My LS1 E36 BMW 357i

[V8 Supra Builder]

Originally Posted by Thaniel

If I would have had A quiet exhaust I think the guy woudn't have even blinked at it. With the Spintech it was apparent that I had been messing with the car. Right away the mechanic asked if it still had the BMW motor still in. My reply..."uhhh no". He said that cars with engine swaps aren't suppose to pass VA inspection (I'm not sure that's right or not) but said he wouldn't say anything. I didn't have the heart to tell him he had passed my engine swapped Rx-7 three years in a row without so much as a word.

Them there's onna dem 4 cylunder rowtaree moters Clem! I bet he done got it over chonder! Ayorta keep motors like that in furrin cars!

Paddle faster, I hear banjos!

Although I'm sure the "official" manual has more info, I found this link for inspections, comrade:
http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Safety.sh...pectionProgram

Didn't see anything about engine swaps. However, this scenario is entirely possible:

Hans: Ah, you power steering fluid, it is not in order!

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by V8 Supra Builder

http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Safety.sh...pectionProgram

Didn't see anything about engine swaps. However, this scenario is entirely possible:

Hans: Ah, you power steering fluid, it is not in order!

This is where the mechanic said was the issue:
"16. – INSPECT HOOD AND AREA UNDER THE HOOD FOR:

Operating condition of hood latch.
Presence of emissions system -Evidence that any essential parts have been removed, rendered inoperative or disconnected"

I could see how this could be interpreted as not allowing motor swaps. Hard to not remove the emissions system when I removed the whole motor
However I'm sure the LS1 would have better emissions than the one I removed (once I have a cat back on).

[Thaniel]

Well I installed a high flow cat and a magnaflow muffler into the exhaust upstream from the spintech muffler on saturday. The volume is decreased so I don't feel like every one is staring when I drive by. However the tone is very low and reverberates in the cabin some. It may be time for some sound deadening in the trunk. I had removed some of the deadening from the trunk as it had become mushy and smelly from something one of the previous owners had spilled on it. I'm thinking battery acid.

I finnally found the reason my brakes were a little mushy. I'd bled them numerous times trying to get the pedal feel back. Saturday I found I had installed one of the anti rattle springs incorrectly. Doh!. It's fixed now and the brakes are as good as they were before engine swap madness took over.

I also installed M series rear springs and shocks. Much stiffer. Now I need to replace the struts on the front. I think I'll go with the M series on those as well.

I've put over 500 miles on the car and all in all I've been very happy with it.

Thaniel

[V8 Supra Builder]

Glad to see you are working out the bugs. I know the little stuff can get irritating. I'm planning on a single Magnafolw past the turbo so I hope there is not any resonance inside with this setup. What series & size is that Magnaflow (in/out/case HxW)?

I see how you reversed the heater hoses- was looking at measuring mine vs what was depicted on RealOEM and what was available in my Gates catalog & I did the same thing on paper. After I looked at the shop manual I saw where I made the mistake.

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by V8 Supra Builder

Glad to see you are working out the bugs. I know the little stuff can get irritating. I'm planning on a single Magnafolw past the turbo so I hope there is not any resonance inside with this setup. What series & size is that Magnaflow (in/out/case HxW)?

I see how you reversed the heater hoses- was looking at measuring mine vs what was depicted on RealOEM and what was available in my Gates catalog & I did the same thing on paper. After I looked at the shop manual I saw where I made the mistake.

Yes eliminating the little annoyances makes it much more enjoyable to drive.

The muffler I used was #12219. It is 3" DIA in and out. Case is 5x8 oval 14" long (20" OAL). Cost me $73 shipped. I think it turned out well. I'm tempted to take off the spintech and put another magnaflow or borla back there and see if that would help. I'll probably leave it for awhile though. It's not bad but I'm just trying for the luxury car sound I think even with the BMW Exhaust it resonated some but I had all the trunk carpet out.

I'm wondering if different dia exhaust tips would change the tone any. Say like 2 smaller dia instead of one three inch. I may play with that too. I tried searching for info on that but didn't find much. In instruments smaller dia makes a higher pitch sound and higher frequencies are easier to keep out of the cabin..... Just thinking out loud.

[rao]

I think you would like a second Magnaflow. I wouldn't bother messing around with different tips.

[LSfan70s]

Greate job!

Any new pic??

[rcM3]

Great build-up.

