E39 boat anchor is out, LS is in

[boriksh]

OK the time has come for my 528I and some needed maintenance but instead it is actually going under the knife.
It is 2000 bmw 528i with 150,xxx or so miles.
Original sport package with manual transmission.
Did few “show but no go” upgrades, so at least it looks some what decent and motivates me to perform the swap.
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Back in 2011 Bimerok with Sunset Auto Repair shop in Philladelphia built me one of the greatest cars I ever had in my fleet of cars yet, both as a daily and as a great track car. Link to Bimerok’s build: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...oriksh-Bimerok . I still think that bmw should of packaged something like this from the factory it seen streets of Philly, lightning track in NJ, few open track days at HPR in Colorado and many many happy days driving it. unfortunately I had to sell it due to the start of my house construction project and the need to free up some finances.


So it was just another day at the computer looking for deals on copart when I came across 2004 gto with low miles (63,xxx miles) for fairly good price in comparison with other more expensive but newer and better counterparts(2005-2006 GTOs and 2010 and up camaros ). Since this car is and will continue to be my daily driver and some mild open track days, I decided that good ol ls1 from GTO will be plentiful.
And so it began.

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So starting today I am all ears, slap my newb hands if you notice something not kosher.

[Tim Mc]

Excellent choice - wish you the best of luck!

[motorV8ed]

Awesome!

"We're getting the band back together!"

[boriksh]

Thank you for your support.

Got the donor to the garage and make it ready for surgery.
It will take some massaging just to get a sawsall in

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[hakentt]

why even waste time with E39

[boriksh]

why even waste time with E39

I do not see a reason why not to...

[boriksh]

Engine drained, disconnected and pulled,

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Next is to clean the garage and sell GTO shell

[Tim Mc]

Needs images...

[motorV8ed]

Well that was quick! Nice going!

[boriksh]

Had to replace couple things as they were damaged on the impact.

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Power steering pulley was smashed, checked pump and there is no play or damages. New hawk pulley was ordered and installed. The oem replacement pulley cost only $26 but was discontinued long time ago and NLA. Who knew that 2004 gto had quite unique and not interchangeable bits and pieces?

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Another thing suffered was idler pulley ear on alternator bracket. So both the bracket and pulley were replaced.

Also broke one of the fitting/nipple on the power steering reservoir. New one is ordered, and hopefully will be here soon. Everything is coming delayed lately.

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In the meantime I disconnected pcm, packaged and sent it to Brendan to remove Vats, rear o2 sensors, no clutch in to start and adjust the tach to work with 6cyl cars etc...

[boriksh]

Needs images...

Try Firefox browser, not all browsers display images correctly.

[motorV8ed]

I wondered if the impact would have caused any damages. Glad to see that it seems minor!

[boriksh]

I wondered if the impact would have caused any damages. Glad to see that it seems minor!

Totally, I was worried all the way until I got the car and drove it to my garage with no serpentine belt, so battery pack had to be connected at all times.

- - - Updated - - -

I guess common thing on LS, are broken header bolts. And to my luck I have two broken bolts, one on each side. Read some where on forums about a way to extract those using drill and use extractor tool or weld a nut and remove them. Suckers do not want to leave the block peacefully after I performed both methods (weld and drill). Might be my welder is too weak as the welded nut just breaks when i try to remove it . Also did a research and ordered one of the highly recommended and rated extractor tool made by Bosch and first thing that happened is the extractor decided to give up and broke. Which makes things even more complicated.

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My good friend AJ came over with his very nice tig machine, welded nut to both broken bolts and extraction was a breeze. AJ saved the day and me from my headache.

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Small clip of the process
https://youtu.be/hpByhzl3fyE

[TH3 Shifty]

Best cam I have her had on my LS1 Camaro was the GM ASA racing cam. .525/.525 on 110, with pacesetter full length headers, I made 382rwhp from a bone stock 346 LS1. It’s base dyno was 296rwhp, I miss the sound of that cam.

[boriksh]

Best cam I have her had on my LS1 Camaro was the GM ASA racing cam. .525/.525 on 110, with pacesetter full length headers, I made 382rwhp from a bone stock 346 LS1. It’s base dyno was 296rwhp, I miss the sound of that cam.

