Any interest in LS1 Conversion for E34 5 series?

[SteveRea]

Hello everyone,

I'm a current '94 525 owner as my daily driver, plus for my toy, I am campaigning a LS1 powered Porsche 951 chassis in endurance road racing. I've fallen in love with what the LS1 has to offer, in power, reliability and street fuel economy (I can't believe they are making 25-28mpg hwy on these with 350-400hp). In addition, I have fallen in love with the style, comfort, and practicality of my E34 5 series. However, I can't help but dream of how nice it would be to have all this together in one, classy, but powerful package.

Well, there clearly already has been a lot of discussion of the kits done for the 3 Series, but is there any serious interest in a 5 series conversion?

The value would be to allow for a classy, practical and powerful street car, that can give the BMW excellent handling, with the power, reliability and efficiency of the GM LS1, all within what I feel is the classiest modern BMW body style.

We are located in Los Angeles, and would be operating not out of a home garage, but through an existing, professional fabrication and race shop (road race, rally and off-road).

If there is enough genuine interest and committment, we will step up to support it.

Thanks and take care,

Steve Rea

[sdwhitney]

If it is free, go ahead and throw it in mine!

Make the 400+ hp one too!

[Hypr5]

I have actually considered this after the idea was given to me, but then decided that I would not be able to get all / most of the interior electronics to function with the new engine.

Sure would be fun, though. Sure, I'll lose some refinement, etc - but thats what the ol' e39 is for.

[caraholics]

Skip the LS1 and move up to the LS6. The 400hp crate motor is sweet. Better yet the LS7.

[Hypr5]

A 400hp e34's drivetrain would be broken daily. The tq that those engines puts out would probably twist these weak little driveshafts in the 525s and shred the small-housing diffs.

Still would be fun, though!

[bähnstormer]

how does the ls1 compare to a tcd s2 turbo kit?

with tcd's s2 kit i'm looking at 6 grand and 330 wheel hp
that is with fairly low boost....

of course i could turbo the ls1 too =]

[SteveRea]

A 400hp e34's drivetrain would be broken daily. The tq that those engines puts out would probably twist these weak little driveshafts in the 525s and shred the small-housing diffs.

Still would be fun, though!

I agree, so we would also install the 6spd. T56 tranny and I will research the reliability of the 540's differentials. We would do a custom driveshaft designed for these power levels that could go from the Chevy trans to ghe beemer diff. The 540's can also be picked up for a very reasonable amount, especially if you either sell the running engine or get one that has engine problems. We'll make a custom driveshaft to go from the Chevy trans to the 540 rear end, plus we can upgrade the suspension to match the increase power and performance. A set of very nice used factory 18's from an E39 can be thrown on there to allow for plenty of rubber to support driving on the street plus some weekend track warrior duty. You would only need more rubber if running seriously on the track and then you'd get an extra race set anyways.

Re: which engine to run
For someone looking for the comfort of a factory crate engine, I'd certainly go for the LS2 400hp crate engine, which you can get for only $5695. Not to bad for a 0 mile, all aluminum block engine that will get you likely in the mid 20's gas mileage (of course this will require some right foot restraint). It's actually less than the LS1 by a couple hundred bucks, but the LS1 can be found for less in the used market.

Steve

[gsotis]

I would be very intersted in this once the coast is figured out, and what would have to be done to my car.

[permit]

I'd buy one (you'd have to buy the car, engine, and tranny though). My budget is $11k.

[tnt525i]

hmmm how much would an automatic one cost? complete that is, im not in the us so i would need everything for the conversion whicj i can do for myself

[unesential]

Please just keep the LS1 or whatever LS you choose in the Impala if you want a big car ride. Lets not start bastardizing the brand after all BMW drive trains are not like Jags that needed replacement.

[skateparks]

As a former Chevy gear head this has piqued my interest. I have always wanted to build a Cobra on an Audi S4 or BMW M3 chassis for the reliability, etc.. but I have two comments.

First, I have run many hundreds of HP through some pretty bad drivetrains and nothing breaks. Why? Because unless the ponies can be put to the ground without white smoke (wheel spin) nothing is going to break. You will be hard pressed to hook this thing up. An M5 rear (or a corvette!!), a 6 speed and a custom drives shaft is all it would take.

Secondly, assuming you can hook this thing up (345's and tubs!! Pro street BMW?) are you going to build all new instruments, etc? The cost would be rediculous. The electrical portion of the job would be insane. Can't you just go to town on a custom 4.4l 540 plant? Hell, you could have a cusotm block, heads and crank done for not much more $$$.

my $.02. Can I drive it when you're done?

[fangtl]

I would be interested if you can intergrate it into my E39

[milieu]

I would love to do this. I've heard that in the e36 at least, you can adapt the factory electrics to work with the LS1 relatively cheaply so that all your guages will still work. I've never seen the swap done in an e34 though.

I'll be buying the kit if and when one ever comes out. My engine will be due for a rebuild in a couple of years anyway.

