Ls1 E36 Bmw
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Teching In
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Ls1 E36 Bmw I am plannin on buying an LS1 for my BMW. I am very new to the American Muscle, and I don't know where to start looking for one. I want something on the cheaper side, but I dont want a piece of crap. Any ideas?
-John
-John
'99+ complete F-body LS1/T56 takeout will get the job done.
Most replace the oil pump ($140), Tchain ($22) at the minimum. If you want to spin it beyond 6600rpm rod bolts are a wise investment ($150).
If you buy an '01-02 LS1 motor (F-body) you get the LS6 intake (+20hp) and slightly better flowing factory heads (+5-10hp) with the improved oil pump/rod bolts.
Remember that doing an LS1 conversion on a Bimmer is an expensive one. An RX-7 is a much cheaper proposal.
Most replace the oil pump ($140), Tchain ($22) at the minimum. If you want to spin it beyond 6600rpm rod bolts are a wise investment ($150).
If you buy an '01-02 LS1 motor (F-body) you get the LS6 intake (+20hp) and slightly better flowing factory heads (+5-10hp) with the improved oil pump/rod bolts.
Remember that doing an LS1 conversion on a Bimmer is an expensive one. An RX-7 is a much cheaper proposal.
Originally Posted by gnx7
Remember that doing an LS1 conversion on a Bimmer is an expensive one. An RX-7 is a much cheaper proposal.
Teching In
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Originally Posted by gnx7
'99+ complete F-body LS1/T56 takeout will get the job done.
Most replace the oil pump ($140), Tchain ($22) at the minimum. If you want to spin it beyond 6600rpm rod bolts are a wise investment ($150).
If you buy an '01-02 LS1 motor (F-body) you get the LS6 intake (+20hp) and slightly better flowing factory heads (+5-10hp) with the improved oil pump/rod bolts.
Remember that doing an LS1 conversion on a Bimmer is an expensive one. An RX-7 is a much cheaper proposal.
Most replace the oil pump ($140), Tchain ($22) at the minimum. If you want to spin it beyond 6600rpm rod bolts are a wise investment ($150).
If you buy an '01-02 LS1 motor (F-body) you get the LS6 intake (+20hp) and slightly better flowing factory heads (+5-10hp) with the improved oil pump/rod bolts.
Remember that doing an LS1 conversion on a Bimmer is an expensive one. An RX-7 is a much cheaper proposal.
I don't believe this to be true. If you are willing to do the fabrication yourself, the lower initial cost of a mid 90's BMW will make the project cheaper in itself.
Parts necessary for a stock motor in either a BMW or RX7 is the same.
Radiator
Cooling Fan
motor mounts with subframe modification
rear trans mount
driveshaft
electrical modification
power steering lines
radiator hoses
Intake hoses
brake pedal modification on BMW/hydraulic clutch master on RX7
About the only part I did on the BMW that I didn't do on the RX7 was ABS relocation. I would probably remove the ABS in the future.
Headers are by far the biggest deal on the BMW conversion. Sanderson at least makes a set of headers for the RX7. There is no one else besides Nash for headers right now on the BMW and they make for some interesting motor mounts. I made my headers. They took me about 36 hours start to finish. If I were to make them over, I would make tri-y's I believe they would fit a lot better in the 3 series.
Matt
Originally Posted by MattP
I don't believe this to be true. If you are willing to do the fabrication yourself, the lower initial cost of a mid 90's BMW will make the project cheaper in itself.
Matt
Matt
However if you are like me (and many others)and don't have the knowledge or tools to do the custom fab work, we pay thousands for headers, thousands for diff mount/subframe mods....it adds up.
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Teching In
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I believe the prices are still the same. Buy the whole kit from Nash and the price isn't terrible. By the time you add up the hinson kit and the Sanderson headers. You probably end up near the same price for the kit. Mid 90's BMW's are a dime a dozen and parts are cheaper than the RX7 of the 90's. 2.3 million E36 BMW's were made worldwide vs. 15,000 3rd gen RX7's.
The parts prices my friend paid for bullshit interior pieces on the RX7 were astronomical. The BMW pieces are pricey, but they probably will be available for a lot longer.
Don't get me wrong. If I didn't have a child, I would definitely be sporting a 3rd gen. I owned before the Hinson era and I loved it. I just need a back seat. I am telling you from experience that the prices are similar. Even with all my own fab work, I still have thousands in it. This **** is expensive.
The parts prices my friend paid for bullshit interior pieces on the RX7 were astronomical. The BMW pieces are pricey, but they probably will be available for a lot longer.
