My Ls1 E36 Engine Test fit

[Thaniel]

Well I thought I'd give the engine a test fit. I didn't install the Driver side header for this fitting.

[ososinsk]

Wow.. nothing in the way on the front end huh. Looks good. Send more pics as you go..

[Captain Morgan]

what headers did you go with?

[rao]

Looks good, but shouldn't you be putting in a turbo Nissan motor or are you not going for performance.

Is that oil pan stock; the drain on the bottom sure isn't.

I believe he bought a set of headers from someone on this board.

[Thaniel]

Looks good, but shouldn't you be putting in a Nissan motor or are you not going for performance.

Is that oil pan stock; the drain on the bottom sure isn't.

I believe he bought a set of headers from someone on this board.

I sure did think about a nissan motor. It just wasn't going to fit good enough. I had enough crazy modifing on my Rx-7 project. I wanted somethign that "fit" a little better. However, I feel dirty every time I call for parts and have to say Chevy Camaro I just remind myself of the HP/TQ curves of the LS1 and I feel better .

Yah I bought the headers from someone elses project that went bust.

Oil pan is the factory LS1 pan modified. The drain in the bottom is to allow for easier oil changes with the BMW X brace installed.

Here is a link to a comparison between the unmodified and modified pan. I tried to upload it to the forum but I'm getting an error.
http://bp1.blogger.com/_z9Wbi_MvteE/...s1600-h/00.jpg

[rao]

Got it. Looks great.

[owwwch]

is there a link to write up on the wiring? also what mounts do u use for this swap?

[garretvs]

Wow -- rooooomy compared to an E30; nice that the radiator support comes off, too. We're about to stuff our engine in ... got to get some grease & shoehorns first.

Garret & Steve doing E30-LS1 aka 357is

[Thaniel]

is there a link to write up on the wiring? also what mounts do u use for this swap?

I put some more detail here http://www.ls1bmw.blogspot.com/

I did not make a detailed write up of the wiring. There are a lot of different ways the wiring could be integrated. From what I've read there are a number of variations on the BMW wiring making a write up less useful.

Basically I just cut the pigtail off the BMW engine wiring harness and soldered it into the LS1 harness at the right places. I also moved the BMW check connector from the passenger side of the car and put it next to the fuse box since the only wires left going to it ran to the fuse box. I added 5 fuses in between the BMW power lines and the LS1 harness to give me a warm fuzzy feeling . If I remember I'll post my excel sheet of all the wiring pins for the BMW pigtail and LS1 connectors (If this board allows such things). Not exactly a step by step but might be helpful.

[Thaniel]

Wow -- rooooomy compared to an E30; nice that the radiator support comes off, too. We're about to stuff our engine in ... got to get some grease & shoehorns first.

Garret & Steve doing E30-LS1 aka 357is

Oh yah being able to remove the radiator support is wonderful. Makes pulling the engine a breeze, well after everything is disconnected anyway.

[Thaniel]

Unfortunately this forum does not support .XLS documents. However, I uploaded my wire pin file with a .txt extension instead (if I convert it to text delimited it would be harder to decipher so it is still .xls format). Download it and change the extension to .xls. Use at your own risk obviously. Beware I made a few last min decisions and I'm not sure they made it into the spreadsheet. It was related to the OBDII connector, backup lights and cooling fans, and starter interlock relay. These happen to be the ony changes made to the wiring on the BMW chassis side. I have an automatic chassis so the Starter interlock relay and backup light changes were necessary and hey once I made one then.....

Do not wire up your engine up without understanding what you are wiring. however this spreadsheet may save some time tracking stuff down.

[97m3john]

Is a modified oilpan a absolute must or does a stock lsx pan clear

[GMW364i]

Unfortunately this forum does not support .XLS documents. However, I uploaded my wire pin file with a .txt extension instead (if I convert it to text delimited it would be harder to decipher so it is still .xls format). Download it and change the extension to .xls. Use at your own risk obviously. Beware I made a few last min decisions and I'm not sure they made it into the spreadsheet. It was related to the OBDII connector, backup lights and cooling fans, and starter interlock relay. These happen to be the ony changes made to the wiring on the BMW chassis side. I have an automatic chassis so the Starter interlock relay and backup light changes were necessary and hey once I made one then.....

Do not wire up your engine up without understanding what you are wiring. however this spreadsheet may save some time tracking stuff down.

Thanial,

What year PCM do you have? Every year has a different pin out.

Paul

[gpaoneg]

how much is everything gonna cost?

time and money....

[Thaniel]

Thanial,

What year PCM do you have? Every year has a different pin out.