I'm still sorting out the basics though. It appears you managed to fit everything while still using the factory brake-booster and steering shaft. Can you confirm this? Is there something specific to your own kit that allows for this (specific header spec, engine position... etc)?

[irbs]

Good job. Looks like its gonna be a sweet car.

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by rcM3

Great build-up.

I'm still sorting out the basics though. It appears you managed to fit everything while still using the factory brake-booster and steering shaft. Can you confirm this? Is there something specific to your own kit that allows for this (specific header spec, engine position... etc)?

Yes factory steering shaft and factory brake booster including factory ABS (ABS still works good too. Had a need to use it yesterday). The headers are definately key to getting things to fit on this swap and why custom headers are necessary. The engine postion on mine I think my be a little lower than some of the other E36 swaps. However without comparing exact measurements it is hard to say. The oil pan is about level with the crossmember. The valve cover on the driver side BARELY misses the brake booster. The coils are all in factory location as well THe engine is positioned centered and level.

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by LSfan70s

Greate job!

Any new pic??

I finally found the camera chord so I have some pics of some parts and stuff. Nothing terribly exciting but first.....

Update:

My wife or her car must have been jealous of me working on my car as the front wheel bearing decided to go out on her Maxima. Well no big deal. I'd just replaced both rear wheel bearings on the BMW so doing one front wheel bearing on her FWD car should be similar. I had her park the maxima and use our back up car (and old nissan pathfinder). Guess that wasn't good enough for her as on her way to pick up parts that monday she slid off the road with the pathfinder and hit a guard rail (pics attached) So I had to spend that evening bending the sheet metal back so it could be driven without the tire hitting metal. Turned out pretty well and only had to buy one blinker light. Due to work and other issues I wasn't able to get to her car until the following saturday. So I let her drive her car with the bad wheel bearing as the pathfinder blinker was on order.

Saturday arrives and I take her car apart (only takes about 1 hour) and I find the hub is worn. Similar to how one of the 325i hubs was worn. Should have known. Note to self: if replacing wheel bearings and the wheel has significant play in it just order a hub along with the bearings. SO I order a new hub and leave her car apart. Sorry sweety it's back to the pathfinder.

Wednesday that week my wife needed to cart a car load of kids. I offer to let her take the BMW. She says "no thanks" fearing banging up my favorite car. She got plenty of torment for banging up the pathfinder. Wed is kind of snowy so I take my Rx-7 leaving the pathfinder and BMW home. By lunch the snow is gone (we live in southern VA) and she decides to take the BMW. She doesn't smash it and remarks that it is easy to drive or drives like a regular car. Good to hear.....I guess. She had complained about my Rx-7 with manuals steering and short shifter.

Also this whole week I notice my left rear tire on the BMW keeps going low. Have to air it up every other day. So I take it off and put on the spare. Drop it by the tire store. They find a crack in the rim. Not just a little crack either. how in the world did that get there . It's an OEM BMW rim too. So I need to make a decsion on what to do about rims. I'm tempted to buy some snow tires and rims so I can drive year round and worry about replacing fixing the other rim in the spring.

Friday I went to drive to work and it was rainny. Coming down an hill with a left hand turn at the bottom I found the rain was freezing on the road in spots as the car started to slide. Love that ABS Made the corner but also made up my mind I'll be ordering winter tires and rims. I return home and leave the BMW and take the pathfinder (it has winter tires on it). By noon again all trace of ice is gone and my wife drives my BMW on errands again. She's starting to like the car too much I think.

Parts came in for the maxima yesterday so I put it together today. (blinker for the pathfinder arrived last wed) Well that was the last couple of weeks. I'll be picking out winter tires and rims this weekend.

I've included Picture of a broken rear spring i replaced on my 325 next to the M series spring I replaced it with. Also the old 325i rear shock next to the M series shock. Also the BMW hub with a good bearing journal and one with the worn bearing journal. A picture of the huge crack in the rim. It is on the side of the rim that faces the inside of the car and for fun a picture of the pathfinder after it was smashed and after I pounded it all out.

[Thaniel]

Found that doing in town driving the one puller fan I have doesn't seem to keep up. So I wanted to fit a pusher fan to help. I had thought of using the BMW Aux fan but sadly my car's Aux fan was missing when I bought it. at $75 for the cheapest USED one I could find I thought I'd see what I could find that was better.

What I ended up with was altering the Aux fan shroud (which I had but was a little beat up) and putting in a universal electric fan I had lying around. If I remember right the e-fan was around $30 from summit.

