This here will be the journal for an extremely tight budget build I am going to attempt. I am going to attempt to do a LS swap with a manual transmission on my 95 525i for $1500 or less. As difficult as this may sound I believe I can almost do this for $0 the way things have been going lately. It seemed like a daunting task when I first set out on this, but I have been getting more confidence with this plan.
So about the car. What I have is a build date 11/95 E34 525i that originally started it's life as an auto but did not shift into 4th.
Overtime I eventually did a manual swap and it kind of worked after figuring out how to bypass the EWS. But then the engine was very low on power and I decided to try rebuilding that with a M54B30 crank I got from a engine I bought for $75. As I tore down the E34 block, this project was going to get more and more expensive. So I looked for some alternatives. You can read the whole thing about what I have been doing with a college budget for the last 3 years in the link below.https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...i-Build-ThreadNow how I intend to get this done within my given budget. About a month ago I bought a donor truck for $1500 and have been parting it out. It wan an 01 Silverado with a 5.3 and had a very smooth running engine with 190K miles on it. The PO had a run in with a deer and was not able to fix the damage so he sold it to me.
For the transmission, I traded the 4L60E for a built T5 that came off a LS swapped 64 C10. I am a bit worried about using a T5, despite being claimed to be built to handle 400hp. But for the scope of this project it will have to do. It is a bit of a mut of a transmission. It is a S10 tail housing, a 83-87 Camaro gear box, and a Chevelle SBC bellhouse.
Between selling parts off this truck and the BMW parts, I have in my hand $1254 cash, an engine, a built T5 transmission that came off a LS truck, and a GTO oil pan. So with the major components acquired and a lot more truck to sell, I think I can get away with my budget easily. So being only $246 invested into this project so far, I would say I am doing decent.
So where am I at now with this. I spent a week cleaning up a space in my garage to start this project. I eventually got that done and got the E34 in the garage. Basically I have only been able to clean the engine bay out to make room for 5.3L of Murica! The GTO oil pan I ordered will be here Thursday so I can start mockup soon I hope.
Today was decently warm so I took the pressure washer out and started cleaning off all the grease and grime. For a project this intense, it would be nice to be able to work in a somewhat clean environment. I kind of stripped the paint off in some areas so a re-spray will eventually happen.
For the future bits, I am thinking of buying an E36 specific LS swap P and P harness and that should hopefully be easy enough to utilize on the E34 since the two seem to be similar enough on the engine side. For oil pan clearance I am planning on notching the pan instead of modifying the sub frame since I want to eventually do a rack and pinion. For the rear end I plan on keeping my S3.23 LSD.
So anyways, this is where I am at. I hope being on this side of the forum, I will be able to bounce ideas and gain some valuable knowledge off those more experienced than I with this LS swap.
Last edited by XCRN; 03-25-2018 at 08:03 PM.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
I like the idea, but it's going to be very tough to stay within your budget. Nickle and dime stuff will add up big time with these swaps, especially when you don't have a complete donor car to play with. Also, a plug and play harness will use up a huge chunk of your budget- look into doing the harness yourself. I tried to do my on the cheaper side with a lot of used parts, but I still ended up way over what I wanted to spend, and it was nowhere close to being done for $1500.
Instergrams: @davemakepictar
You rock! You rule! I love this price target. If you pull it off, it will be incredible. Very nice . . . .
If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.
There is no doubt it will be a challenge, but it will be a fun and interesting challenge to take on. This will probably cost way more than $1500 overall but as long as my out of pocket cost stays below, I would still call that a victory.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Totally agree, the price target should be out-of-pocket, not absolute cost. That's the way budget build challenges always work!
If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.
Cool swap! A friend and coworker is doing an e34 LS swap in the very near future and I’m sure he’ll find this thread helpful.
My only advice about building on a budget is to forget the budgeted time and money when it makes more sense to do so, especially with most of these cars close to the end of their service life. I didn’t want or expect to drop my rear subframe and replace every wear item in the rear suspension but it needed to be done. It’s not technically part of the swap but if you’re building on a budget it’s all coming from the same kitty.
Speaking of budget items, I’m really interested to see how the T5 holds up behind an LS. The one downside of LS swaps is the cost of the manual transmissions. $300 for an engine but $2000 for a transmission. I recently put together the cost of using a T5 in an LS swap in a friend’s e28 and I think it was around $1k with a new clutch and bellhousing.