Paul

Yah I should have mentioned the year. The PCM is from a 2002 Camaro SS 6spd. The car is a 93 325i. Started life as an auto.

[Thaniel]

Is a modified oilpan a absolute must or does a stock lsx pan clear

There are many ways to go about the LS1 E36 swap. Some use the factory pan unmodified. The 2 most difficult issues come from exhaust to steering clearance and engine to brake booster clearance. Everything is competing for the same space it seems.


Oh and how much it cost....hard to say. I think I've passed $8,000 awhile ago and I'm sure I'll be spending more before it's done. Among other things I've been eyeing some fat rims and tires and maybe a new suspension to go with it. I don't keep track of what it costs very well as I don't see the point. How much I've spent is not something I'll be bragging about.

Time wise is really hard to estimate. Research time and wrench time? I've probably spent as much time researching as actually working on the car. My wife thinks I'd be happier if I just did the research and had someone else do the work. That's probably only half true. I like to do the work when I have time and energy. Right now it seems saturday morning is about the only time both of those come together.

I pulled the motor in june and have been working in it most every saturday morning since then. Some in the evenings too. Hard to say how much time total. Everyone's project will be different though. For instance this past week I probably spent 8 hours just shortening the main wire harness just to make it the length I wanted it mostly for cosmetic reasons.

Spent the morning working on the car today. Finished the fuel lines and some other misc tasks. I like how the fuel lines turned out. I think next I'll look at the heater lines.

[Thaniel]

I need to add some more pictures but for now here's a link to a short video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1T4qxA7LEkI

[Thaniel]

Well I'm making progress. Test ran it for quite awhile today. Still have the muffler, head lights, A/C and about a million small things. Here is a picture of current status.

[GMW364i]

Looks great, and oh so familiar

[rao]

Looks good

[BrodsterM3]

There are many ways to go about the LS1 E36 swap. Some use the factory pan unmodified. The 2 most difficult issues come from exhaust to steering clearance and engine to brake booster clearance. Everything is competing for the same space it seems.


Oh and how much it cost....hard to say. I think I've passed $8,000 awhile ago and I'm sure I'll be spending more before it's done. Among other things I've been eyeing some fat rims and tires and maybe a new suspension to go with it. I don't keep track of what it costs very well as I don't see the point. How much I've spent is not something I'll be bragging about.

Time wise is really hard to estimate. Research time and wrench time? I've probably spent as much time researching as actually working on the car. My wife thinks I'd be happier if I just did the research and had someone else do the work. That's probably only half true. I like to do the work when I have time and energy. Right now it seems saturday morning is about the only time both of those come together.

I pulled the motor in june and have been working in it most every saturday morning since then. Some in the evenings too. Hard to say how much time total. Everyone's project will be different though. For instance this past week I probably spent 8 hours just shortening the main wire harness just to make it the length I wanted it mostly for cosmetic reasons.

Spent the morning working on the car today. Finished the fuel lines and some other misc tasks. I like how the fuel lines turned out. I think next I'll look at the heater lines.

useful info! good luck with the final product. i would love to see an E36 pull up next to me with flowmasters and a bumpy cam doing the V8 rumble

[Thaniel]

Looks great, and oh so familiar

Kind of like Deja Vu

Took a short drive with it today even without the muffler or lights. Step on the gas and . With my wife and kids all in the car

[GMW364i]

Kind of like Deja Vu

Took a short drive with it today even without the muffler or lights. Step on the gas and . With my wife and kids all in the car

I've driven mine 25,000 miles and it still makes me smile when I step on the gas.

[Thaniel]

This week was good. The PCM came back from its tach signal tweaking, the 3" dia exhaust pipe for finishing the exhaust showed up and the bushings and bearings for the trailing arm arrived.

Spent saturday replacing all the bearings and bushings in the RH trailing arm (installed RTAB's for an M3). Having a press does come in handy. The wheel bearing on that side was wore out. Looks to me the whole issue was because the previous owner didn't have the lock nut tight enough on the rear axle so there was no preload on the bearings. Bad news is I broke the ABS sensor off when trying to get it out. (rusted in place) and the rear emergency brake shoes were garbage. So I have to order some more parts and take things apart again.

I'll replace all the bearings and bushings in the LH side next saturday.

Finished the exhaust. It turned out well except for that it is louder than I like. I drove it to church and a guy commented on it. I said "yah it's too loud" and he said "I thought it sounded great". I dont' think it is obnixious but I'm going for "sleeper". The sound gives it away.


Tach is now working and reading perfectly and the power above 3000 rpm is truely impressive. I think I'll drive it to work tomorrow.

[rao]

Glad you got the tach sorted out

I don't see how you can't break the ABS sensors in the back....