E90 BMW 3-Series Station Wagon Gets a 6.0-Liter LS; T56 Swap: Track Time Tuesday
These days, LS-swapping an E90 BMW 3-Series is an easy, plug and play job thanks to the aftermarket.
In recent months, we’ve come across more and more LS-swapped BMW models, which is likely for a very good reason. With the exception of some models, the German automaker is known for building engines with some catastrophically bad failure points, which can’t be fixed easily or cheaply. The proper way to circumvent this problem is to simply replace that much-maligned powerplant with something more reliable, like an LS, which is what the folks at the recently-rejuvenated Car Craft decided to do with this E90 BMW 3-Series station wagon recently.
Thanks to its many issues, the E90 BMW 3-Series can now be found for pennies on the dollar, and sure enough, Car Craft managed to score this one for a mere $5,000. Of course, you get what you pay for in the world of BMW, and this wagon came with lots of oil leaks and a dashboard that was lit up like a Christmas tree. Its new owners weren’t fazed, however, as they had a plan and a drivetrain in mind to instantly solve those problems – GM’s 6.0-liter LS and a T56 six-speed manual combination.
Thus, out came the original 3.0-liter inline-six and automatic gearbox and in went the new setup, a job that’s actually pretty easy to do thanks to a set of adapter motor mounts from LSE90.com, a Quickdraw bell housing, and a Holley oil pan, exhaust manifolds, and Terminator X EFI that uses an adapter module to mate it to the stock harness in true plug-and-play fashion. Everything fits incredibly nicely, and the job took around a week to complete, though some detail work remains.
Regardless, it’s pretty amazing how easy this sort of job is thanks to the aftermarket. In fact, the shifter for the T56 even fit perfectly in the wagon’s OEM location, when utilizing the rearmost shifter mount, at least. For now, the plan is to have this swapped E90 BMW 3-Series wagon 100 percent ready to go in time for Holley’s LS Fest in Bowling Green, Kentucky this September, but for now, you can catch up on the build by checking out MotorTrend‘s revived video series.
Photos: Car Craft
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