The powersteering saga continues...
It took almost 2 weeks for eBay to return my money after the MR2 pump was delivered broken. Anyway, there was plenty of time to do more research on the electric p/s pump idea. I came across a thread on one of the forums dedicated to building electric vehicles. The MR2 pump was cited as a good candidate, but they are getting hard to find in good shape. Another option was the Volvo V40 pump. It will run without the can bus, it needs a 12v, a ground and keyed 12v to trigger it. These pumps are much more plentiful and cost 1/2 to 1/3 as much as the MR2. They are also brushless, which should last a lot longer. There is room to mount the pump on the right front behind the headlight/ bumper.
Another small project is a methanol injection kit. I traded a wide band setup that wasn't being used (actually forgot I had it) for a brand new Coolingmist kit. Can't complain about that!
The new cluster is installed, coded and tamper dot free. I learned the hard way that you can not recode the vin in a 2003 cluster. Recoding the the LCM with the vin in the cluster accomplished the same thing (removing the tamper dot).
Is it normal for the information display to stay on and run through messages for ~20 seconds after removing the key? It's been so long since the cluster has worked that I can't remember if this is normal.
Mine goes through all the usual BS (for about 10-20 seconds) after shutting off the motor. ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG, COOLANT LEVEL, etc
Found these while on vacation. It hasn't been easy finding an OEM set of style 65's. The finish is horrible spray paint, but the wheels are straight and have very minimal rash. For $550.00 with tires, it's a deal that couldn't be turned down. I'm thinking of having them powder coated in hyper silver since my car is darker (anthracite).
There has been some question if a T6 based turbo would fit in an LS swapped E39... I'm proud to let you all know it will.
Naturally, a smoking deal on a T6 S480 (1.32 a/r housing, 96mm exhaust wheel, race cover) pops up on eBay. I put a bid that was ridiculously low on the turbo and won it. The one that was originally on the car was a T4, 1.10 a/r, 87mm exhaust wheel. The T6 turbo is better for keeping back pressure down and not choking the engine out at higher rpm's. The bigger turbo is a close fit. I researched a lot of builds on Ls1Tech before deciding to actually use the T6. It isn't uncommon for the turbo to sit close to the radiator, power steering pump or the alternator. The necessity for a quality turbo blanket is without question. One specific note- a Corvette alternator with the decoupler pulley will not allow a blanket to be installed. The decoupler takes up about 3/4" of precious space. Other than this, it was almost a drop in to where the T4 turbo fit. The downpipe will be necked down from 5" to 4" as close to the turbo as possible. Getting a 5" downpipe past the fan and water pump would take a magician. It would never fit past the k-member and engine mounts. The drivers side inner fender was slightly trimmed and massaged to clear the race cover. There is still a lot of fabrication work to finish, but it's getting there!
Last edited by unnatrl; 08-22-2015 at 01:20 PM.
'99 BMW 540i6 L33 5.3, PRC Heads, E-force supercharged
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1674320
Fantastic project
Sveinbjörn Hrafnsson
E30 CABRIO V12 M70B50 ///
ALPINA B10 BITURBO 346 @ 507
ULTIMA Evolution
Contacts
http://alpina.123.is/pictures/
M5 bumper mocked up and custom lower grille insert built. It took some convincing to fit a 31x12x3 intercooler behind the bumper. I trimmed about 1" off the bottom of the bumper where the grille mounts (needed extra room for the intercooler tanks). The original grille insert no longer fits, so this was the next best solution. It will be blacked out once everything is painted.
yeehaw, onward and upward. intercooler would look better blacked out (along with the mesh)
For those that have competed their swaps, do you have input on a drive shaft? A few have modified the stock one and others are replacing it with a custom 1 piece.
I have the original 540 2 piece drive shaft. The ability to get it properly shortened and balanced is questionable in my area. Getting an aftermarket 1 piece aluminum 3.5" in the correct length is a consideration as well.
If it makes any difference, I have a 4 bolt flange for the 210mm differential and the JTR flange. The typical 6 bolt flange problems won't be an issue in this situation.
Any advice, experience and feedback from what you did is greatly appreciated.