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I don't ever want to add up all the receipts from my swap. What brake booster do you plan on using? What driveshaft? Corvette FPR/filter? A/C?
Just asking because there isn't much documented on this swap and maybe I can give some advice on what did/didn't work for me.
This car has already been a 3 year project with limited funds because college life. Now I am a "responsible adult" I can throw money at the nonLS stuff and not feel bad. My $1500 is for getting a running driving LS swap only. Suspension work is needed, I want a rack and pinion, it will be getting a new paint job, and I have a spare set of F30 4 piston calipers lying around and I want to try and get thoes on there. That will not be cheap but I do not need that for an LS swap so that I dont think should count against the $1500 LS budget.
But I am just as interested to see how this transmission turns out. Essentially being only $300 for the trans with new clutch and flywheel is worth the risk to me.
I was actually inspired by your build and really studied a lot of what you did, so I would love to hear your thoughts. I want to get a booster much like the one you got. I am guessing here but it looks like a universal 7" booster off summit. My question is about the MC. Did that come off a square body truck by chance?
Going with a custom made driveshaft using the rear E34 half since it will be about $200 from a shop near me.
I plan on using Corvette fuel reg, but I was going to ask what pump did you use.
Not sure on AC yet. I am going to get a smaller condenser up front to allocate more space.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
I actually ended up swapping out my old booster and MC and going back with a BMW booster and my stock MC. I did this because the muscle car booster I was using gave me absolute crap brake feel and I hated it. I ended up using a dual diaphragm booster from an e30 325ix/ e32 735i non hydroboost. This booster is bigger in diameter which made me have to do some clearancing on my drivers side header.
For a driveshaft I first had my factory one cut and a yoke welded on to the front. This caused issues with balance and drive-line angles (multiple trans mount re-designs and pinion angle changes) and destroyed a couple CSBs. I just went back with a single piece driveshaft and the e36 driveshaft flange.
I had some leaning out fuel issues and ultimately did my own relay power harness due to the stock wiring not being able to handle my 340lph pump. I also ran AN6 line from the tank to the engine and ditching the stock hard lines (though still using a corvette FPR). You may not have this problem with a stock 5.3, but I have upgraded quite a few things since my original build thread and needed some more fuel delivery. My 340lph pump actually overpowers the regulator in the corvette filter assembly so I have about 78PSI at the rail instead of the factory GM 58PSI, so my setup isn't perfect.
Given that I will hopefuly doing a rack and pinion with this, I might be able to get away with the stock booster perhaps. So do you think what you did is easier in your mind to do vs a 540i front mount booster? I would be somewhat open to doing the front mount and fabricating some linkage. For me retaining ABS and TCS is not necessary but would be nice.
That is good to know for the driveshaft. Why an E36 flange specifically? I thought they were CV joints.
Was that fuel pump a drop in replacement or did you have to modify the housing? I was wondering if the 540i pump could potentially keep up with it, but I do not know the specs on it vs a 6 cylinder pump. I was expecting to have to do all the lines anyways. They are starting to get a bit corroded but not leaking yet. Ultimatly down the line I want to do a rev happy 4.8 or 5.3 aluminum block engine. Something reminiscent of an E39 M5.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Are you running the car with this pressure? I had a similar issue with an Aeromotive 340, and the car was running so rich that the PCM couldn't keep the car running. Swapped to a Walbro 255, and it helped, then traced the issue back to the jet siphon pump in the tank. With that modified, pressure seems to sit around 60 PSI.
Instergrams: @davemakepictar
Another $100 to the LS swap fund, whoo!
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Depending on what accessory suite you run, the 530/540 front mount booster would probably be your best bet. But the e30 guys want those for swaps too, so sometimes they are hard to come by.
For the driveshaft, I didn't want to re-use my CV joint off my old driveshaft since it was worn out, and it was a similar price to get this adapter and change the flange on my differential to match it. Then I would have a common U-Joint that could be easily replaced down the road if needed.
I had to adapt the pump to the plastic clip in cradle because the early e34s had a larger diameter stock pump. Yours may just be a drop in with no issues.
- - - Updated - - -
The e34 doesn't have an over the driveshaft tank design, so we have no siphon pump.
My tuner said we could just tune to the higher output of the injectors.