[CRAZY-M]

Cool Idea

[SteveRea]

As a former Chevy gear head this has piqued my interest. I have always wanted to build a Cobra on an Audi S4 or BMW M3 chassis for the reliability, etc.. but I have two comments.

First, I have run many hundreds of HP through some pretty bad drivetrains and nothing breaks. Why? Because unless the ponies can be put to the ground without white smoke (wheel spin) nothing is going to break. You will be hard pressed to hook this thing up. An M5 rear (or a corvette!!), a 6 speed and a custom drives shaft is all it would take.

Secondly, assuming you can hook this thing up (345's and tubs!! Pro street BMW?) are you going to build all new instruments, etc? The cost would be rediculous. The electrical portion of the job would be insane. Can't you just go to town on a custom 4.4l 540 plant? Hell, you could have a cusotm block, heads and crank done for not much more $$$.

my $.02. Can I drive it when you're done?

The corvette uses a transaxle rear end (tranny & diff. in the back) which helps with the weight balance of the car. We are converting my Porsche racecar to this rear end as it will be running 13" slicks in the rear and eventually bump up to a 450-550rwhp ls powerplant. Since the transaxle is big, for the street beemers we could look into using the F-body transmission and rear diff as well (camaro SS or transam) which was also designed for the LS1 torque. This would then entail a custom driveshaft and halfshafts, which is certainly doable.

Re: Automatic transmission
There is the current auto available and if you really want to get trick on a street car, there is a new GM auto I saw at SEMA this year. The tranny expert wasn't there, so I wasn't able to get clear, certain info, but basically it sounded like a 6spd auto, with the possibility of paddle shifters. He said that it is unlike the previous tiptronic style autos that received the manual shift as "an electronic request to shift at the next best time", it is a clutch style unit that will be more direct. Again, this was not from the expert and this will also be a pricey unit, especially if bought with paddle shifters...but it does sound pretty cool.

Re: the electronics, the 3 series guys are doing it and for my Porsche, it uses the stock guages. My buddy is building a street one that will have the standard a/c, heater, p/s etc..

Steve

[Johnny 5]

Th supercharger kit seems to get the 4.o close to 400 hp. A 4.4 block conversion will take you even further.

Other swaps I have thought about for the E34 include a turbo M50 3.2, a V12with a T56 or Getrag Supra gearbox, or the famed LT5 GM engine. The LT5 is the Mercury Marine built ZR1 Corvette engine. THose come with 373-400hp and can be modded to over 600hp.

The driveshaft layout and rearend support will have to be changed. There is simply too much torque for the flex disc and single differential hanger. I personally do not like the sound of the pushrod GM engines. It would make the BMW a frankenstein.
The vast majority of people I see doing swaps for on or off-road use are staying in-house. And honestly, if you can not afford an LT5, then the next best thing is probably the Hemi. Hemi's weigh in at 485lbs. Now they offering a crate with a "plug-and-play" wiring harness. You can get one for around $7k with 345hp/373tq

[gol10dr1]

was this porsche featured in some prominent magazine a while back. i remember a silver porsche 911 with an ls1 motor with the red valve covers lighting up the engine bay and the owner claiming 200 mph capability.

[Gatch]

Sounds like a cool project, but it takes away the refinement of the car. That motor is going to be wicked loud not to mention most parts of the drivetrain will have to be exchanged. How much weight do you think the whole setup will add? A custom dash would have to be fitted as well, right?

[Dark Helmet]

I've been made aware of some interest out here, but cost beocmes the issue.

we have a race/restoration shop here as well, and this type of thing is up our alley, so to speak... although we don't currently have the engineering resources to do it from scratch... (electronics)

[Dark Helmet]

Sounds like a cool project, but it takes away the refinement of the car. That motor is going to be wicked loud not to mention most parts of the drivetrain will have to be exchanged. How much weight do you think the whole setup will add? A custom dash would have to be fitted as well, right?

the LS1 is a far far far far more tame motor than the LT1, it won't be any less docile than an M5, and considerably more powerful AND more efficient...

if you want a BUILT LS1 is the problem, I'm not sure the medium case diff will take the beating, and good luck finding a non-750 large case... and 2.80:1 gears an a .5:1 6th are a BAD combination....

[323I Junkie]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


first thread in weeks.....

[CLMTrider]

now that would be an awesome swap!

[milieu]

Sounds like a cool project, but it takes away the refinement of the car. That motor is going to be wicked loud not to mention most parts of the drivetrain will have to be exchanged. How much weight do you think the whole setup will add? A custom dash would have to be fitted as well, right?

With the e36, the clutch and electrics all lined up so none of the dash had to be changed if you were careful. I would expect the e34 would be very similar, if not more roomy.

Also, the LS1 weighs less than the BMW I6 I believe (the I6 longblock is a huge engine) so you would probably end up with a near equal weight in the end...if you didn't actually lose a few pounds.

[skateparks]

is the bell housing a bolt on?