V8 front subframe/steering assembly weight vs i6

[seagreen323i]

I fix his son's e46 for free, he knows what we do in here. Kind of a trade system. We are relatively respectful about it. I put an engine in it over the summer for free and we are allowed to work on stuff. It all works out in the end.

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[BimmerBreaker]

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Something is seriously wrong here, that head is missing 8 valves!

[JimLev]

Nothing wrong with a pushrod LS engine, very reliable, don’t leak oil, upgrade parts are relatively cheap.
A Coyote is an expensive engine, the first 2 generations were around 380HP and had mechanical problems.
They are electrically complicated and have lots of tubes and hoses.
Some of the Factory Five guys are putting them into their cars and always seem to have issues.

[GZilla]

Before I bought my E38 and E39 I was researching the LS swapping of I6 E39 models. If you are going through all of the trouble of swapping in the motor you're better off putting in the rack and pinion steering from an I6 model, because quite frankly it feels superior to the V8 steering boxes. That was probably my least favorite thing when I was test driving 540is.

I agree with Jim, pushrod LS engines are very good engines. Coyotes seem more of a hassle to swap in.

[luminus]

A bit late to the party, hopefully don't mind me bring up a slightly old thread. I came here looking for 540 steering box information as a potential upgrade to the e24 steering box.

I'm in a similar boat with the m62 on a swap project. First engine turned out not so great, so I found a rebuilder capable of boring and honing it correctly in the Portland, OR area. It was about 0.004" over on the bores. They had the requisite experience, and I trusted their work, but I was still looking at a $10K+ rebuild cost to get it with new oversized pistons. I wish I had looked at the pricing on that beforehand, it was cheaper to go find another donor 540i and pay a bit closer attention to testing it thoroughly beforehand. In fact, I think I can find 2 low mileage m62 for the price of a rebuild. I'd say if you're going through rebuilding one of these, given the piston skirt requirements and the potential longevity issues with ring sealing, just put steel liners in the m62 block and forget about the Alusil otherwise.

I'm still trying to stick with a BMW V8, but if I get burnt again, it'll be hard not to look at the LS motors.

[seagreen323i]

Unfortunately I've basically abandoned the platform. Looking for something that gets better gas mileage, doesn't break catastrophically every month, and has an aftermarket that exists.

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[luminus]

Sounds like the wrong forums then

[seagreen323i]

Alusil will begin to gall at around 500 ish whp, anything above that makes the engine disposal. Sleeves do fix this yes. Can't just drop in forged pistons because most of them are incompatible with alusil. Na horsepower is incredibly expensive, but possible.

You can rehone the engine, using a profilometer you can guage surface roughness after honing with an an-30 paste. At one point I was trying the same thing as you, but after coilovers, sway bars, spherical bearings and everything in the car I destroyed what made it great. The ability to handle a curve and ride great. Now it handles as good as stock new cars and rides like crap.

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[seagreen323i]

Posted to the wrong thread, whoops.

Drove the car again for the first time in months. Did fine besides the steering box being scrap metal.
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