E36 with a 5.3 LS and CD009 Transmission

[FLBMWM3]

I thought it was time to put a build thread together for a little project I have been working on. Just looking through the conversion thread it looks like there are a ton of LS swapped E36's on here already, so whats one more!

I have always loved BMW's, and before I got married I had a Imola Red E46 M3. It was a great car, but developed a solid VANOS tick and instead of pouring money into it I decided to be an adult and trade her in.

That was 10+ years ago. This story starts about two years ago. I was back at a point in my life where I was ready start another project, and the wife gave me the green light so I started surfing Craigslist for ideas. Still loving BMW's, but not wanting to deal with another set of engine troubles I thought I would go the route of LS swapping an E36. My Craigslist hunting finally turned up a great deal on a Gen IV 5.3 engine for $300!
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I picked it up, tore it down, and took it to the machine shop for some hot tanking, honing, and a overall health check. Once i got it back I painted everything, and put new rings and bearings in the bottom end. I also tossed an Improved Racing Baffle in the oil pan, and then buttoned everything up.
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The block also came with cathedral port 799 heads. They also went to the machine shop where they were hot tanked, and pressure tested. Everything looked great, so in went new valves, Chevy Performance LS6 Bee Hive springs, new seals and hats. Also the block received a BTR stage 4 truck cam.
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[FLBMWM3]

Once the heads were back on I topped everything off with a LS6 intake manifold, along with LS3 injectors and fuel rails.
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Now that I had the engine rebuilt I once again turned to Craigslist for a gem of an E36 shell. What I found was a $250 track car shell that I couldn't say no to. It had seen better days, but showed a lot of promise and came with a title.
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One commitment I made to myself years ago was that with any project car I built I would test fire the engine before putting it in the car. I have swapped motors in cars before to only spend a ton of time fighting gremlins trying to get the motor run in the car. This time around I built a test stand and fired the engine in my driveway (the neighbors loved it).
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In March of this year I fired the engine for the first time.

[FLBMWM3]

Once I had the engine fired I started turning my attention to getting the car ready to receive the engine. I stripped the engine bay, removed the brake booster, and primed/painted everything. I decided to go with the ChaseBays BBE Kit to save room, and not deal with relocating the ABS. I also at this time installed Nerp Tech upper strut mount braces.
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[Liquidity]

Buy a complete dropout from a reputable supplier and there’s no guesswork involved.

[StolenFox]

Buy a complete dropout from a reputable supplier and there’s no guesswork involved.

In many cases that’s true but like anything else, it’s not guaranteed. I’ve lost count of how many LS swap threads I’ve read where some poor guy got hosed with a bum engine from what was supposedly a reputable supplier. When your building something custom that has numerous engineering challenges the last thing you want to do is waste time, money and energy pulling your freshly swapped engine because it was crap.

I’m with the OP: if you can run it before installation, do it! That’s what I did with the engine I built.

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Good luck with your build!

S.F.

[Liquidity]

I’m not sure our definitions of reputable suppliers are the same. I don’t mean LKQ, I mean someone that actually specializes in this and makes sure the engines run properly before they pull them.

[FLBMWM3]

I mainly wanted to start it up outside of the car to make sure everything I did was correct and that I didn’t screw anything up haha. I had everything inspected by the machine shop and knew it was good to go from a parts stand point.

[StolenFox]

I mainly wanted to start it up outside of the car to make sure everything I did was correct and that I didn’t screw anything up haha.

Exactly. For me, it was my first complete engine build and I too wanted to make sure that I didn’t screw it up. Yes, it is ultimately faster and usually cheaper to buy a complete pull out from someone like Cleveland Power and Performance or Speartech but I wanted to build my powertrain with my own hands. Part of the Automotive Bucket List I guess...

S.F.

[FLBMWM3]

While I was getting the engine bay ready I pulled all of the suspension, and threw it in the trash. The ball joints were blow, the struts were gone and everything needed refreshing. At the same time I dropped the cross member and welded in some Turner Motorsports cross member reinforcements. I also installed M3 knuckles, Stop Tech rotors, Condor Speed shop front control arm bushings, and some cheap ebay coilovers to get the car back down on the ground. I plan to go with some BC coils once the car is painted, and ready to hit the road.
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[FLBMWM3]

Once the car was back down on four wheels I turned my attention to getting the CD009 transmission ready to mate up to the 5.3. I decided to use a Collins adapter to mate the T56 bellhousing up to the CD009. Let me say this adapter is high quality, and once the bellhousing was removed everything bolted up as it should.
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[Garage5]

Update?

