Blackknight530i 530i6 -> M5 Conversion Build Thread

[auaq]

I may have missed it but could you not have swapped in the fuel pump and fpr from your 7?

[blackknight530i]

I may have missed it but could you not have swapped in the fuel pump and fpr from your 7?

I plan to, just ran out of time.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[auaq]

Ah, okay.

[MrDucky]

Looks awesome, and it sounds great. wish i can make my own M5 but iam to poor :P

[blackknight530i]

Just going to throw this out there so I have it later, there are only a few wiring changes from a normal 540i to M5 conversion (you still need to do all the stuff for BLTS, DMTL, Sport Button, and Servotronic if swapping the M5 steering box). One change is that there isn't a terminal 15 wire coming from the ignition switch to the unloader relay (green relay on engine wiring harness), so I just tapped it off pin 26 of the x60004 connector, which is terminal 15. I could have also possibly run a new wire to pin 1 of the x60001 connector, which is where the M54 had it coming from, but I couldn't get the wire out of the connector to try that. I might do it later just to be correct. Another option would have been to run a new wire from the ignition switch, but that wouldn't have been fun. Another wiring change is that the M54 had the wire for the oil pressure switch on the main engine wiring harness, but on the 540i/M5, it goes through the body harness since the oil filter housing is mounted remotely. I'll need to run a wire for it directly from the switch to the cluster, or at least over to the ebox. The last thing is to relocate and change the connector for the aux water pump, since it changes to the 540i/M5 type. The wiring only needs to be extended about 1-2 feet, but it has a different connector on it. I'll likely cut the one off the e38 and splice it in and be done with it. Other than that, it's pretty simple.

I'll be doing a full writeup on parts and wiring later, but I wanted to have this documented so I didn't forget it later.

[dk500]

How does it pull?

[blackknight530i]

How does it pull?

Still don't have the m5 fuel pump and regulator in and I have an exhaust leak from the rotted out sealing rings between the headers and cats. I have the sealing rings and should have the 7 back home on Saturday so I can pull the fuel stuff. Probably be Sunday when I get them installed. To protect the engine, I'm keeping it under 4k RPM for now.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[blackknight530i]

Yesterday, I took the car over to Euro Envy in Concord, NC to have the AC recharged, and while I was there, they let me swap out the exhaust ring seals and rotate the struts (forgot to align the L and R properly when I was putting my suspension together). One thing I noticed was that the passenger side lower spring perch was aligned way off and had actually cut away a good portion of my tire on the inside shoulder.



As you can see, about 1/2" of the inside tread is shaved smooth. I rotated the strut and the perch and it looked like it wouldn't cause any more issues. When leaving the shop, started to drive away and noticed a scraping sound from the tire. Pulled it inside and put it back on the lift and noticed that the perch was still awfully close to the tire. Rotated it a bit to get it off the tire (just the perch, not the strut) and it seemed to clear the tire, so this time I drove off and it seemed fine. The exhaust leak is completely gone now and the car feels great. The lower spring perches on both sides look like they are way too close to the tire though and if I had brand new front tires, it seems like they would rub. I never had this problem with my I6 struts on the same wheels and tires, so I'm not sure what's going on here, unless it's just that the V8 struts sit lower in the spindles and that means the spring perches sit closer to the tires. I'm only running 255/40/19 AS3s though, so that shouldn't be the issue. For whatever it's worth, they aren't rubbing now.

I just got the 7 and my wagon back home today, but I was so exhausted from driving all the way to Raleigh and back today, that I didn't get a chance to change the fuel pump and regulator. I'll try to do it in the morning, but I made the big mistake of filling the tank with gas the other night, so I might have to do some driving before I try to do the pump to save from losing a lot of fuel. Maybe I can take the line loose from the fuel filter and turn the key on to fill up a 5 gallon gas can. That should get it low enough to change the pump ok. I'll feel a lot better about driving the car hard once I know I'm getting enough fuel to the engine, so I want to do this soon.

In other news, I'm getting a loud buzzing from behind the passenger side dash area. I thought maybe it was the fuel pump relay (and it might still be), but it could also be how I tapped off the terminal 15 power for the unloader relay in the ebox. I've never heard this buzzing on any of the other S62 swaps I've done, so it's really got me confused. The only different wiring I've done is the terminal 15 wire tapped off another DME pin, but it's a low current wire, so I wouldn't think it would cause this kind of noise. I've got the EGS power connector from the M54 wiring harness I cut off today while at Brian's that I might try to pull a pin out of so I can wire it properly.

That's it for now. Car's running great otherwise.