Wow, almost a 100hp gain. That is pretty good power. I may go with mild cam down the road.

[boriksh]

While waiting for few parts to arrive, I decided to slowly start to drain fluids and disassemble front end.

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Got everything out of the way and started to disconnect wiring harness. Got one main(thick) loom disconnected, but the other one (thinner) goes to e box has leads to other relays and plugs.

Question is: do I just cut it before it enters e box and keep those connected relay in a box or just remove harness complete as one unit?
I guess the main question is whether I need anything that that harness connected to in e box.

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I know something similar was posted before, but cannot find exactly what everyone did...


Pulled harness completely with all fuses and relays connected to it, I will be using my own mini fuse box, so I guess it will be ok.

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[boriksh]

Ok, today I yanked the m52 out, man, what a messy job that is in a two car garage...
Now need to prepare the engine bay to accept its new heart transplant. Denver is expecting 2’ to 3’ of snow over the weekend all the way to Monday, so my plan to roll shell outside for a power wash have to be postponed.

[boriksh]

Still waiting for a snow to melt as yesterday we beat the historical records. Snow was dumping for 3 days non stop and drifted up to 4.5’ of snow in some places.

Not to idle waiting, spent some time identifying body wires on both x6011 and x60004-40pin plugs.
Got them all marked except the one at pin #19 from x60004. Any idea what that wire is for?

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[boriksh]

Transmission separated, after clutch inspection I decided to go with new ls7 gm clutch. That thing is a beast, and weighs a ton.
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While in the same area I ordered gasket for rear cover and rear main seal gasket. I have read some horror stories about that think leaking if not aligned correctly and ordered an alignment tool from sacCityCorvette.com just to be on the safe side.

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Also just noticed that my ls7 clutch kit came with only one bigger style pilot bearing, I have smaller design. Contacted seller but no response yet. Will order correct one from somewhere else.

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[boriksh]

Backup light sensor was replaced to a Ford motorcraft number #1r3z-15520–aa to gain clearance between trans tunnel.

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New clutch slave was ordered as well. Went with sachs unit. Installed -4an fittings, remote bleeder and clutch line.

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Also made a mistake and ordered -4an clutch line instead of -3an, to get from original 10mm 1.5 bmw side to gm side, so the conversion coupler was installed.

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[boriksh]

I went with motor and transmission mounts from Jesus Freak. Man, those things are quality.

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Josh recommended to go with z8 motor mounts as they are stiffer than stock e39 counterparts, and autokraft rear sump oil pan it seems to be nice baffled piece. Sourced an oil strainer double sheer bracket so it stays in place. I know it is an overkill but for me it is a piece of mind and assurance that engine enjoys nice smooth oil bath.
Will have to see if I need to trim baffle tray.

Oil pan gasket came in bent, seller sent the replacement to LA instead of Denver, so there is a delay with installing the pan. Gotta love USPS.

Finally received oil pan gasket, installed rear sump strainer tube, and oil pan. It is a nice fit and happy that I did not have to trim baffle tray like what we had to do with camaro pan.

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The only thing is worrisome is the fact that this oil pan doesn’t have a provision for bottom 2 transmission housing bolts. But looking at Jesus Freak’s images he did not use them either...

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As oil pan installed I came to realize that there is no more provision for the camaro style dip stick. There is another opening with freeze plug for other models that I may end up using.

Tomorrow oil pan gets removed one more time to punch freeze plug out from inside.

[boriksh]

Finally I got the pilot bearing replacement. Installed it, torqued flywheel, aligned the clutch, torqued pressure plate. Now motor and transmission are together again.

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Also removed an oil pan and punched dip stick freeze plug from inside. Dip stick tube fits perfectly.

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[boriksh]

Engine sitting in its new place. I cannot be happier with the fitment. GTO shifter at it’s perfectly centered location. May need to come out ones more. Need to relocate DSC pump forward. Totally spaced out would like to do it in an empty engine bay.
What are everyone doing with this device?

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[TipsyMcStagger]

Is anyone else not seeing any pics?

[AdamBath]

Is anyone else not seeing any pics?

They aren't working on my work computer but they worked on my PC at home, so no idea.