[rstaylor25]

Douglas!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ihavea1993325i]

seems like OP is (more) active here?

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...3-cd009-5.html

[FLBMWM3]

So I wanted to take some time to update this thread. I have been keeping things pretty updated over on LS1tech, but I thought it would be a good idea to get things updated here as well.

A good amount of progress has been made since my last post. The engine is in the car, fully wired, and the fuel system is plumbed and working.
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Also since my last post we sold our house an built a new one. We moved a little further away from town, but that gave us the ability to be able to build a detached garage for all of my hobbies. My wife works from home so we built an office above the garage for her.
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Once I got settled into the new garage I found a great deal on a m3 rear end. I went and grabbed it and tucked it away in the back corner as a winter project.
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While we were getting settled in the new house I started knocking out some of the little items like the radiator, intake and relocating the coils.
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[FLBMWM3]

Once I got the some of the small items knocked out I turned my attention to getting the engine fully wired, the fuel system plumbed, and the transmission sorted.

The engine has a PSI Wiring harness which made things super simple
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Ran a Corvette FPR/filter
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Cut the top of the trans tunnel, and installed a Collins Adapters CD009 Shifter Relocation kit.
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After I got everything wired and plumbed I was able to fire the engine in the car!

[FLBMWM3]

Now that I know the engine runs I have turned my attention to rebuilding the M3 rear end I picked up some time ago.

Currently I have completely stripped the rear end apart, repainted everything, pressed in new bushings, and started to reassemble everything.

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[FLBMWM3]

One additional exciting thing to happen is that months ago I ordered a CNC plasma table, and it has finally arrived!

It took an entire weekend, but I got everything assembled and operational.

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This table is amazing and I plan to starting to designing and cutting more parts for the car. So far I have just cut a few little thing like a gas pedal mount, and some block off plates for the sensors located in the rear trailing arms.
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[motorV8ed]

One additional exciting thing to happen is that months ago I ordered a CNC plasma table, and it has finally arrived!


This table is amazing and I plan to starting to designing and cutting more parts for the car. So far I have just cut a few little thing like a gas pedal mount, and some block off plates for the sensors located in the rear trailing arms.

Wow! That is very cool. Congrats!

PS: Why a rabbit? Why not, I suppose...

[FLBMWM3]

HAHAHA it was an Easter decoration for my wife. Trying to convince here that the table was a good purchase lol.

[FLBMWM3]

I also cut and made a small over flow tank for my radiator as well.
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[motorV8ed]

Happy wife, happy life! Nice going on the table AND the tank!

[FLBMWM3]

Thanks man!

[Laminar]

What are your feelings on the CD009 ratios? the 1-2 drop is pretty steep. 3-4-5 are nice and tight. It's a single overdrive vs. the common T56 double overdrive, and not very tall. With a 3.23 rear and 26" tire you're at 2300rpm @ 70mph. Have you picked out a rear end ratio?

[FLBMWM3]

That is a question I have been asked a lot. To be honest based off the numbers I think I will be fine, but the real test is when I actually get the car on the road and see how it feels. Below is a MPH chart based off gearing and RPM. This is based on the CD009 gearing and the M3 diff ration of 3.23. Currently the rear end I plan on using is a 3.23 M3,
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[Laminar]

It really depends on your redline and desired usage. I made an Excel sheet to look at different ratios and had put the CD009 in it back when I heard people were swapping these into everything. I included the RPM the engine will drop to if you shift at redline, and the RPM @ 70mph in top gear.



A 3.23 seems like a good balance of performance and driveability, 2250rpm at 70. If you're doing open track stuff, you'd probably spend most time in 2-3-4, covering 32-126mph. If you wanted to take advantage of the tight 3-4-5 ratios, you could use a 3.91 rear which would cover 38-130mph. But then you'd be up at 2800rpm at 70mph. I'm interested to see how it feels!