1997 M3 4 Door with LS/T56

[bimerok]

Overall a bit disappointed it wasn't more of a weight loss.

Lol don't be. You now have almost mid-engine car where the engine is just slightly over the front axel. A lot lower center of gravity becaus LS is way lower and lighter then BMW engine. A lot less weight at the front of the car and lots of the weight also shifted down and towards the mid section with the weight of T56 being way havier than getrag.

[eturdysix]

Car looks great! Keeping me motivated for sure!


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[Tim Mc]

bimerok: Agreed...always nice for a weight loss too. Once could go with a CF driveshaft as well. We chose our exhaust on cost and weight - maybe we could lose the mid-muffler. No worries...certainly glad we didn't gain in the switch!

eturdysix: Wish you best of luck! Even with temps/humidity in the 90's, I'm finding excuses to run to Autozone to dump a gallon of oil or swing by Sams Club for the spouse. (!) The pedal arrangement and LS7 clutch is wonderful for heel toe...close ratio makes it zippy. We are still keeping it under 5000 rpm.

Car show in the AM and mountain bike transport in the PM...we hadn't been on the trails since taking the car down for the switch. Nice change of pace and the L33 just cruised.



One concern is the fuel pressure. We started out with a GM fuel regulator/filter and showed pressure of 78 psi. We switched to a Wix and was at 65 psi. Now after a few miles we are seeing 38 to 45 psi...on our analog gauge mounted on the fuel rail. Rather inconsistent. I may have another to check reliability...may just pony up another 100 bucks for Holley transducer and plug it into the EFI for logging. One hundred dollar bills just disappear on these projects...:-)

[Laminar]

3206 pounds (no fuel / no people / no junk)

Original weigh in was 3237 in the same configuration.

Yeah!!

[RulyLSX]

Sounds like weight is right around the same as mine, mine was 3300 with me in it. I was thinking yours was going to be a bit heavier since you have that heating insulation.

[Tim Mc]

Ruly: The heat insulation is pretty insignificant, but likely adds 5 pounds or so. It is not the sound absorption butyl rubber, but just layered plastic layers with in some cases a thick foil reflective part. No issues with heat...although it is just plain hot here with humidity...

Did drive it to work (62 mile round trip)...didn't miss a beat. Great fun...2300 rpm at 85 mph (indicated)...instant power with the mild cammed, 5.3. Love the shifter/pedal relationship. Instantly at home with the heel/toe maneuvering...

Idle is dead smooth at 700 rpm...not used to that. Likely we under-cammed with the 3.91 gears...still very snappy and still spins up nicely (touched 5500 rpm today). Gas mileage is less than the S52...

[doktor b]

Idle is dead smooth at 700 rpm...not used to that. Likely we under-cammed with the 3.91 gears...still very snappy and still spins up nicely (touched 5500 rpm today). Gas mileage is less than the S52...

i was never able to get great fuel economy, even cruising in 6th at 75 i couldn't touch my s52.
but when i stomped the throttle, i never once gave a hoot about economy. so much more thrust than the s52 and pulled hard from 2000 through redline. (pretty sure i had more cam you have now though.)
if you want some fuel economy back, maybe step your rear down to a 3.73 or 3.64. i ran too much cam for gears that low. wouldn't cruise nicely below 2k rpm.

[Tim Mc]

doktor b: agreed. Of course our S52 had 230,000 miles...and an auto. Last tank fulls returned 19 and 20 mpg so far...mostly light footed and the commute.

First challenge: no start at the gas station. Received a jump start and made it home to check the voltage...10 volts running. I didn't think my bought used (but new) AC Delco alternator would be the first to go. Easy to source another Camaro unit though...

The cooler weather tonight made cruising great fun! Near 300 miles on it thus far.

[RulyLSX]

Could the alternator dealio be a ground issue?

I ended up with two alternators on my build lol, I purchased a camaro unit the ac delco one, but somewhere in my bimmerforums/ls1tech wormholes of looking up everything and anything i ran across a bunch of threads that said upgrading to the truck alternator is better. So far so good, although i'm sure if your amp is bad it was just an unlucky bad one

in case you need it though, here is the one i purchased, more amps and it's cheaper.. fit without mods too https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alterna...1Z42R8&vxp=mtr

[BigL350]

I chased/am chasing a charging issue too. I think it’s because of poor voltage regulation when the field control wire is hooked up to the charge light in the dash. I think it’s better off connected to the PCM output for this function.

