I went through this thought process when I went to swap the MG and ended up with a Camaro :) I didn't bother parting out the chassis, I took what I wanted and sold the shell on Craigslist. I figured that I'd already saved a bunch of time and money by not piecemealing the drivetrain together. This was before the L33 experience, too.
In reply to rustomatic :
I've made two standalone harnesses from junkyard harnesses with stock ecu (gen 3). I think I'll look for a p59 ecu in the yard, its flex fuel, and 3 bar OS capable incase I (even though I definitely shouldnt) boost it some day. I thought about the new Holley systems, but I need the factory ecu for emissions and the ability to control the AC is nice too.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I just feel all ls/t56 cars have swap donor tax on them now. And honestly, I prefer the piece mealing, engine building process, as long as I can keep the budget in the same ballpark.
Following along intently as a fellow e39 lover\owner...
mgfoster said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I just feel all ls/t56 cars have swap donor tax on them now.
LS1 F-bodies have been worth exactly as much as their engine and transmission for over a decade now :) That was the case in 2008 when I bought my donor.
But building an engine is fun, I get it. It's all about what part of the journey you enjoy.
Should they ever have a "bring your old Beemer to Road Atlanta or AMP" day, we should be ready, with stealth LS swaps. I did two laps in the rain (yep, I signed up for the wrong track day, but kind of brought the right car) with my last E39 at Laguna Seca, with bald rear tires, and called it a day (bad luck track for me). While the E39 has excellent weight balance, bald rear tires, sport mode, and rain change that reality in a hurry, unless you're a pro drifter. It lasted about a week or two after that . . .
In reply to rustomatic :
Are you in the Atlanta area? I love driving on AMP.
In reply to mgfoster :
I just moved to Woodstock in January, after two months house shopping from a hotel in Sandy Springs. I love it here so far, but there's a lot that has been on hold because of everyone's favorite virus. I made two trips to Caffeine and Octane early in the year, but pretty much all I know at this point is the mountain bike parks, which are awesome and quite convenient. Here's to seeing (and using) the tracks in more normal times going forward. I have been to Barber in Alabama, but only as a visitor of the motorcycle museum . . .
I agree with rustomatic that you seem to be taking the scenic route on the LS swap, unless you are doing this for fun and a learning experience on how to build an engine from scratch.
I've been down that road before and it's not healthy for the ole wallet. I bought a bare LS6 block with valley cover and intake manifold for a decent price 4 years ago after some time in a spreadsheet I sold the LS6 and bought a complete 4.8 for $400. I recently replaced that with a $300 L33 that needed a couple seals and an oil pump. If I were you I would buy a complete engine with a harness you can get L33, LM4, LC9 aluminum 5.3 for under $1500 damn near anywhere in the country.
You will nickle and dime yourself to death on building an LS engine from scratch at the very least buy a complete, cheap iron block to steal the rods, crank, sensors, heads and bolts off of. LS4 engines are a great way to get Gen4 rods and 799 heads for real cheap. That's the transverse FWD GXP/SS engine, the transmissions go out on those cars when you look at them wrong.
I think you guys won, I sold the LS1 block in favor of doing a cheap junkyard 5.3 when the time comes. The between full time job, CHZ-WGN, and side projects, this just got moved to the bottom of the list. I still plan on doing the swap at some point in the future and I think iron block truck motor will be over half the cost. Until then, I'll be on the lookout for a stupid cheap TR-6060, and I'll keep making marginal improvements.
This months marginal improvement:
EVOX-R 2.0 (knock off) and LED halos, should have MUCH better light output just based on bowl reflectivity, and its actually bi-xenon, so it will have HID brights as well as the halogen brights. Havent put them all together yet, finished pics to come.
This is why I want to start off with a lq9 for my XJS vs buying an aluminum short block and building it. I think a cam and intake will get the LQ9 over 400hp. Might throw a set of heads on it too.
I like this, but I wanna see more of that S123 in the background.
Azryael said:I like this, but I wanna see more of that S123 in the background.
In reply to yupididit :
Lol thanks for plugging it for me 
The multiple projects thing can definitely be a pain. I sure don't have the bandwidth for it. That said, if you could whack the need for a manual tranny, costs can drop pretty significantly, as modern automatics are practically free (and work great). My whole 4.8/6l90 setup was like $2500 (80k miles). For way easy power, you might even consider an LT; L83s are pretty comparable in price (no LS tax yet). In certain places, however, one cannot legally swap a truck engine into a car chassis. I have little knowledge of GA's smog laws . . .
In reply to rustomatic :
After test driving the van that had the 6l80, I get it. It was so smooth right out of the box, snappy shifts, and always had a gear for whatever amount of acceleration you desired. The problem is I need the satisfaction of a perfect rev matched downshift and a stoplight clutch dump in a car as silly as an LS E39.
mgfoster said:In reply to rustomatic :
After test driving the van that had the 6l80, I get it. It was so smooth right out of the box, snappy shifts, and always had a gear for whatever amount of acceleration you desired. The problem is I need the satisfaction of a perfect rev matched downshift and a stoplight clutch dump in a car as silly as an LS E39.