I had a 1 piece originally with the JTR flange. Its a long shaft. I ran into an issue with the JTR flange having some slop in the 4 mounting holes so if you didnt tighten it perfectly centered it would vibrate. When I went to the M5 diff I just used a stock M5 driveshaft and had a slipyoke setup welded to the front of it. The place I had it done at didnt have the ability to balance it. It has been 160+mph(on the dyno) and 130+mph on the road with no vibration at all.
Rob
Prior projects:
1998 540i with 6.6 LS2/T56 Chevy Power
- pictures and details
1992 325i with 6.6 LS2/T56 Chevy power - pictures and details
1995 M3 with 6.6 LS2/T56 Chevy power - pictures and details
Thanks for the info guys. Both of your cars certainly put a driveline through the torture test. I will follow suit.
I had a Fleet Pride modify mine like Rob's, no issues. Those stores seem fairly abundant throughout the US
There is nothing that "slides" into the front of the BMW shaft, a slip yoke/u-joint gets welded on. They cut off this:
and weld on this:
First I purchased a T56 slip yoke from them (bare, 27 spline I think) and took it home to fit onto the trans. I slid it all the way in until it bottomed out, then pulled it out about .75" (recommended value). From there I reinstalled the OEM 2 piece driveshaft to the diff and hung it from the CSB. Then I measured from the centerline of the u-joint on the BMW shaft (middle, between the 2 halves), to the centerline of the u-joint on the mock up slip joke.
Once I had my measurement I brought the OEM 2 piece AND the new bare slip yoke to Fleet pride and told them that measurement. They cut off the 3 bolt front BMW flange, and welded the new u-joint exactly as I needed, even painted it. Essentially it's a 2 step process - you are shortening the drive shaft to account for the longer GM trans, as well as converting the front mounting style from 3-bolt/Guibo, to typical u-joint slip yoke that is very common on domestics.
I replaced my CSB while I was at it. Once the shaft is done, I reinstalled it - mount loosely to diff input flange first (i think), then insert the slip yoke into the trans. You will need to leave the center section where the CSB is, hanging, to attach both ends first. Once they are in, you can raise the middle and loosely start the nuts for the CSB. Adjust everything as needed and then tighten hardware.
- - - Updated - - -
Here was mine right after they welded it up:
Last edited by nsogiba; 08-26-2015 at 11:48 AM.
The way I worded that was confusing. Did they supply the end yoke for you? I added an arrow to the pic for clarification.
Last edited by unnatrl; 08-26-2015 at 11:55 AM.
That weld on yoke can be purchased from Dennys Driveshaft or Summit Racing. What thickness weld on yoke are you guys using? .083 or.065 inch wall thickness?
E39 LSX SWAP PARTS FORSALE
Aluminum 3" intercooler piping mocked up. The top tube is going to be changed a little to eliminate the middle boot.
Getting rid of the hideous wood grain interior trim with 3M wrap.
Columbia mandrel bends 4"-7" megaphone cut down to make the 5"-4" transition. Different alternator without the decoupler pulley installed as well. It gained just enough clearance to install a heat blanket on the turbo housing.
i like those megaphones! pretty cool for doing custom reducers.
It was a life saver! I cut the megaphone at an angle. It exaggerated the taper on one side and clears the electric fan with plenty of room. The side closest to the engine is flat/ parallel with the accessory drive. Getting a 4" downpipe past everything has been the hardest part of this swap.
I've been doing some modification to a different alternator bracket. The mounting locations were changed slightly to make the alternator sit about 1" higher. It sits slightly wider as well. If I don't point it out it's very hard to tell what was changed. This was an ebay special for 100.00 that actually worked out. A ton of clearance was gained between the alternator and the turbo (hood still closes). The OEM corvette bracket was probably fine, but this is better. Once it's powder coated it will match the a/c bracket nicely. No matter how I tried, the pics don't accurately reflect the amount of room this made. These are the best I could do.
Finished the 4" downpipe. It's fully welded and wrapped with the DEI titanium wrap. It took a while to get this past the starter and subframe. You can still remove the starter with the exhaust connected... Not making that mistake again!
Bookmarks