In my case now, the LS3 PCM has PWM field control so it can’t control the LS1 alternator and the LS3 alternator doesn’t fit in the LS1 FEAD so I had the LS1 alternator converted to self-regulation. I’ll hopefully find out real soon how that works.

It may be a better option than trying to use the charge light for the field control signal if not using a GM PCM.


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[Tim Mc]

RulyLSX: Your suggestion of the truck model came a bit too late. Amazon next day was in process. Will give that a try if this one fails...yours was a better price!

BigL350: Good luck on that combination. We've skipped the dash light and used a resister with a LS1 replacement. No ECU connection...not sure if that is better or worse. Either way, fired it up at 2100 tonight and 14.3 volts.

Amazon delivery...got to work...pretty easy deal. I made it tough on myself...but that happens when I'm in a hurry. See if the Chinese replacement AC Delco outlasts the Mexican AC Delco model. Is anything made in America anymore???



Also got to some house cleaning...remnants heading to the round file...:



This is the culprit that cost us 2 weeks...GM tape should be at the front on the driverside and rear of the passenger side...likely common knowledge for experienced LS folks:



Cleaned up the wiring today as well as switched to antifreeze...figured we would wait to switch from distilled water, but we had no leaks so...

[Tim Mc]

We crossed 500 miles today...and zinged it toward 6500 rpm. No tach as of yet so stopped at 6000 according to the Holley Learning chart...sounded pretty wicked and the pull was impressive. Each shift got a chirp from the LS7 clutch and a smile at how the trans shifted. Really happy at how the E36 has accepted the new powertrain. No downsides yet!

Bought a inexpensive shifter stick to modify to relocate the shifter handle to the rear an inch. Currently it will pull on the OEM shift boot enough to dislodge. We just have to reposition the stick a bit...

Also got stuck in traffic for nearly an hour...Volvo fan on low speed did the job 210 on and 200 off. Note it is over 90 with humidity here. Temps ought to drop soon...attempting to let the money tree grow a few leaves before pursuing the AC option...

Not quite the correct forum, but my old car is being advertised on Ebay. Feels a bit weird seeing it...owned 11 years, countless autocrosses, dozens of road course visits, dragstrip runs, and lots of blood sweat and tears. Of course the finale was two One Lap of America attempts with the second winning our class and 9th out of 82 cars/teams. Surprising how badly the add is written...missing all the important points! Weird though...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Chevro...5bo8WM&vxp=mtr



And my favorite image of that car...Sears Point, catching a slide in NASCAR turn...(I was soiling my shorts, by the way! Power is still on...) Third favorite track of all time.

[Tim Mc]

Back to normally scheduled program...

We have a break this weekend and Bradenten Quartermile is $15 to run...likely a no prep fun runs. Likely a ton of people/street cars and 90+ heat.

But an opportunity. So did a quick oil change and will head to the races with our 650 mile old LS swap. Wish us luck?

Any guesses on a mild 5.3 with 3.91 gears and aged Firestone 245's?

If I can work the shifter, I predict 13.40's...hopefully conservative if we don't have a hiccup. It is Saturday so hiccups are ok...

[Tim Mc]

Well, unfortunately first trip down the strip ended with several hard run ins with the limiter and the engine scattered at 6500 rpm!
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Just kidding!

Ran like a top! No tachometer, aged Firestone street radials, 92 degrees, 1000 street cars and only 3 runs completed before my assistant's bed time.

14.00 @ 106 MPH (2.5 60 foot - lots of wheel spin off the line and tagged the limiter on two shifts)
13.90 @ 107 MPH (2.3 60 foot - missed third and more tagging of the 6500 limiter!)

13.27 @ 109 MPH (2.2 60 foot - shifts right at 35 mph, 55 mph, and 80 mph...equating to just shy of 6500 rpm - no limiter!) Thankfully for a clean run!

I'd hope with a fresh tire and clutch work a 2.0 is doable...noting each tenth saved on the line will generally equate to twice that at the end. Car could run a 13 flat with no changes.

Also, appeared we were running out of fuel on the topend examining the Holley HP datalog ('Learn' was adding 100% fuel!)...may explain the lower then expected MPH. Our analog gauge shows 38 psi...it might actually be right. Possibly another filter/regulator is in order. The Aeromotive 340 pump should not have any issues.

Cooler air, cold air box, pull the spare, fine tune the fueling, maybe a set of BFG Rivals for a bit more stick...all will help toward likely an easy 12 second run with essentially a stock 5.3 with a mild Comp Cam.