Don't get me wrong. If I didn't have a child, I would definitely be sporting a 3rd gen. I owned before the Hinson era and I loved it. I just need a back seat. I am telling you from experience that the prices are similar. Even with all my own fab work, I still have thousands in it. This **** is expensive.
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Teching In
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Or you can just buy everything from my car and have a plug and play solution.
I've got around $25,000 invested in just the engine, rebuilt transmission with lower overdrive gears, custom headers, custom pan with accusump, all the mounts, radiator, etc. BUT it is set up for a track car, no power steering (which could easily be added back), no ABS and a GM ASA cam which is pretty lumpy for a street car.
Anyway if someone wanted to have a ready built solution for $10,000 it's their's.
I've got around $25,000 invested in just the engine, rebuilt transmission with lower overdrive gears, custom headers, custom pan with accusump, all the mounts, radiator, etc. BUT it is set up for a track car, no power steering (which could easily be added back), no ABS and a GM ASA cam which is pretty lumpy for a street car.
Anyway if someone wanted to have a ready built solution for $10,000 it's their's.
With your power goals I would reccomend to buy a LS1 w/ T56 and PCM/harness. I know I usually think I could piece together a set up for less but unless your building a forged motor w/ heads and cam then just buy a complete stock motor. Like some others have said I would upgrade a few things especially since it will be easy w/ the motor out. I would install the following:
1. LS6 intake ('01-up come w/ it)
2. Ported oil pump
3. Double roller timing chain
4. Cam/valvetrain (may as well now)
You can either buy the cam/valvetrain used off here to save some or there are some nicely priced set ups out there.
http://sites.reachtheworld.tv/waterN...07473&DID=1225
This would be a good set up. $255 for valvetrain and $279 for the cam.
And here is a motor...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-...01827062QQrdZ1
1. LS6 intake ('01-up come w/ it)
2. Ported oil pump
3. Double roller timing chain
4. Cam/valvetrain (may as well now)
You can either buy the cam/valvetrain used off here to save some or there are some nicely priced set ups out there.
http://sites.reachtheworld.tv/waterN...07473&DID=1225
This would be a good set up. $255 for valvetrain and $279 for the cam.
And here is a motor...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-...01827062QQrdZ1
Teching In
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Originally Posted by jcarp
Or you can just buy everything from my car and have a plug and play solution.
I've got around $25,000 invested in just the engine, rebuilt transmission with lower overdrive gears, custom headers, custom pan with accusump, all the mounts, radiator, etc. BUT it is set up for a track car, no power steering (which could easily be added back), no ABS and a GM ASA cam which is pretty lumpy for a street car.
Anyway if someone wanted to have a ready built solution for $10,000 it's their's.
I've got around $25,000 invested in just the engine, rebuilt transmission with lower overdrive gears, custom headers, custom pan with accusump, all the mounts, radiator, etc. BUT it is set up for a track car, no power steering (which could easily be added back), no ABS and a GM ASA cam which is pretty lumpy for a street car.
Anyway if someone wanted to have a ready built solution for $10,000 it's their's.
Originally Posted by LS1Bimmer
I plan on buying motor mounts and drivetrain pieces. Other than that I can fabricate everything else. That should keep the price down.
Expensive parts for me were subframe reinforcement and headers. These two items cost about $2.5k more than my LS1/T56
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Originally Posted by MattP
Don't get me wrong. If I didn't have a child, I would definitely be sporting a 3rd gen. I owned before the Hinson era and I loved it. I just need a back seat.
now you could also buy a 240sx since they are al 4 seaters, the 1995+ bodystyle is pretty damn nice too.
but if you want a 4 door, thats a different story and the BMW is the only option.
Originally Posted by MattP
At that kind of price, why didn't you buy the Nash kit or the V3auto kit before they stopped selling it?
What was the subframe reinforcement other than the M3 plates welded to the chassis?
What was the subframe reinforcement other than the M3 plates welded to the chassis?
Rear subframe, for differential. Similar to what you see here
http://www.rfdm.com/Randy/BMW/pics/p...Reinforcement/
Teching In
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Originally Posted by Da_Omen
What is that engine and all?, What power (KW'S) did you end up getting? 1/4 mile time? and videos?
That's why I did things like spend spend $2500 having the diff rebuilt and beefed up as well as adding lower 5 & 6 gears.
The design of the every component was centered around mitigating any heat issues from the tight packaging. The thought and design put into the routing of every oil line, cooling line and wire by the builder is really impressive.