2001 740i M-Sport E38 LS/LQ9 Swap Build

[Vladkurk]

Hello guys! So finally I’ve come to the forums and made an account to I guess save my work in progress and have something I could share with people and look back at.

I’ve been wrenching on all sorts of bmws from e30s to f10s but my personal favorite the e38 I just can’t get over. This one is Number 4 that I’ve had so far. Ive been lurking the forums for years now looking at. I’ve always wanted to LS swap an E38 just because the cost of power and maintenance with an LS compared to an M62Tub44 is not even on the same level.

So this how it starts, My little brother stumbled upon a 01 740i M sport a few hours away and he sent me a link and after a few days of texting I was on my way with a trailer and picking this baby up for $500 bucks.
I bought the sporty shorty with 180k on the clock and seems like they let the chains rattle for too long and it bent valves and got no compression what’s so ever.



Turns out the car is a one owner Cali car bought in Santa Clara BMW with all the original paperwork and every little paper from the purchase date and just a boat load of maintenance papers. Sadly being a California car it’s whole life, the clear coat on this thing is toast for the most part. But, most importantly there’s not a single dent on this thing and everything lines up, nothings missing, absolutely perfect in my eyes. I don’t mind repainting the whole body once I’m done with my swap. It’s the perfect candidate for me to restore and it’s the color I’ve always wanted.

The plan is to do a 6.0 LS swap with a 4l80e transmission. At some point I want to boost the setup but not sure if it’ll be right away or just run N/A setup.
I have a lot of research to do for this swap but I think There’s enough info out there to get the ball rolling for now.

I found a LQ9 out of a 05 Escalade this weekend and will be picking it up sometime this week when they pull it

So as of now I’m waiting to pick up the swap and now I’m on the hunt for a 4l80e and I’m gonna probably need the help of the forum for the motor mounts/trans mount. I just don’t wanna spend the time and effort for custom mounts if I can save up a little money for some mounts and I can just bolt the swap in, honestly everything other than the mounts I’m pretty confident to do but I feel like it’s best to spend a little extra money for some mounts where I can just bolt in. So if anyone got pointers for me let me know!

Anyways, got some work done today, I got a parts 740il I got and just stealing some of the black interior parts for my 740i since I will be doing a black interior swap too. I don’t dig the grey at all. Just gonna part the thing out of stuff I need and post the rest for whoever needs parts.


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[Vladkurk]

I need some help, I wanna try to just pick up some engine mounts and trans mount if I can. I would rather save up some money and buy some nicely fabbed mounts. If I have to make them, I’ll make them but what are my options here? Any input? Thank you


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[KinkedChrome]

As a fellow e38 lover, I'm excited to see this swap happen. A few others have done them, but none really documented. There are some e39 swaps that have been pretty well documented though.

Here is a little food for thought on your mount concerns. e39 540i LS mounts would work if you run into some, both engine and trans. No idea what type of pan the LQ9 comes with, but the e38 subframe is setup for a front sump pan. Though I think there are front sumps available for LS's. On that note, a I6 subframe is really close to bolting up and only requires minor modification to make work. This would give you a steering rack and can accommodate a rear sump pan. Downside is that the e39 is about 2 inches narrower, so you might have to work around that.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the e38 has a relatively low hood line, something to keep in mind when choosing an intake and acc brackets.

Happy hunting.

[Vladkurk]

Yeah seems like I can just modify the lq9 oil pan to fit according to levels performance build thread. Not too worried about all that stuff. By the looks of it I’m just gonna have to make custom mounts which isn’t a big deal but given that no one really makes any, I’ll just have to fab some out. I’ve looked into the e39 subframe Swap but that seems like too much work for something I can’t really find info on. Shouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world but would be much less work to just buy some though


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[KinkedChrome]

Yeah seems like I can just modify the lq9 oil pan to fit according to levels performance build thread. Not too worried about all that stuff. By the looks of it I’m just gonna have to make custom mounts which isn’t a big deal but given that no one really makes any, I’ll just have to fab some out. I’ve looked into the e39 subframe Swap but that seems like too much work for something I can’t really find info on. Shouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world but would be much less work to just buy some though


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Yeah, the subframe swap would be involved. Any reason you don't want the levels performance stuff? Seems like thats the only place offer e39/e38 LS swap stuff these days.

[Vladkurk]

I’m in contact with levels and he said $600 shipped to me from Florida. I think I’m just gonna fab some up or find a cheaper alternative. I messaged bmwman528e on here. he’s the only other person who sells anything close to levels. He’s got some ls mounts for V8 e39 which should work.


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[Vladkurk]

Little update

Picked up the LQ9 from the wreckers today. Gonna throw it in engine stand and start to tear down the engine for a refresh. Engines seen better days but after I tear it down, refresh the internals and paint the block should be like new


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[jimrummy]

Very cool project - following with interest

[htrdbmr]

Mounts are easy to fab, headers are not. Does Levels offer headers and the mount kit?