Point taken. That said, my other LS-swapped car (Ford) melts 315-width tires with nearly no noise, no trickery required; just apply gas pedal and place eyes far ahead as rpms build past 2000 or so. It has a fatty 6l80 in it that allows for pieces of clutch to not be picked up after said "dump."
I get it, though. I'm so old that I took my original license test with a car that had a stick (way back in the early 1990s, when having a "manual" was not considered interesting or exotic). I also spent a few too many years driving big, stupid trucks with Roadranger 10-speeds in not-fun places like San Francisco. The manual can suck it.
Nevertheless, here's to your build stayin' alive on some level. I still have occasional e39 withdrawals.
Hello E39 swapper, from a former (recovered) E39 swapper. I did an LQ4/T56 into an '01 540i Sport almost a decade ago.
The smartest thing you have done yet is ditch the bare block. You'll spend as much time finding the parts for/building the motor, as you will performing the rest of the swap.
I recommend carefully examining your budget and goals before continuing. These aren't particularly difficult cars to swap, just some extra coding/wiring in the cluster to keep the tach, CEL etc happy. Where it starts to get tricky is the ancillaries. Your car looks to be a 6 cyl model - therefore open diff? Your clutch dumping shenanigans will result in a one tire fire that will get old fast. Now you're into building an M5 LSD that has its own tax, or swapping in an IRS 8.8 pumpkin (lots of fab time).
The 6 cyl subframe also uses rack and pinion steering (better than the 540i's recirculating ball) which will allow you to use the more readily available rear-sump pans. The swap mounts can be built yourself, and the geometry is significantly easier if you start with a 6 cyl chassis.
Looks like you'll want to enjoy this as a daily driver - what's the plan for AC? You'll need custom lines to mate the GM compressor to the BMW condenser/evap, as well as figure out a way to trigger the GM PCM to turn on the compressor (either manually switched, or by modifying the IHKA).
Transmission? Depends on your power goals. T56 = $$, and honestly doesn't shift all that great, even with a rebuild. The other options are CD009 (350Z trans) w/ adapter, or the tried and true autos (4L80E) which are dirt cheap and work. They're a lot less boring than you might think.
Then there's the usual LS swap stuff like:
-What harness are you using? DBW or DBC? Buying a premade one or thinning out a junkyard harness?
-How are you tuning the car? Buying HPTuners and tackling that learning curve or taking it somewhere for a dyno tune?
-What are emissions requirements in your state? In NYS I had to deal with passing a plug-in OBD2 check (can be skirted with some creative HPT work).
If I were to do it all over again, I'd skip the big lumpy cam and the T56 and go right for a 4L80E/turbo. WIth the right converter it'll be fun off the line and even a 4.8 with a sloppy turbo will make 500whp by accident. By some happy accident the cheapest combo (4.8/5.3 turbo w/ 4L80E) also makes for the fastest car.
I'm subscribing to your thread, let me know if you have any questions.
nsogiba said:Hello E39 swapper, from a former (recovered) E39 swapper. I did an LQ4/T56 into an '01 540i Sport almost a decade ago.
The smartest thing you have done yet is ditch the bare block. You'll spend as much time finding the parts for/building the motor, as you will performing the rest of the swap.
I recommend carefully examining your budget and goals before continuing. These aren't particularly difficult cars to swap, just some extra coding/wiring in the cluster to keep the tach, CEL etc happy. Where it starts to get tricky is the ancillaries. Your car looks to be a 6 cyl model - therefore open diff? Your clutch dumping shenanigans will result in a one tire fire that will get old fast. Now you're into building an M5 LSD that has its own tax, or swapping in an IRS 8.8 pumpkin (lots of fab time).
The 6 cyl subframe also uses rack and pinion steering (better than the 540i's recirculating ball) which will allow you to use the more readily available rear-sump pans. The swap mounts can be built yourself, and the geometry is significantly easier if you start with a 6 cyl chassis.
Looks like you'll want to enjoy this as a daily driver - what's the plan for AC? You'll need custom lines to mate the GM compressor to the BMW condenser/evap, as well as figure out a way to trigger the GM PCM to turn on the compressor (either manually switched, or by modifying the IHKA).
Transmission? Depends on your power goals. T56 = $$, and honestly doesn't shift all that great, even with a rebuild. The other options are CD009 (350Z trans) w/ adapter, or the tried and true autos (4L80E) which are dirt cheap and work. They're a lot less boring than you might think.
Then there's the usual LS swap stuff like:
-What harness are you using? DBW or DBC? Buying a premade one or thinning out a junkyard harness?
-How are you tuning the car? Buying HPTuners and tackling that learning curve or taking it somewhere for a dyno tune?
-What are emissions requirements in your state? In NYS I had to deal with passing a plug-in OBD2 check (can be skirted with some creative HPT work).
If I were to do it all over again, I'd skip the big lumpy cam and the T56 and go right for a 4L80E/turbo. WIth the right converter it'll be fun off the line and even a 4.8 with a sloppy turbo will make 500whp by accident. By some happy accident the cheapest combo (4.8/5.3 turbo w/ 4L80E) also makes for the fastest car.
I'm subscribing to your thread, let me know if you have any questions.
nsogiba - I just sent you a PM about an e39 LS1 swap!
In reply to rustomatic :
How are you controlling the 6L80?
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