Conversions & Swaps LSX Engines in Non-LSX Vehicles
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E39 BMW 540 LS Swap Completed

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Old Feb 17, 2011 | 07:08 AM
  #61  
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You want the engine, transmission, wiring harness, computer and as much else as you can reasonable get from the car. The other questions are hard to answer because it depends on how you want to approach it - for example, there may be an BMW or other radiator that will work great or you may need choose to incorporate the GM radiator. bimmerforums.com has an engine conversion forum that can probably help you get answers to your questions.
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Old Feb 17, 2011 | 09:33 AM
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Many thanks for link.
But I just want to calculate the approximate budget of the project. Some people say that there is a work for 6-7k usd. This is unfortunately more than I consider. But most of that people makes with LS2, which comes after 2005, and probably costs more, i guess.
Fast question - Is it available to use everything from donor car with adding some custom mountings, and wiring which doesn't require ultra-master technical skills? Therefore, we don't have such "genius" who will do that project independently.
p.s. I may worry you, because I rely on your great experience with already 3rd BMW LS project.
Regards
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 06:24 AM
  #63  
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I have no idea how much the costs will be for you given your location. Depending on what you prefer, you can get the engine and transmission for $2k or $20k. You are going to need someone with some technical skills to build the mounts and sort out the wiring - there is no way around that.
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 05:26 AM
  #64  
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Wow that is one nice swap. I'm curious tho on how you Recoded the instument cluster.
Is a scan tool all that is needed? Or did you change some of the chipsets? Perhaps this is a propeitary secret of yours? Would you be willing to shed some light?
or would you do this for a fee?

Last edited by Tripleapex; Mar 7, 2011 at 05:29 AM. Reason: Forgot a question
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 03:19 PM
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It needs to be re-coded.
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 09:50 PM
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do you mean like..
1. Press and hold trip reset button.

2. Still holding that button, insert the key.

3. When the display shows ' 01._ _ ', let go of the button.

4. Without waiting, quickly tap the button one time, ' 02._ _ KI TEST ' should appear.

4.1. But if you were too slow, it will display ' 01.00 ' instead. Don't worry, just hold the button until it shows as in 3.

5. When the display shows as in 4., hold the button for 1 second and then release, you'll see ' 02.00 '.

6. Tap it one time.

7. ???

? found this on the net to reset it
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 10:00 PM
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Sorry what you mean is i have to find out what protocol the cluster uses? ie
k-line, iso, or the such and convert it to run on the signal the ecm puts out?
sorry can't wrap my head around how i would go accomplishing this.
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 11:32 PM
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let me ask the question that hasn't been asked yet. since you bought a 98, and you are in illinois, what are you doing about emissions?
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Old Mar 9, 2011 | 10:52 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by merim123
let me ask the question that hasn't been asked yet. since you bought a 98, and you are in illinois, what are you doing about emissions?
My guess is it's like other OBDII inspections - plug in and pass or fail. It does have cats, factory exhaust, and no bling at all, so it's really not going to raise any suspicions...
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Old Mar 9, 2011 | 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by jmilz28
My guess is it's like other OBDII inspections - plug in and pass or fail. It does have cats, factory exhaust, and no bling at all, so it's really not going to raise any suspicions...
they read the vin of the car so he'd have to have that too then? i didn't know you can assign a different manufacturer to a LS PCM.
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Old Mar 10, 2011 | 09:31 AM
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Originally Posted by merim123
they read the vin of the car so he'd have to have that too then? i didn't know you can assign a different manufacturer to a LS PCM.
I'm not certain they read or pay attention to the VIN on inspection, at least within the computer, only that it passes all the tests. When I was in the biz, when in doubt, the VIN was verified on the windshield not within the machine. I DO know HPTuners can easily change VINs and my guess is it wouldn't care what manufacturer the VIN was assigned to, only that it has the proper number of digits. Now I'm really curious...
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Old Mar 15, 2011 | 11:07 AM
  #72  
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The car is OBDII compliant and legal. It has passed its required emission test.
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Old Apr 7, 2011 | 01:11 PM
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It's spring time.... has IL thawed out yet... so that you can take this car to the strip to see some times?

Wondering if it is faster than the current V10 M5
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Old Apr 7, 2011 | 01:14 PM
  #74  
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The summer tires are going on this weekend

My guess is that it will run mid 15's at around 85 mph
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Old Apr 20, 2011 | 01:49 PM
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Dyno results - still some work to be done on the tune, but all in all not bad







For the video hounds (no the guy in the car is not me) the car is very quiet until you open it up - YouTube - 2011-04-20 - At the Dyno
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Old Apr 20, 2011 | 02:03 PM
  #76  
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Rob,

Let me know when you are ready to sell this car. Ill be ready for a new daily driver in about 18 months :-)

Andrew
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Old May 5, 2011 | 11:04 AM
  #77  
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holy crap that is NUTSO!

awesome power in that lux-o-cruiser, how does it hook up and can you make it get all squirely easy enough or too easy?

wow man what a creation, I love it!
I wish I had the cashola to do this to a touring model (wagon) so I could haul the kids around and still dorifto at will.
but the IS300 is looking like a less-costly platform to maintain and maybe I can find a sportcross wagon if I'm lucky.

rock on rao!
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Old May 6, 2011 | 05:26 PM
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awesome! Love this swap. I did the e39 body style.... but not the price tag the M5's command.

This is just the ticket. 575rwtq at 2500rpm.... wow.

Why not rev it to 6500rpm+? It looked like the HP was still climbing steadily.

Last edited by gnx7; May 6, 2011 at 05:34 PM.
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Old May 7, 2011 | 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted by owen v8litew8
holy crap that is NUTSO!

awesome power in that lux-o-cruiser, how does it hook up and can you make it get all squirely easy enough or too easy?

wow man what a creation, I love it!
I wish I had the cashola to do this to a touring model (wagon) so I could haul the kids around and still dorifto at will.
but the IS300 is looking like a less-costly platform to maintain and maybe I can find a sportcross wagon if I'm lucky.

rock on rao!
It actually hooks up pretty well on the street, but you need to be sure you now where you are headed when you floor it

I have driven it in most weather conditions (I have a set of snow tires for it ) and it is pretty predictable.



Originally Posted by gnx7
awesome! Love this swap. I did the e39 body style.... but not the price tag the M5's command.

This is just the ticket. 575rwtq at 2500rpm.... wow.

Why not rev it to 6500rpm+? It looked like the HP was still climbing steadily.
The rev limiter is set at 6500, the shop that did the dyno was being conservative which is fine with me. I suppose I could add another 50 hp or so and run it out to 6500 on the dyno, but I am not all that concerned with the absolute numbers. In the real world, shifting at 6000 is works out just fine
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Old May 9, 2011 | 06:50 PM
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very nice!! rob
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