I just got an '02 540i with the entire intention of putting an LS engine in it. I already have the 4.8L that will go in it.

I haven't been on here for awhile, so a little background about me. I'm a mechanical engineer and have been into the LS engines since I read about them in HS in 1995. I started off with a 99 T/A, then a '01 Formula, then a 99 Corvette FRC, then an '09 G8 GT. I've also built a truck or two or 3 or 4. My first truck was a 72 GMC that I put an TPI 350 in. Then I sold that to fund part of my 68 C10 SWB with a 5.3L in that I still have. I also built a '69 GMC truck that started as a 3/4t longbed and I converted into a 1/2 ton SWB with a TBI 350 in. Finally, I took a '97 Chevy Crewcab 2wd dually 454 and converted it into a crew cab shortbed 4wd (solid axle) with a P-pumped 12V Cummins. So I've built a few vehicles.

Back in the day when I got the G8 (before having our first kid.....corvettes and kids don't work well) I seriously considered a e39 ('97-'03 5 series) M5, at the time they were in the ball park of the G8 price wise, but maintenance cost on the M5 vs a factory warranty on the G8...well you know which one at that time. But, I've always liked the e39s.

So fast forward a little more, started a metal cutting / fabrication business, bought a Jeep Wrangler to use as a daily driver / product development vehicle. Well after a year of driving the Wrangler, I'm basically done with product development and I'm sick of driving this thing. So I got the 540i to replace it (it will be sale in a few weeks).

So the plan. Judging by the title of this thread, you might be able to figure it out. 4.8L turbo charged, t56 trans. I really like the M-parralel wheels, so I'll probably switch to those at some point as well.

The 540i I got has 199k miles on it, but has been well taken care of. If I didn't know better I would guess it has 60k miles on it based on its condition. It is an auto, so I'll have to find some pedals for it. I'm also going to see about mounting a Ford 8.8 IRS diff. The M5 diffs are just so stupid expensive, and parts for the 8.8 are pretty cheap. Plus, with the t56, 3.15s are too high.

 

Sweet!! I am trying to figure out what i am going to build for a 4 door daily after my truck is done. I'm leaning this direction so i'll be watching this thread.

 

Curious to see what turbo you go with...

Andrew

 

If your interested we offer a E39 swap kit on our site -
https://www.sikky.com/product/bmw-e39-ls1-mount-kit/

We also offer headers for these -
https://www.sikky.com/product/bmw-e39-lsx-headers/

This allows for a pretty quick and easy installation. The only tricky things with these cars is we are required to use a 528i / 530 front suspension (6 cylinder model).

Let me know if I can assist you with anything on the swap!

 

N/A, probably.

With it being turbo, I would be inclined to try a 2.66 / 0.63 6 speed with the 3.15 rear.

 

So its been awhile since I got the car. A few months ago I started on the 8.8 swap. So far I have designed and fabricated the brackets to mount the differential in the car and the custom axles are being made. I managed to find an 8.8 from an explorer with a limited slip diff and 3.73 gears.

I've also been collecting parts. The main parts that I have are the engine (already had it), T56 from a '01 camaro, GTO oil pan, monster stage 3 clutch, fuse block and probably a few other minor thing.

The truck intake and accessories aren't going to fit under the hood of the 540, so I'm going to swap the intake/accessories off my 68 C-10. I'll have to use adapters for the two different styles of throttle bodies (3 bolt vs 4 bolt). The C-10 has an LS6 intake and corvette accessories.

 

Good luck with the swap. You will like the power and comfort when it's done. See my signature for info on my swap, I did one some years ago.

 

In my research I came across your build on several forums and its full of great info on overcoming some of the obstacles.

I finished up the 8.8 swap as well as the accessory/intake swap over on my 68 a few days ago. I spent a little time cleaning up the shop and got the car turn around on the lift. Then I officially started on the engine swap. I didn't do much; just removed the air intake, the HVAC ducting, and the one power wire that sets on the drivers side valve cover.....but its officially under way!

I hope to have the BMW engine out pretty quick and then start stabbing the LS in. I'm taking a few days off between Christmas and New Years that I'll get some time to work on it. Then I'm taking the 2nd week of January off of work, and I'm really hoping to make a lot of progress on the swap. I think I have the parts that I need except for a few things. Really just some exhaust pipe.

I'll have to see how it fits but I'm either going to run the stock manifolds rearward and tie into the stock BMW exhaust system. Option 2 is to run the manifolds forward and down and then y them together in preparation for the turbo. It really depends how the rearward fits (that's my first choice to save a little money for now).

The next thing that will slow me down a little is the aluminum welding to modifiy the GTO oil pan. And, the bellhousing for the trans has a small crack that needs to be weld repaired as well.

Finally, I'll have to have a driveshaft made.

Hopefully it all works out and I can get it done quickly. I did a swap into my 1990 K3500 in a similar time frame and was held up by not having all the parts I need.

 

Seems like there are a lot of BMW swaps on here. Are BMW engines really that bad? Just curious.

 

BMW- Great when running, EXPENSIVE to fix when not running. LS engine- Greater when running, CHEEEEP to fix when not running which is less often than the BMW

 

Pretty much covers it, except you can make additional power a lot cheaper too.

 

Yeah, I didn't want to slander the Beemers TOO badly... lol

 

You've probably been following, but just in case.... https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...-5-3-swap.html

 

Kinda-sorta, but thanks for putting it up here! Nice how these beemers accept LS mills so easily!

 

You already did....Beemer = motorcycle; Bimmer = car. LOL!

Physically they accept; apparently getting the car's dash/electronics to go along is a bit of a Pandora's Box.

 

Yeah, I heard that is actually the main hassle on these. True for all bimmers for the last 20 years, or just much newer ones?

 

I think the CAN-BUS (whatever the hell that mystery is) is the main culprit. So if the gauges aren't running off that mystery acronym, things get easier.

 

I have a android based stereo system, so worst case, I can plug it into the OBDII port and run Torque on my stereo for guages temporarily.

 

I started working on removing the engine. I pretty much just dove in and started removing plastic stuff and then the front end. It took a bit to get the front end off, figuring out how to disconnect the radiator hoses and a few other things slowed me down a bit, the BMW stuff isn't just a hose clamp. And then there are a lot of things to disconnect!

Once I got the front core support, HVAC duct, and hood, things got even easier to work on. I dove into the wiring. One nice thing is you can completely remove all of the wiring asscociated with the engine/transmission without cutting any wires, basically just disconnect some plugs.

I got the engine pulled with no problems really. Having the car on the lift while working on this made it easy so I could get to the few under the car items easily and get the engine hoist in position without hitting the suspension, etc. It is a tight squeeze to get the engine out with the manifolds on, but it came out just fine.

The I took some measurements as I knew I was going to have to do some design work on the engine stands; and figure I can do that while being out of town for Christmas. I did a little work in Solidworks and came up with a rough idea. I'll have to verify some of the measurements before making the stands. I have a 5'x10' plasma table, so that's what I'll use to make these with, so once the cad design is done, it will be easy from there. I believe my initial design was with about 3" clearance from the head to the firewall and the crank centerline a few inches above the motor mounts. Once I get home and get the engine into position I'll verify all this and tweak the model if needed.

I also realized I need some more parts (clutch hydraulic line, exhaust tubing)

 

Of course, the bell/trans tunnel clearance plays a role - but I put the back of the heads MUCH closer than 3" on mine -- as low and far back as possible.

Looks like things are coming along nicely!