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I hoped to get more done over the Labor day weekend, but things kept coming up and I had low motivation today. I did get started on running the transmission lines into the BMW trans fluid cooler. I also got the transmission installed with the driveline bolted up.
I also strengthened my trans mount with a 1/4 in. steel insert. Call me paranoid, but better safe than sorry. If the engine mounts break, then worst case scenario, my oil pan rides on the cross member until I get home...big deal. If my trans mount breaks, bad things things happen. This should make it nice and rigid.
I also got a start on mocking up the shift lever position on the trans. Right now the bmw lever is piggy-backed on top of the original piece so I can get an idea of just where I want it. It's going to be tricky to get the bracket designed and welded up while still being able to plug everything in where it needs to go.
Note that the BMW shift cable just barely reaches far enough. There will be limitations on what position I can finish it up in...And it's probably becoming obvious by now that I need a new camera. lol. Here's a better picture.
Mini Update. Just got a few nit picky little things done.
Got the ac lines all buttoned up. Thank you pex connectors. The picture makes it seem like it's going to rub on the ac pulley, but it's actually far enough above it so that it cannot contact.
Fuel line. Again, thank you pex connectors.
Finally, here is a bracket that I modified to accept the BMW shift connector.
I didn't get a picture of it installed (I'll get one later), but it now shifts nicely from park to drive just like the stock bmw piece. I hope to be able to modify the tap shifter mechanism so that I can still manually shift down to the lower gears. Still no wiring, but I also got one of the transmission lines connected into the bmw trans cooler. Still need to get the ps pump lines connected too. It's the little nit-picky things that seem to take forever.
Just a little update to let people know that the project has not yet gone into hibernation for the winter. I have successfully integrated the gm transmission cooling lines into the BMW trans cooler and have also completed the high pressure side of the power steering system. Things are moving at a glacial pace since just about 100% of my focus is on inspiring my students to do their homework and study for tests instead of finishing up the BMW project. The project is still moving, cooling system is next. I should have that one knocked out by January at this rate
Sounds good. But, my project is about to go into hibernation for a while. Long hours at work and colder temperatures have dampened my enthusiasm to go out and work on it. Who knows, maybe I'll move to a place where I have a warm garage to work on it during the winter. If so, the project will come back to life before spring rolls back around. But right now, it's just sitting under my car port waiting for me to get back to it. BTW sorry to hear about your shoulder. Take care of yourself and get better quick.
you are my hero loopy127! Ive been contemplating doing this to my e60 for sometime now, but never attempted because of such little research on the topic. You sir, have done a great service for all of us e60 owners!! I cant wait to see your solutions for the CAN.
you are my hero loopy127! Ive been contemplating doing this to my e60 for sometime now, but never attempted because of such little research on the topic. You sir, have done a great service for all of us e60 owners!! I cant wait to see your solutions for the CAN.
now to source out a swap!!!!
Glad I could be of service. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with the CAN right now. It is project "kick the CAN" after all. It's possible that I could end up with a custom gauge cluster and have every system either hacked or unused. LOL. I guess time will tell, but it would definitely be nice to have some kind of interface so I can have as many systems functioning as possible as long as the car does what I tell it to do (i.e. starts when I turn the key and moves when I put it in gear). I have heard that Thaniel is currently working on a solution for the E60.
I am following this build intently... great looking car and a great platform. I'll look for updates in March...
Thanks. I'm looking forward to getting back to work on it once things warm up. I keep having temptations to buy a cheap first gen Cadillac cts-v to keep me entertained until I get the BMW running, but so far I've been able to resist. We'll see how that goes.
Just read through your build. Working in a cool garage in winter is no fun.
Looks like you are reasonably close to getting it running. Most of the LS swaps seem to be going into E46 3 series or E39 5 series. Yours is the newest I have seen. I have an E36 LS swap that has been done for a couple of years. I'm putting a new muffler on to try to get it a bit quieter. Now is 90db.
I also have had a first gen CTSV for 10 years. Not getting rid of it. It is an enjoyable car. I use it for road trips and summer driving. Been through SLC many times on the way to Las Vegas.
Now you have a few months to plan the finishing on the car.
I have a little 1 car garage, but it is currently the residence of my 1999 Firebird WS6 project. I have swapped out the ls1 in favor of a 2005 LQ4 bottom end with l92 heads and a big cam. It should be running and driving right now, but it lost all oil pressure recently, so I have to figure out what happened there.
I was a little reluctant to do this swap at first, but after swapping in the good (BMW) engine and putting all of that time into it only to find out that I would have had to take it to the dealer to get it to do anything, I was ready to rip the CANbus out and put something in that would do what I tell it to.
CTS-V's are great cars. I had a 2005 a couple of years ago. Hopefully you have swapped out the 40 lb. boat-anchor of a clutch for the ls7 version. Wakes it right up.
Last edited by loopy127; 12-12-2016 at 09:41 PM.
Reason: clarification
Just picked this up earlier this week. It's not a CTS-V, but I'm really happy with it. 2012 Chevrolet Caprice. I like its sleeper status. Looks like an '07 impala with rear wheel drive and a 6.0 aluminum l77 under the hood. It's a lot more kid friendly than my extended cab pickup and a whole lot faster. It should scratch the "power-sedan" itch until I can get back to work on the BMW.
Yeah, there are a few around now that the various police departments are starting to sell them off, but not a lot of them (compared to other production cars) were ever imported from Australia. They are great driving cars.
Hi, any progress on your project? I'm very interested in your CAN-BUS solution. I've been toying with the idea of keeping the gym ecu for the engine and the BMW ecu for electronics and tying both together atleast until someone comes up with a better solution.
i have an 07 530 that I want to ls swap in the next coming months.
Hey, I have the usual excuse. Very busy with work etc. etc. You should see this project come back to life around Easter break. I plan to finish up the cooling system, take care of the last few little mechanical things, and then go crazy on the wiring. For the time being, I am keeping the stock ecm to keep the car as happy as possible. Come summer time when I'm not trying to get high school kids to understand math, this project will really take off again.
As promised, there was a little blip on the radar in regards to working on this project over Easter weekend. The cooling system is now just about all buttoned up so I can check that off of the list. I worked at a very leisurely pace and spent a good amount of time doing homework for my college classes, but I did at least get to the point where I can put some coolant in the radiator. I based the routing of the lines on what I saw on my 5.3 truck, so I hope that I got everything right. I also ran my steam line right into the coolant overflow tank. Please let me know if anything looks out of place. I'll get some better overall photos and edit this post when I have time to get a good camera out there. Just cell phone shots for now.
I plan to cover the pex connections with something so that it doesn't look quite so "ghetto".
09-05-2016, 09:03 PM