[auaq]

What shocks are you running now?

[blackknight530i]

What shocks are you running now?

M5 Konis with stock M5 springs.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[auaq]

You're still on those Koni's, right?

[blackknight530i]

You're still on those Koni's, right?

Not the same Konis, these are M5 Konis.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[auaq]

What's your ride height now? I think with the added weight of the S62 engine and with the steel subframe, the car sits lower now and is probably rubbing against the tires.

- - - Updated - - -

I see.

Think you need spacers?

[blackknight530i]

What's your ride height now? I think with the added weight of the S62 engine and with the steel subframe, the car sits lower now and is probably rubbing against the tires.

- - - Updated - - -

I see.

Think you need spacers?

Again! Everything is M5 spec and the spring perches don't move with bumps and such, they are stationary with the wheel hub and spindle.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[TxDarth]

Again! Everything is M5 spec and the spring perches don't move with bumps and such, they are stationary with the wheel hub and spindle.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Exactly and the weight shouldn't make a change either.

[auaq]

I got the last part but the question remains why is it rubbing now? Maybe these M5 Koni's are slightly shorter in length wise compared to what you had previously?

[blackknight530i]

No, spacers won't help, because they won't raise the perches. It's not rubbing because it's too close to the strut, it's the shape of the perch. I think since these struts are used that maybe the perches slid down the strut a bit and aren't being secured at the correct height. The only thing I can think of that would fix this would be to loosen the pinch bolt on the spindle, pry the strut up about 1/4" or so, then tighten it down, but I don't like that idea since it wouldn't be very secure and on the track, it might slam down and cause instant wearing of the tire if it turns at the same time. I'm considering having the front struts rebuilt by Koni or buying new ones. I still have a set of OE M5 front struts with springs already mounted that I could swap out while I wait for the Konis.

[auaq]

Yeah, I wouldn't try that idea and doesn't sound like a safe thing to do. I highly doubt the perch would slide down since it's a once piece construction.

[blackknight530i]

Yeah, I wouldn't try that idea and doesn't sound like a safe thing to do. I highly doubt the perch would slide down since it's a once piece construction.

I don't think you're familiar with how the Konis are constructed. The main tube is one piece, but the lower spring perch is not welded on or anything, it's loose and can spin. When you buy new Konis, they tell you to turn the lower spring perch about 20* or so towards the back of the car once the tube is aligned to the L and R in the spindle. This is to make sure the spring is aligned properly. I'm not even really sure why there is an L or R on the strut tube, since the spring perch can be rotated independently, but whatever.

Here's the driver side:





The passenger side looked like a mirror image at first when I left the shop, but for some reason the perch was actually hitting the tire, so we had to turn it so the notch faced a bit forward of the tire so it didn't rub. I'll get the car in the air tomorrow and see if I can rotate it some more and keep it from rubbing. I wonder if the PO of the struts maybe didn't install the springs in the perches properly. I didn't have time to deal with it at the shop yesterday, so I just made it not rub.

[auaq]

My bad then. I thought Koni's were of single piece construction.

[blackknight530i]

My bad then. I thought Koni's were of single piece construction.

Nope, that would make it much easier to diagnose .

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[XAlt]

lol get some billys nerd

[blackknight530i]

lol get some billys nerd

Ugh, I hate Bilsteins. No thanks.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Reefin Dude]

yep, been there done that with the struts and tires. if you look at the tires on the wagon you will see the same thing on one of those tires. the problem is that even if you tighten the pinch bolt to the torque spec'd it can still settle down to rest on the ball joint for the control arm. i would have to check for the next week or so after doing anything with the struts to make sure that they are staying put. i do not have the e39 Bentley at hand now to see the gap that is spec'd between the bottom of the strut and the top of the ball joint on the bottom of the wheel carrier. i ended up just going with with my thumb with, which is about an inch. that gave me enough room for tire clearance even with the larger size tires run on the wagon and enough that i could get an allen wrench in there to work on the ball joint if needed.

this was also with Koni's. maybe Koni's are just ever so much thinner in diameter than the Sach's that they need a bit more torquing down. this was with both the Dinan front suspension and the replacement Koni's i put on after the Dinan's had over 100K on them.

G~

[blackknight530i]

So, I spent about 2-2.5 hours tonight doing a writeup for how to swap a S62 into a facelift 525/530/540 and created a new thread for it here: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...39-525-530-540. This should cover things from a general standpoint for anyone with a facelift car and is not a step-by-step. It does include a pretty extensive list of parts and procedures required based on model, as well as the wiring changes needed. Hopefully it helps people out.