I have been looking a lot into the hydroboost setup, and all things considered it would probably be my best bet. I have a GM rack and pinion in mind with a GM power steering pump from a Corvette and using a 2500 booster since my buddy has one on his parts truck he will give to me for a free meal. I would imagine all the hydraulics being GM, there should be shared fittings and will make it somewhat easy run the lines. It sounds like brake performance will really increase with this too.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Did a little more work this week. I got the oil pan in and it is incredibly clean, but has a crack in the front. It should not be too bad to fix however. I started cutting the pan and will be taking it into work to throw on one of our mills to square up the notch.
I had to also cutoff the rear trans mounts for the gussets on the rear of the pan to clear. I will clean up the cuts down the line.
I also went to the junkyard this weekend and got a hydroboost unit from an 02 Escalade and a rack from a 06 Buick Lecrosse...Lesabre...some Lecrapcan.
The rack I got may work but there are some things that needed to be addressed. The pivot centers appear to be about 1/4" to 1/2" longer on the rack, but the tie rods are clearly too long. Maybe Cavalier tierods are shorter and may bring the pivot center in a bit. I was going to get a Cavalier rack, but this was found on a car with the sub-frame already pulled and looked to be close enough to risk the $30 for it. It also only has a travel distance of 5-1/4" vs the E34 travel of 6-1/4". It turns 2-1/2 times lock to lock so it has a good ratio for a sport oriented purpose. I know people have mentioned a VW GTI rack, but GM power steering pump, GM hydroboost, GM rack just makes sense.
Last edited by XCRN; 04-01-2018 at 06:13 PM.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Are you going to modify the e34 struts where the tie rod attaches? I know it has been mentioned on here before that where the tie rod connects needs to be moved closer to the axis of rotation of the strut since racks have less throw than the steering boxes.
Also, I haven't had a chance to get my car back on the lift to get any measurements for you, but it looks like you are past the point of needing that anyway...
I am considering making a new swing arm to maintain the same steering angle. If I did that however, I would probably use the taper from some GM tie rod to keep it simple as far as the rack setup. But the steering angle decrease is hardly noticeable by eye.
As far as location goes, it would still help if you would not mind. I just cut my pan by eyeballing your pictures but that will not determine final positioning. I am also looking into trimming the rear gussets to sit it lower.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Does the radiator support comes off on the e34, or did you cut it off?
thanks for your help.
Comes right off.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Started mockup this weekend. So to start with I milled the notch I made in the pan to be able to have a nice squared surface to put in the patch panels.
Then on Friday I picked up an Aluminum 5.3 block with rotating assembly. I thought I was buying a bare block but it included the rotating assembly and camshaft so I spent some time stripping it down to a bare block. I figured the aluminum block would be much easier to use for mockup and I do want to end up building a rev happy 4.8 or 5.3 with a T56 anyways so it was worth the $200 to get it now.
There will be some clearance issues with using an external slave cylinder.
So with a spot I think will work, I mocked up some really crappy mount so I can measure it and make a real mount.
And with this ugly thing I was able to get enough measurements to design this. My hope is everything can easily be reproduced and economical so I can sell these. The plates will be laser cut and the tube might be able to be cut but one side has a lot of weird angles to it.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Don't forget to account for the GTO oil pan dipstick. I ended up going with a Lokar flexible dipstick because of all the clearance issues I was having over there with the engine mount and my AC Compressor.
Not much to report on today. I was hoping to have more done with the mounts but I am still waiting to hear back on the quotes for the laser cut parts. The most I did this week was get the arms made up by machining the ends in a really complicated setup and having to weld them to length. Not the prettiest welds but they will have to do for now.
Just a quick mockup looks like I got the arms done right.
I also began on looking into the wiring. This is what I got on the X20 plug and the ETM. If I got this right, this looks very similar to a lot of S50 pin out diagrams floating around online.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
Still no quotes back on the plates so that is annoying. I am goin to see if I have some plate at home to make them my self. I have also been looking to see if there is a way to mate a BMW trans like a Getrag 460G 6 speed from a 540i or even the ZF310 I have now. Does anyone know if such adaptor plates exist?
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
http://www.pmcmotorsport.com/gegearb...w-m50-m57.html
It'd certainly blow your budget though.
Watch the various Camaro/Firebird forums for busted T56s. If you search eBay or Craigslist everyone wants $2000+ for a T56. If you check the Camaro forums they're more like $1000-1500, and if you find one that needs some work even better. Don't overlook the TR-6060 from the later Camaro. Because they're generally thought of as vehicle-specific, they go for even less money when it's just a T56 Magnum for super cheap.
95 E34 553i6 LS TR6060 Project
93 E34 525iA Beater with no heaterVANOS kicked in yo!
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