Car cruised to and from the dragway - 85 mile round trip at 85 mph with nary an issue.

Success in my book!




3 runs in order...:



The last and best run...time to call it a night!:



Success!:

[Tim Mc]

And yes we did burnouts...tires showed no wear!

Yes the burn downs were not necessary, but great fun...

First run with ridiculous wheel spin at start...the Camaro was open headered which made launching by ear nothing, but a guess. You can hear the exhaust at 6000 rpm after the other car completes his weak tire heating...We like it. (click on the image for the video)

[Tim Mc]

The best run...possibly too quiet! (click on the image for the video):

[Tim Mc]

Refueled today and was rewarded with 20.2 mpg even with the 3 runs down the strip. 22 for normal commute is likely.

[Tim Mc]

Youtube version...

[Laminar]

Awesome job! You're not wasting any time having fun with this thing!

[RulyLSX]

Very cool videos Tim, looks like your experience at the drag strip was the same as my first time out

[Tim Mc]

Appreciate it folks. Obviously we just copied what the community posts for experiences. I would not consider this an easy swap...quite a bit out of our comfort zone really.

Yesterday we surpassed 1000 miles on the combination. Very impressed at both the E36 and the LS/T56 combination. Really drives nice. Having the V8 growl makes more than few folks turn their heads. Looking forward to the cooler weather.

Positives:
-Love the 2.97 first gear and 3.91 gears. I like to shift and one can lug at 35 mph in sixth (recall a very tame smooth idle cam). Mileage is over 20 which may be equal to the S52/automatic combination...we will keep track.
-No change to handling. Would like to add 8.5 inch wheels up front.
-Cooling is a non issue. No AC condenser, but the Volvo fan on low speed in the factory pusher shroud clicks on at 210 and off at 200 as advertised. 90+ with humidity doesn't phase the car. The European reservoir seems to work as advertised as well with only a single hose connection (no heater).
-Used to have 4 types of fluid leaks...my driveway has been dry since the swap - very thankful! And no oil usage...only 1000 miles though.

Issues to resolve:

-lifter tick: likely too short of a pushrod with a 7.4 inch length - just a hair longer than OEM LS sizing. Appears we need a 7.45 length which seems consistent on other's experience with LS7 lifters and aftermarket camshaft. Summit order placed.
-shifter stick is 1.5 inches too far forward: I bought an inexpensive stick and will cut the lower off and have welded to the current stick to reposition to the rear. The OEM shift boot will then be centered and won't pull apart when selecting a forward gear
-clutch takeup: Very soft pedal - very BMW like! The engagement could be higher off the floor - similar to OEM. Some risk to syncro wear. We should have measured the slave throw - likely we should have included a shim. Not a show stopper and shifting at 6500 rpm was a non-issue. No shuddering-pretty impressive a $500 package.
-Fuel pressure: does appear 38 psi is accurate. Dragstrip confirmed we were 'running out' of fuel on the top end. Summit order placed for the third fuel pressure regulator/filter combination. First was was 78 psi, second at 38...third time is a charm?
-Rear axle whine on decel: our original M3 diff was refreshed with all new seals/bearings and used 3.91 gears. Original rubber carrier bushings. Was silent until...the drag visit. Now a slight whine with slight vibration on decel. Car still drives fine, but something moved...disappointed if we broke the diff. Our aged tires and 2.2 launch is laughable for severity, relatively speaking. We did experience wheel hop on hard shifts and even some burnouts-rev'ing it higher eliminated it.

Even in 90+ weather (no AC), we both prefer to drive this project car than the others - appreciate all the posted information!

[nsogiba]

Curious to see how the longer pushrods affect your noise. Did you measure with a length checker when assembling the engine?

[Laminar]

The engagement could be higher off the floor - similar to OEM. Some risk to syncro wear. We should have measured the slave throw - likely we should have included a shim.

Do you have any extra throw available in the master and slave? Is the connection between the master and pedal adjustable?

[TipsyMcStagger]

Intersting to see that you used the OE splined bolts in the JTR flange. Those had to be pressed in, no?

I picked up some Grade 10.9 M10-1.5 x 25mm flange bolts and flange nuts. It didn't cross my mind to use OE style bolts/studs.

Just enough room to insert the transferred spline studs of the JTR flange into the 188 mm diff flange.

[bimerok]

I also used oe bolts. They are pretty easy to remove from original drive shaft.