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Thread: Yas Marina LS Swap

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan

    Yas Marina 6.0 LS Swap



    I've been lurking around for the last year and a half, and decided to post info on my car.

    I had a built s2000 for a few years and absolutely loved it. I sold it along with a lifted TJ to make room for something that would hold two car seats, settling on a Lexus IS F. It was a great car, lots of power, fantastic interior, super reliable but was a clutch pedal away from being an awesome car. I was half looking for an e46 M3 convertible when I came across articles/posts on e36 LS swaps. Then I found an e36 sedan for $550 and jumped on it (and sold the Lexus). I knew I was going to swap a LS but hadn't yet decided on the details (i.e. mounts, headers, LS variant, etc.).

    The car was an automatic with a blown head gasket. The body was pretty solid except for 1-2" spots of rust in the middle of two doors. As soon as I bought it, I knew it was going to go through a color change and already had the color picked out. Here's what it looked like when I bought it.



    I immediately started stripping it down to get it ready for paint. I found a couple of additional spots where rust was starting to form but nothing too bad. I gutted the interior at the same time to clean it and to decide what to do with the seats and to make sure the T56 would align. When I pulled the center console I found several syringes (with needles). Glad I saw them before they got me. Anyway, here are some shots of the color change.





























    I pulled the entire rear suspension, diff, and carrier. I replaced all the bushings in the rear and powdercoated all of the suspension arms. Then I found a guy with a welding trailer and had him weld reinforcement plates for the subframe and trailing arm mounts and sway bar mounts.













    I wanted an accent color to pop off the Yas Marina and went with neon yellow. The calipers will definitely be seen. We'll see about the diff carrier. I switched to a 3.91 LSD diff and put new seals in it (crossing my fingers that it doesn't need rebuilt). For the brakes, I have Porsche rears with Rallyroad brackets and lines. The fronts are C6 Z06 calipers with Rallyroad brackets and lines. The rears were a learning exercise. I didn't know that BMW used different trailing arms on M3's vs the other 3's. This means that e46 M3 rear rotors (for the Porsche caliper swap) will mount up but the parking brake is different. And not in the pads but the mounting points. I bought a pair of e36 M3 dust shields, thinking that would change the shoe spacing. It changed the spacing to the right position but they won't mount on non-M3 trailing arms. I ended up having spacer rings machined and pressed into my e46 M3 rotors to keep my parking brake. I was really close to simply ditching the parking brake but chose to keep it, knowing that I would have kids in this car.



    Pulled the stock engine. Going to swap a LQ4 with 823 heads, LS3 intake, and BTR cam. I'm using Vorshlag mounts and JTR headers.

    Last edited by BillyDee36; 12-31-2018 at 03:44 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    Like that color...no missing the yellow for sure!

    A repaint in one's garage is quite impressive.

    We love blue four doors!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,241
    My Cars
    96 328is 6.0L
    Nice build start. Wonder what the brake pedal feel be like with such massive calipers and OE BMW master.
    - 96 328is 6.0L. (LS1 to LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ad.php?2098938)
    - 96 328is 5.7L. (LS1 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1289987)
    - 95 ///M3 6.0L. (LS2 build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1619249)

    - 97 ///M3. (e46 Fender Flares/track car build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1727098)
    - 96 328is (Dual Fuel Pump to Surge Tank thread: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?1964025)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    I was able to get the engine set today so that I can begin mocking up the headers, steering, and brake lines. There is no room between the firewall and rear of the engine!

    Last edited by BillyDee36; 12-30-2018 at 07:16 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Surrey, BC
    Posts
    514
    My Cars
    Canada
    amazing work.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    It was a slow winter but I made bits of progress here and there. Went to wire up a new head unit and found that there was no plug, just a handful of wires. Someone had their radio stolen. Soldered in a new connector. I also tore down the front end. Sway bar mounts had to be replaced.





    - - - Updated - - -

    Painted the engine bay this weekend. (Forgot to take a pic after I sprayed clear)





    Now it’s time to relocate the abs pump, flush the heater core, test the blower motor, and get the motor ready.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    198
    My Cars
    Bmw E39 528i
    i love a clean engine bay. greAt job on everything.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by mrallande5020 View Post
    i love a clean engine bay. greAt job on everything.
    Thanks!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Worked on the motor today. Got the cam swapped, new timing set, new oil pump, and heads swapped. I painted the bottom end and will need to see how the motor looks with the valve covers but I’m leaning toward painting the heads too. Still need to paint the water pump and headers.

