on at a lower temperature - this is more than enough to keep temps stable on the street. Seriously, I rarely see my temp gauge move off of thermostat temp (195F), even sitting in traffic on hot summer days. Hottest I've ever seen it is 200F.

    Anyways, new radiator setup looks badass and is definitely a nice upgrade over stock.
    96 M3 | Forged LSx | Twin S366 | Injector Dynamics | E85 | AEM Infinity
    90 Schwarz 325i

    IG : sdobart

  22. #72
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    FL Gulf Coast
    Posts
    1,205
    My Cars
    E36 - 1998 328iS - LS2
    Nice work! The guys who bought my stock engine (for use in their track car) suggested this three row radiator. Have any of you guys used it before? The guys with the track car said it's great bang for the buck.

    I was just reading about that Euro overflow tank. Does the Euro mounting bracket work with the tray that we have in the US models? I don't know if the Euro cars have the same tray?

    I still think I'm going to let the E40 PCM handle control of the fan. Seems simple enough.

    Tipsy

  23. #73
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Philly'ish
    Posts
    749
    My Cars
    "Hybrid" E36 M3
    No experience with that linked radiator. I don't see the bang for the buck when the FSR is the same price, comes as a dual or triple pass (as opposed to cores), is all aluminum, has a larger surface area and is proven on track under race conditions with a 500+ hp motor.

    I also seen no one complimenting the radiator for on track use.. Why waste the $$?
    John
    E36 LS3

  24. #74
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    FL Gulf Coast
    Posts
    1,205
    My Cars
    E36 - 1998 328iS - LS2
    Quote Originally Posted by Maynor View Post
    No experience with that linked radiator. I don't see the bang for the buck when the FSR is the same price, comes as a dual or triple pass (as opposed to cores), is all aluminum, has a larger surface area and is proven on track under race conditions with a 500+ hp motor.

    I also seen no one complimenting the radiator for on track use.. Why waste the $$?
    I'll have to do some reading regarding the differences between multiple rows vs. passes. I'm not familiar with that terminology. It appears the linked-to radiator is a drop in replacement whereas the FSR will require some fabrication. I guess that's not that big a deal in the overall scheme of things, when you consider the scope of the entire swap, but it seemed appealing.

    Thanks for the feedback.

    Tipsy

  25. #75
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    So I had a chance to take my car out on highway drive while going for a dyno tune and turn off certain "features". The trip also included some really bad stop and go traffic. So far the radiator performed flawlessly out on the "streets" in 90F ambient, the engine ran between 185-189F on highway doing 65-70mph. During the stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic the temps did not go above 207F for a brief moment and then most of the time in traffic temps stayed around 195-198. So far so good!

    Also, I noticed with LS2 upgrade the highway MPG dropped immensely from about 32-35mpg highway to about 29-30mpg. I don't know what I'm going to do now

    Here is a quick pick I snapped on the way back.



    Couple dyno pull videos. Not sure if they are interesting to anyone, I just enjoyed so much with my car's sound and they were purely taken for my own enjoyment

    First video of the pull one is a bit longer as the car was cold and the tuner warmed it up for a bit. I kept it unedited to listen for my exhaust and rumblings... Unfortunately iPhone can't pick up good quality sound, but better than nothing and putting it in HD helps too...



    The second video has pull 2 and 3 combined into one clip...

    Last edited by bimerok; 08-02-2015 at 09:43 PM.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •