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That's an interesting idea. Will have to try it some day. The single large diameter pipe has proven to be quite the challenge.Originally Posted by StolenFox
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this
GD. drove my LS m3 today with the windows mostly up for the first time today. 26" glasspack right after the y-pipe and single chamber at the back before twin tip. the drone is pretty gnarly. gonna start looking at fancy resonators and a different muffler. stupid 3" single.
always trying to make it lighter and faster
^^former build: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-neglected-M3/
current build: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...car-build.html
instant grams: doktor_b
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I did a large case Magnaflow under the car with an additional cheap eBay muffler at the bumper on my E36. The bumper muffler was a single inlet with twin 3" tips. It was the only thing that made that car reasonable in regard to the noise/ drone in the cabin.
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Good lookin out. I'll look into a bigger muffler once I close up the massive hole where my trunk used to be.
always trying to make it lighter and faster
^^former build: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-neglected-M3/
current build: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...car-build.html
instant grams: doktor_b
Member
The M5 mufflers showed up. It's going to be a lot of fun cutting the passenger side trunk floor up. The trans coolers will have to be relocated as the one on the right sits where the muffler needs to go. The battery will need be relocated as well. I'm considering making the trunk floor completely flat to keep it simple. The trans coolers will probably have to be stacked instead of side by side as they are now.
Also discovered the "boost activated" cutout that bought a while back is actually vacuum operated. Have to love that.
Anyway, pics are always fun.
Member
Mufflers look to be in great shape! Cutting the trunk floor sucks and going completely flat would definitely be easier all the way around. I thought about doing the same but didn't want to purchase one of those small but super expensive batteries in order to facilitate mounting above where the battery used to sit. Looking forward to seeing your approach to solving the problem as I just did the trunk job and am working the exhaust now.
S.F.
Member
I feel that I need to give everyone a heads up about the Sonnax driveline flange and possible fitment issues on cars other than the E39. Another member bought the same flange for his E46 M3 and advised it doesn't fit. From what he describes, it's not even close. Just don't want others to get into a bind on this as well. He's going to try and source a different pinion flange and see if it will work on the E46. Time will tell.
Update: The bolt circle for the Z3 and E46 M3 diff is an 86mm bolt circle diameter instead of the 94mm that 540 has.
Last edited by unnatrl; 03-13-2017 at 12:31 PM.
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Did some cutting on the trunk of the car this afternoon. Removing all the stuff I had previously welded when raising the spare tire well. There is a ton of clean up work to do, flap disk grinding wheels are amazing for this kind of stuff.
The Junk pile
Tons of room now
I have a patch panel trimmed out to cover the hole. Working on a solution to keep this thing from becoming a huge drum. More to come on that.
Member
It's been a slow process to get the M5 mufflers mocked up, but we are finally there. They look uneven in the pic, but a level says they are perfectly even and level.
Also decided to try a Toyota MR2 electric p/s pump. The Volvo one works decently, but I want a little more assist at low speeds. The MR2 is supposed to give full pressure when wired like the Volvo pump (Volvo is in limp mode ~75% of its capability as it's not connected to a canbus circuit) and it has a pressure adjustment screw. While researching other ideas, the Saturn Vue epas kept coming up. It's the electric motor that mounts inline with the lower steering column. This seems like a great solution, but there is nowhere near enough room under the E39 dash.
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Update on MR2 pump:
It's better, kind of. I have equal assist both directions now. The assist is not enough. Parking lot maneuvers will be challenging, which defeats the purpose.
I've looked at every powersteering/ alternator bracket available for the Corvette spacing and had no luck with anything that mounts both up high. Truck spacing isn't an issue, of course. Anyway, I recommended a v-band turbine housing to someone a while back. I have one on order. The physical size of the v-band housing is significantly smaller. The point of this is to make room for the original belt driven pump. I still have all of the Corvette accessory drive and hope to use it!
Original Borgwarner T6 1.32 housing next to the v-band.
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I know guys have been as nervous as I have about this new housing fitting...
It looks really promising. Should have done this in the first place.
A couple pics of the size difference:
Member
The test fit is a success. The turbo is bolted up and the belt driven pump is re installed. There are no interference issues. The serpentine belt clears fine as well. The down pipe has to be modified to fit the new housing (dropped to 4" instead of. 5"-4" transition. Here are a few pics. Sorry about the quality, it was difficult to get pics that accurately reflect the amount of clearance that's been gained.j
Last edited by unnatrl; 04-07-2017 at 08:04 AM.
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I am having problems with my corvette pump right now. Power steering works fine until the car is warm and then it just stops working. Any idea what pressure that 5 series rack is looking for? I think the corvette pumps put out 1100psi.
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I haven't been able to find a pressure requirement for the 5 series rack. The power steering part of this project has been testing my patience. My electric pumps should have worked (initially did work fine). I began to have issues (lack of assist) when turning the wheel to the right with the Volvo pump. Swapped it to an MR2 pump and it was an equal amount of assist both directions, but not as much as necessary. I've yet to start the car with the Corvette pump. Dirty dingo has a smaller p/s pulley (5" diameter) that will increase the pressure if it seems like it's necessary. https://www.ebay.com/itm/191822785709
Borgeson has a kit to adjust (lower/ regulate) that increased pressure so you can set it just right for your car. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232262284877
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Spent some time today building the waste gate dumps. It's been on the to-do list for a while.
A few parts are on order to finish up the down pipe. Also working on modifying the p/s hoses for the Corvette pump and moving the O2 sensor closer to the turbo. I want the sensor to be before the cutout to eliminate any possibility of a false reading.
Last edited by unnatrl; 04-09-2017 at 06:21 PM.
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Man it never ends. I have a reman corvette pump with a dr. rack lifetime warranty rack. I have nice hydraulic specific AN lines to the stock BMW banjo bolt with the check valve. The return is a rubber 3/8" PS line to the stock vette res. Simple simple simple. The rack leaks a bit if I leave the car with the wheels turned just the right way. Must be a small score in the bore or something. I am going to deal with that until next winter. The power steering works and feels great until the car warms up, then I have nothing just all the sudden stops working. I get little spurts here and there but I have not been able to pin point why it happens. No idea what is going on. I ordered another pump today but what a pain it will be to change it plus I hate just throwing parts at problems. I have been driving the car around with no power steering because I have to break in the clutch before my dyno day. Not very fun. On the note of pressure...I think if anything the GM pump will have too much pressure for the bmw rack. I found a cheap kit to reduce it with shims under the relief valve. https://www.borgeson.com/xcart/home.php?cat=133
Honestly though if it feels like my car does when it is actually working when its cold I think I may just leave mine so I would just get it working and see how you like it. Those screamer pipes are going to be rowdy for sure. My car is open downpipe right now and it sounds like a jet cruising around so I cant imagine what that thing will sound like at throttle. Are you going to use the stock banjo bolts and a similar line setup to mine?
Member
It's great that you found the source of the leak. That's a frustrating issue to deal with!!
I'm curious to see if the pump fixes your lack of assist when it gets warm. It sounds like you are loosing pressure. Maybe the leaking rack has something to do with that. Is there any correlation to the loss of assist and start of the leak? The GM pump probably puts out too much pressure. My E36 ran a hydroboost and a p/s rack with this Corvette pump. The assist wasn't the greatest in comparison to my daily driver (stock) M3, but I would be happy with what it had on the E39.
As far as fittings go, the ones on the rack are aftermarket (Borgeson I think) that are similar to the originals but have a -6an male fitting. Pressure hose is a custom hydraulic hose I had made at my local O'Reillys auto parts. The return is a -6an rubber line (compatible with ATF/ p/s fluid). I will probably retain the cooler that was in the return line of the electric pumps as I already have it. Just have to find room for it on the drivers side of the car.
I don't expect the screamer pipes to be overly obnoxious. The only thing that's changed is the exhaust is diverted to the ground. Previously, the wastegates just dumped strait toward the engine. The cutout will open around the same time as the gates. There is no question that you will be able to hear it. I'm putting a valve in the vacuum/ boost line so I can open the cutout when I want (with boost present of course). The jet engine whistle is awesome. It's probably half the reason we go through all this trouble!!
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The leak in the rack really is not a thing while running. Honestly I have only gotten it to do it twice. The wheels need to be turned left a bit and just left like that and it will drip. When it runs there is no drip with the wheels straight. I do not know if a rack is even capable of somehow bypassing the pressure like this but I am really hoping the pump fixes it too. I do not mind it loud I had a dumped gate on my e34 for awhile but recirculating it actually almost completely solved a boost creep issue I had. I recirculated the M5 because It was convenient. I just ordered a boost activated cutout and my tubing to make my exhaust and I think I am going to control the cutout with a boost controller too so I can turn it on and off. How far away are you from running your car with the new power steering setup? Mine won't be back together until next week since I am doing the exhaust too. I am curious to see if yours works, if not I will let you know how mine worked out.
Member
Not quite sure how long it will be for mine to be back together. Between a 2 month old baby and waiting for parts it's a slow process. I'm waiting on a fitting for the p/s pump so the lines can be finalized. It should be delivered in the next few days. I will be able to start the car and verify that the steering has assist, but still need to finish the exhaust before it can be driven. There is a giant hole in the trunk that needs to be closed up. Exhaust hangers are all setup, but they will mount to the patch panel. I also sourced an M5 resonator/ y-pipe that will be installed. The fun parts is going to be fabricating the missing section of pipe between the y-pipe and the mufflers. The pieces I fabricate will have to be spot on so everything fits correctly.
I don't recall what you did for exhaust. Assuming you kept something similar to the stock catback, any feedback? Like or dislike for normal driving? I hate the drone that my car had with the full 4".
Member
I am still running an open downpipe dumped at the trans. I just purchased all my tubing, a 4" flex pipe, Vibrant resonator, 2 o ringed v bands, 4" cutout, and then it will split into twin 2.5" and go into the DINAN M5 catback I have. So it will go flex pipe-resonator-cutout-mufflers. I will have it done next week and I will let you know how it is. To be honest I really do not like the way LS motors sound and they drone really bad. I am hoping with all of that this will be tolerable on the highway. Worst case I will add a second res. I will report back sometime next week.
Member
Sounds good. I look forward to your feedback.
Half of the parts arrived last night, the other half should be waiting for me when I get home.
This fitting makes it a breeze to use just about any -6an fitting on the pressure line. The hydraulic hose I had built uses a steel fitting that's fairly thick. It wouldn't thread on to the standard (short style) adapter fitting that was previously on the p/s pump without hitting the pulley.
Holley makes a smaller diameter pulley. I'm noting this for reference just in case it helps someone later on. It's approx 2" smaller in diameter than the stock one and specifically designed for the Corvette pump.
The pressure hose is sorted out- trimmed down and correct fitting selected. O'Reillys will crimp it on and that part is done. I'm still trying to decide where the p/s cooler will go, space on the drivers side is tight. I measured for the serpentine belt and ended up buying 3 belts. The one that is 2 sizes larger than the measurement fits perfectly. Go figure.
Still working on the details of how and where the cutout will merge off of the downpipe and where the dump will go. Turbo exhaust is so much fun!
Member
Downpipe is done. Changed o2 location, finished up the mods for the new turbo housing, installed the cutout and dump pipe and wrapped it all in new lava wrap.
Member
man I hope I have better luck with the Volvo pump than you did. I tested it sitting on the ground. it was nice and smooth going back and forth.
unfortunately I made a mistake installing my cam, didn't check PtV and my valves decided to rape my pistons. so needless to say its getting an upgrade sooner than I thought it would. #crankuptheboost.
as far as the exhaust I'm not sure if you saw how I ran mine but I have a feeling it is not going to be very loud. I hope to have the car back together in about 3 weeks. jump over to my build if you want to see the carnage.
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Sorry to hear that. I can relate to breaking stuff. Live and learn... then upgrade. I always enjoy carnage pics. :-)
Member
Powersteering update:
It's 100x better with the belt driven pump, this is strictly at idle/ backing out of garage. Not able to road test yet. The wheel is about 1/2 as hard to turn now. Keep in mind my car has a 9.5" wide wheel with a 275/35/18 up front. They aren't easy to turn in the first place. Those that have done the Volvo setup will probably be fine as long as you aren't running a really wide tire up front.
Last edited by unnatrl; 04-16-2017 at 05:10 PM.
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