LS1 BMW E34 Touring (5 series wagon) Swap

View of trans support while car is on the ground.

View of trans support while car is on the ground.

Update: The electrical problem was a bad connector. Fixed!

Hey guys, I have a question. As I am doing the wiring I am testing systems. I have most things hooked up except the AC. When I turn the key the starter motor doesn't rotate the engine. I get a click of the solenoid, but not starter motor.

I looked at the wire diagram to make sure I had it hooked up properly, and it seems to be right.

Red to battery and Purple to the starter connector. Engine is grounded.

Batter is at 12.7 volts.

Starter is brand new.

High pressure power steering hose fab'd up. Engine compartment still dirty. Will pressure wash during the last engine removal, which is coming soon. I have to pull the engine out some to get the driver's side header in.

Test fitting the radiator and hose alignment.

Things are coming back together, but I have 100,000 little things to do.

Looks great! I wish I: a: had the ballz to attempt a swap like this (although I'd want a 6 spd) and b: could get such a beast inspected where I live.

Manual trans would have been too much of a swap at one time for me. But, depending on how I feel after this is done...it is a consideration.

But I am also interested it in seeing how this electric transmission control works. My understanding is that I can adjust the shift points, throttle effect on trans and some of the stall via the PCM. I know am manual would eliminate that need, but the technology seems very cool (even though it will never match a manual)

Ian F wrote: Looks great! I wish I: a: had the ballz to attempt a swap like this (although I'd want a 6 spd) and b: could get such a beast inspected where I live.

Here is my high tech solution to keeping track of progress...I am also have a spreadsheet, but this is cathartic.

Prepping to wrap headers.

Headers wrapped. Next painting and sealing them. Before I get flamed on header wrap, I am sure there will be many that still disagree and I am ok with that, but I still stand by my decision. Here is why I wrapped: 1. Tight fit to get the headers in. They will banged around when I try to get them in place. Those actions would potentially have chipped the coating. 2. Under-hood temp -- header wrap still does very well on under-hood temps. In most situations, better than coating. There are some very tight clearances. The header will be very close to looks of things that need to stay cool. The wrap helps that. 3. Durability -- The car is low, and I expect things to ping the header. I don't want to worry about chipping etc. The wrap will not chip. 4. Cost -- Coating cost was too high of an investment for these headers. The headers were an experiment the I keep rolling with, and I don't want to spend $500 (what I was quoted) for coating that will get damage and expose the mild steel beneath; which will certainly end in rusting quickly. 5. I like the way header wrap looks...guess I am just old school at heart.

I list those reason to help folks understand, and to help anyone doing this after me to realize that coating is not the only solution. I have had a daily-driver that has had header wrap (under sealed header wrap too) that lasted for about 10 years. I sold the car with the wrapped headers. The dude who I sold it to blew the engine. Header wrap still intact.

Just some thoughts.

Oh, and this is grassroots build. Thanks for reading.

Updated images:

Making a new transmission shifter cable mount.

I forgot to install the trans cooler lines, so I had to have some soft lines make up so that I could snake them from the tranny to the radiator.

Sometimes imagination is more important than knowledge. -Einstein This is how I extended my shifter cable linkage.

Camping fork, epoxy puddy and metal rod was used to get my shifter cable linkage to the right length.

Extending the wire length of the O2 sensors to work with the long-long tube headers.

I was trying to start the car last night and had some fountains of fuel. I investigated today and it looks like I used/or was sold the wrong type of hose. The hose that I used was not EFI hose, so the pressure went through the hose like butter. I am thinking I just grabbed the wrong hose when I was hooking things up. I had lots of carb hose from my Weber 45DOCE's-days.

These part numbers may help others doing an E34 LS1 swap, so please write these down and save. It took me a good amount of time in the back of NAPA with hoses, and a few trips to the parts store to get just the right hoses. I am hoping I can save you time and effort. Paying it forward a bit. Please share the info:

These top photos are of the hoses that made the top hose with the JTR adapter.

The bottom hose was one hose.

How it comes together.

I am in a time crunch now, so I have to do things quickly. This intake is not the best looking, but will get the job done for now. I wanted t share he process just in case anyone was interested in doing an intake themselves. If you take your time, and be aware of he details it will come out pretty nice. I have done some really nice one in the past, but I am posting for the process more the anything else.

Creating the plug from green floral foam. The hose clamp set to a bit over 3" to account for the thickness of the FRP.

A bit of carving has been done. Checking the rough fit.

Another test fit with more of the final shape carved in.

Tape to protect the foam and create a release agent. I need to smooth out the tape to have a smooth interior for the intake.

Raw intake fit being fit being checked. There are a few ways to create intake. I chose to cut in half and remove the plug, the add another later of FRP (fiberglass reinforce plastic).

Finished intake. Not the best but will do for now. I wanted the weave pattern to show. I like the look of that.

Open header with PCM tune start

I now have the accessories on and I am looking for leaks. I found two of my plugs were cracked for trying to install the header with plugs in. Camera cut of because card was full. I changed the plugs and was going to take another video, but couldn't because of full card:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DKIfD8pJo

I will split the exhaust right after where the hanger holds the mid-section of the exhaust. This will allow me to remove the muffler portion if needed -- without removing the cat portion. Late I will make a cat-less versions with dumps out the side NASCAR style for the fun of it.

Awesome intake . . .

Thanks

First driveFirst drive

Great Job. Congrats on having a mobile swap. Such a great feeling.

Let the sorting begin.

Thanks and Yup. I am really more surprised by how much is right with the car. Wiring seems to be all good "knock on wood". Wiring was my biggest worry.

As a matter of fact, I dropped my daughter off at school in it today.

Took the car to Redmond Town Center Exotic Car Show this morning. Basically a cars and coffee, but there's criteria for which cars can be shown. Can't be basic mods, needs to be relatively rare.

That's some fine company for an awesome wagon . . .

Strike_Zero wrote: That's some fine company for an awesome wagon . . .

Thank you. Yes the company was very impressive

Video of the project compressed into a few minutes

Big thumbs up! Have you had any problems since the build? I am hoping to do this swap to my wagon once the motor craps out on me.(Hopefully not for another couple years) I'm at 165k right now on my M60. I'm surprised I haven't seen you around, I work in Redmond near the town center. Do you belong to any other forums or go to any of the bmw meets?

This thing is great! I like the idea of an automatic in it, a nice cruiser with some balls.

I have just moved to the Atlanta area, so the car is now in the South. I have had some issues since the build. I broke a universal joint, and now the trans is crapping out. I will go with another auto. I had planned a 5 speed swap, but I really like the auto trans.

0 - 60 is 4.5 second with tire spin. (4.10 gears help) Not bad for a old wagon. I am sure it could be faster. I am betting I could get down to 3.8 seconds. The 4.5 felt like a non-event. Just pressed the gas and went fast. LOL

Updated photo:

Schnitzelwagon wrote: Big thumbs up! Have you had any problems since the build? I am hoping to do this swap to my wagon once the motor craps out on me.(Hopefully not for another couple years) I'm at 165k right now on my M60. I'm surprised I haven't seen you around, I work in Redmond near the town center. Do you belong to any other forums or go to any of the bmw meets?