    Next up: blower motor and abs relocation






  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Lines are almost done. Motors in temporarily but will need to be moved for headers and wiring.




  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Milwaukee, WI
    Posts
    323
    My Cars
    '99 LS-swapped 323i vert
    Quote Originally Posted by BillyDee36 View Post
    Motors in temporarily

    May be temporary, but it looks nice! I hope it felt good!
    Diving in at the shallow end!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    192
    My Cars
    1997 M3/4/5
    Looks great! I love the color combo.
    1997 E36 M3/4/5
    ASM - Slicktop
    My LS3 Build: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...9#post30117299

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by motorV8ed View Post
    May be temporary, but it looks nice! I hope it felt good!
    Definitely!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by wbrentr View Post
    Looks great! I love the color combo.
    Thanks! I can’t wait to see the wheels on it

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    How do people mount the GM ecu in the BMW location?

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Elizabethtown, PA
    Posts
    1,437
    My Cars
    99 540i6
    How'd you paint that in the garage without getting dust on every piece? Need to know the trick!
    '99 BMW 540i6 L33 5.3, PRC Heads, E-force supercharged
    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1674320

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
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    1998 328i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by James39 View Post
    How'd you paint that in the garage without getting dust on every piece? Need to know the trick!
    Clean, clean, clean. And then know how to cut and buff.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Trying to put the finishing touches on the brake setup. With the abs motor now in the front of the engine bay, I chose to do something similar to the way Vorshlag runs their lines. I bought a -3 bulkhead fitting along with tube sleeves and couplers, and installed it through the wheel well rather than splicing into the oem line, running it back to the firewall then forward to the soft line bracket. Just seemed like a lot of unnecessary routing.



    - - - Updated - - -

    I also started reassembling the front suspension. Can’t wait to get the center bored of the rotors machined so that I can get them on and more excitingly, the calipers. I also test fitted the steering shaft and it looks like the oem shaft is going to work. Bonus! I’ll try to get it in and take pics tonight.


  19. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Swapped reverse light switches, wish I would’ve don’t that before the transmission was in the car!



    i also started on the wiring. I bought a Wiring Specialties harness but couldn’t find how to route it. It just seems long. I thought about cutting it but don’t really want to spend the time resoldering and wrapping it. I ended up coiling the excess and putting it on top of the ecu in the BMW ecu cubby. Then I notched the bottom of the cubby cover so that the relay wiring exits separately from the rest of the harness (it was too short to go out with the rest of the harness and loop back toward the fender. I’m not finished but I think it’s going to look clean.








  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    198
    My Cars
    Bmw E39 528i
    That's a clean spot and all that wrap looks so good, i think you ran all the wires perfect. I got my harness from them aswell.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Milwaukee, WI
    Posts
    323
    My Cars
    '99 LS-swapped 323i vert
    Quote Originally Posted by BillyDee36 View Post
    Swapped reverse light switches, wish I would’ve done that before the transmission was in the car!
    I said those exact same words on Saturday!

    The harness work and bay look great. I also have some of the wiring coming out the bottom, and some out the "normal" BMW hole.
    Diving in at the shallow end!

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Looking for some help with vacuum routing. I found something online showing that the driver side valve cover needs to be connected to the passenger side of the intake manifold. Is there any issue if I just connect the passenger side valve cover to the passenger side of the intake manifold? This is a ls3 manifold.


  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    59
    My Cars
    1999 BMW M3 Coupe
    The PCV should come from the drivers side valve cover and go to the port I circled in red.

    The forward port on the passenger side valve cover that I circled in blue goes to the port on the throttle body.
    porting info.jpg
    1999 E36 M3 Cosmo/Sand Beige LS1 swap
    2022 G42 230i Thundernight/Tacora

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by smr87 View Post
    The PCV should come from the drivers side valve cover and go to the port I circled in red.

    The forward port on the passenger side valve cover that I circled in blue goes to the port on the throttle body.
    porting info.jpg
    Thanks. So I can cap the port on the drivers side of the manifold?

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    130
    My Cars
    1998 328i Sedan
    Started fabbing up a bracket for my heater valve.







    Here’s a couple engine bay shots




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