I thought it turned out pretty well.

[V8 Supra Builder]

Originally Posted by Thaniel

...she slid off the road with the pathfinder and hit a guard rail.

Wednesday that week my wife needed to cart a car load of kids. I offer to let her take the BMW.

She says "no thanks" fearing banging up my favorite car. She got plenty of torment for banging up the pathfinder. Wed is kind of snowy so I take my Rx-7 leaving the pathfinder and BMW home. By lunch the snow is gone (we live in southern VA) and she decides to take the BMW. She doesn't smash it and remarks that it is easy to drive or drives like a regular car. Good to hear.....I guess. She had complained about my Rx-7 with manuals steering and short shifter.

By noon again all trace of ice is gone and my wife drives my BMW on errands again. She's starting to like the car too much I think.

THAT is true love. Mrs. Builder is stick-shift challenged, so this locks her out from 100% of my cars. She does use the truck on occasion (only fair, used to be hers).

Originally Posted by Thaniel

Found that doing in town driving the one puller fan I have doesn't seem to keep up. So I wanted to fit a pusher fan to help. I had thought of using the BMW Aux fan but sadly my car's Aux fan was missing when I bought it. at $75 for the cheapest USED one I could find I thought I'd see what I could find that was better.

What I ended up with was altering the Aux fan shroud (which I had but was a little beat up) and putting in a universal electric fan I had lying around. If I remember right the e-fan was around $30 from summit.

I thought it turned out pretty well.

What primary fan are you using (forgot to search thread before replying)? This is not good news if it is cold enough outside for snow/ice! In my experience, most of the aftermarket fans (especially when used as pushers) can't cut it.

EDIT
Read your first post & saw the fan depicted in the attachment. I've never had any luck with this type of fan. You should try a mid 90's Taurus 2 speed fan or a same vintage Mark 8 fan. Ive used both of these with good results here in FL. There is a JY in Ohio that sells them for $20 plus shipping, check car-part.com.

[Tydriver]

OK so question is.. Whens the LSx engine going in the pathfinder ??

[lsxyj]

nice build

[Mateo M3]

I did not see anything on the wiring harness here. can you give me any info and pictures of the work done to wire harness? thanks and Very nice work. I'm shopping for an ls1 now

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by Tydriver

OK so question is.. Whens the LSx engine going in the pathfinder ??

If you only saw my pathfinder. Its so rusted its not worth it. I only keep it because it keeps running and isn't worth selling. If the body were nicer though it would be tempting.

[Thaniel]

Originally Posted by V8 Supra Builder

THAT is true love. Mrs. Builder is stick-shift challenged, so this locks her out from 100% of my cars. She does use the truck on occasion (only fair, used to be hers). .

Yah I figure I'll have the wife a lot longer than the car. She did help in the project by picking up parts so it's only fair. I like her to drive it but I don't want her to get attached.....Or I'll have to make another one

Originally Posted by V8 Supra Builder

What primary fan are you using (forgot to search thread before replying)? This is not good news if it is cold enough outside for snow/ice! In my experience, most of the aftermarket fans (especially when used as pushers) can't cut it.

Well it's not exactly cold enough for snow and ice here It was 60+ degrees but still shouldn't heat up. Yah the fan I have is a perma cool 15" or something like that. I have a similar summit brand one that flows more air. I originally tried to put the summit one in instead but the clearance is tight between the water pump and radiator and with a single fan the fan motor is rignt in the middle competing with all that. 2 smaller fans would probably fit better but I just used what I had. I think with the one as a puller and one as a pusher it should be fine. I'll have them both come on at the low temp setting just to make me feel better.

Mateo M3: Yes, I didn't detail the wiring out much in this thread as this board has a lot of good resources for the lS1 engine wiring. Almost all my Ls1 info came from this board. For the car side I've heard the BMW's vary alot from year to year and option level etc. With that in mind have a look at this link where I have some wiring info.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showpo...7&postcount=62

[Thaniel]

Here's a little video of the engine bay prior to putting the radiator in and the front back on. It's easier to see clearances then just in stills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnD0j1u-y14

[n00bjabi]

Minus the cost of the car, what would you say the total cost of the whole project has been?

I'm torn between a 1JZ swap which I know will fit easier than the LS1, but price is also an issue for me so I'm wondering how your swap turned out and how big the hit to your wallet was.