[Vladkurk]

I’d say other wise, with engine you gotta make sure your sitting right, your trans trail is straight for correct driveshaft angle and deal with oil pan clearances.

From what I’ve researched Hooker Block huggers are what the N/a people run with no modifications. There’s a video on YouTube a guy had used the truck manifolds. he cut close to the exit flange and twisted and welded it so the flange sits closer to the block to clear the steering column


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[Lantz]

Cool build. More pictures!


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[Vladkurk]

Cool build. More pictures!


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It’s slowly getting started lol I gotta pull the motor and trans out of the 740i and start fabbing up!


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[QtheGenius]

must be nice to do these fun projects outside of california. My brother just picked up an '01 740i and wants to eventually do this swap. If you end up doing any custom fab, document what you do in case something wants guidance from your pathfinding expedition. good luck!

[Vladkurk]

Yeah Cali is ridiculous with emissions. In WA state starting this January I believe, Emissions testing will not be required to get tabs or registration so I don’t gotta worry about emissions too much which is fantastic lol. This 740i is actually a Cali car! Single owner, bought and driven in Santa Clara it’s whole life.


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[Vladkurk]

Little update, haven’t been able to work on it as much as I wanted to but I ended up selling my 6.0 lq9 swap.
It’s for the better because I just picked up a whole running and driving 06 3500 with a 6.0/LQ9 with 4l80e for the same price I sold my swap for. Now I got all the extra parts I need to swap over to the E38. Pretty stoked!




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[Lantz]

Smart just to get a parts car. Will save you trips to the parts store and wrecking yard.

I saw your last post said you live in WA, where about?


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[Vladkurk]

Smart just to get a parts car. Will save you trips to the parts store and wrecking yard.

I saw your last post said you live in WA, where about?


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Yeah I had the opportunity to buy this van so I went for it. Some guy drove 6hrs from deep Oregon to pick up my LQ9 today lol.
The van runs and drives I might even use it for work for now til I pull the swap. It’s got 200k but I got some info that GM replaced the motor under warranty at some point and the engine is unbelievably clean and the trans shifts smooth.
I think I’m gonna abandon my plans on running a Holley system and just go standalone with the GM stuff since I have a whole van for parts.

I live in Tacoma Atm but currently making my way back to Spanaway.


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[Lantz]

It would be cool to get a group of us together that have ls swaps. I live in the Maple Valley area.

I did a stand-alone harness but I think I would give one of those eBay harnesses a shot next time. I have a lot of time in the harness and for the 300-400 I saved I don’t know if it was worth it. Technically it was less because I did a T56 swap and ev6 injectors so I had to buy connectors and pins.


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[Vladkurk]

Yeah for sure! Once I get my swap done maybe we can do meetup with LS swaps lol I’m part of the bmw Ls group on Facebook and there’s quite a bit of people from WA on that forum.
My plan is to have the car running and driving for the German car drive in June. All bmw/merc/vw make it up to Leavenworth for a big meet.
I’m a electrician by trade so the wiring part is right up my alley sorta


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[Vladkurk]

It would be cool to get a group of us together that have ls swaps. I live in the Maple Valley area.

I did a stand-alone harness but I think I would give one of those eBay harnesses a shot next time. I have a lot of time in the harness and for the 300-400 I saved I don’t know if it was worth it. Technically it was less because I did a T56 swap and ev6 injectors so I had to buy connectors and pins.


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Btw, I assume you went with HP tuner with tuning your car. If you did, how do you like it? How was it getting your swap tuned and running?


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[Vladkurk]

Not much of an update,

Been busy with a remodel and moving into my house and work.

As my schedule clears up, I plan on pulling the engine out of the express and the 740i here soon.

But glad to say I finally got some engine mounts coming for the swap, originally I wanted to make my own mounts but I figured I will save time and headache with some prefabbed mounts. Mounts were bought from Bmwman528e here on bimmerforums.

Here’s a pic of the mounts before paint. Excited to have some of the first parts of the swap coming in!




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[Vladkurk]

Got my engine mounts today! Looking pretty good. Hit up Bmwman528e on here if you need some V8 subframe e39/e38 mounts.



It’s been slow with the build but I’m pretty positive I will have it running by June. That’s the goal.

Next week is Engine removal from both The Donor Express and the 740i.

It’s going! Slow but going


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[Vladkurk]

Some more progress, just finished pulling the 6.0/4l80e out of the express tonight. Next week I’m shooting for pulling the motor out of the 740i.

So far, the van is paying itself off, I sold the Cats off it today to a scrapper for $300 and gonna scrap the whole van tomorrow and should get around $200 for it. Basically as of now, the whole LQ setup is costing me $300 bucks. What a steal.







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[Lantz]

Where did you sell the cats for 300??? That’s insane.


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[Vladkurk]

Where did you sell the cats for 300??? That’s insane.

I found someone that scraps them and he pays pretty well and I’ve used him a few times. I sold all the cats off the 740i and the parts 740il and got a pretty penny for them all. He’s a local guy in Tacoma. Dm me and I can give you his number.


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