pugads650

iTrader: (1)

i know everybody is doing the ls1 swaps with the older 3 series bmw but i wanted to know if it is possible to stuff a ls1 m6 into a 5 series bmw beacuse my brother use to have one of these bmw and these cars handled like they were on rails but lacked alot of ***** it was a 525i but had a 2.5 liter inline 6 motor wich felt like it had 50 horsepower.

so my question is this possible to do the swap and keep all the electronics inside of the car working like a stock bmw.

i just want ot build the ultimate daily driver

jeepinpete

Will it fit, yes. The older model year the car is, the easier it will be as far as the electronics go. The newer the car, the more integrated the electronics are, and the less likely you will get everything to work...

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

Someone that posted on this board has a "557tt" - it's a 5.7L twin turbo 5 Series. It looked to me like it was the body style that was just replaced with the newer ones... I guess it was late 90's and early/mid 2000's. Looked like a sick ride.

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

yup thats exactly what im looking for

im planing on purchasing a 98-2000 540i with a blown or no motor so i can replace it with a ls6 or ls1 and a 6 speed.

i would really appreciate some help finding information on the guy with the ls1 5 series thanks.

jonathan

Cop Car

iTrader: (14)

why 540.. wouldnt that make it more expensive. are there features with the 540 that you are specificly after besides something like a stronger rear?

id just buy a 525 (i think thats the lowest 5) and then swap from there, putting M brakes and wheels and what not on it, and beat them around the track with a superior power plant

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

im planing on spending about 5k on a donor car and another 3-4k on the motor and trans and another 3-4k geting it in there and getting thing to work.

i just drove a 2000 bmw m5 and just fell in love with the car till i saw the sticker on it ohh and maitance on the bmw motors get really expensive my brother has a 745i and its spends most of its time at the dealer they have replaced over 7k in parts on that car in the last year and it has 56k miles on it.

justanova

I work at a bmw shop and a guy came in for an alignment one time and had a ttls1 with an auto in his 5 series (E39 made from 97 to 2003) he put the comp where the stock bmw comp went, and the install was really clean, looked almost like it belonged there. the car he started with was a 6 cyl. car so it has a diff subframe than the v8 cars. he had to slightly mod the subframe for the oil pan to clear. the cross brace that is between the other two rails of the subframe that form a triangle had to be move forward a few inches, he had it setup with and auto though. car was really bitchin.

the speedo on the bmw gets its signal from the dsc/abs so the speedo worked. the factory tack worked(not sure how he got that done) and he had mounted 3 guages in front of the shifter for boost/op/wt. I wish I would of had my camera with me so I could have taken pics. All of this info is from looking at the car, I didn't get to talk to the owner but I wanted to. He had a badge on the back of the car that said 557.

hope this helps.

and from reading from this post, if you get a factory stick car you can use the stock clutch master.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-swaps/586040-bmw-z3-conversion.html

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

Use the search function to find the twin turbo 5 series as mentioned above... it's on here somewhere.

Skele4door

iTrader: (1)

A guy named Bill Hagen (I think) build a TT LSX powered 5 series a while back. Here's the link to a webpage about it, but the page has never been completed. Either way it might give you some ideas.

http://www.members.aol.com/hagancue/

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

bmws are great cars they are just overengineered but lack power and durability of american cars

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

yup thats it but i dont plan on doing a twin turbo like he did just a simple ls6 swap with a 6 speed.

lightning95sc

I queried the group about this same swap about two weeks ago. The only difference is I plan on using a '92 535(it was free). Any help and/or guidance is greatly appreciated. Chuck

Derek 357i

iTrader: (1)

I would agree with you on starting with a 540. I have an e34 540 and 525i and I think damn near every part of the driveline, brakes and suspension are different. My experience has been that with each passing generation, BMWs are more and more cheaply made with more money spent on BS gizmos.

I love the looks of the e39 body style, but again, I think they have more issues than the e34s. E34s are nice, aggressive looking cars, but finding V8 6 speed donors are rare, because they didn't make many of them. The e39 540i6 cars are MUCH more common. It's all in what you want.

The 540 cars get the biggest BMW diff, so you wouldn't need to worry about upgrading there.

owen v8litew8

isnt that TTLS1BMW sick?! I wish he would update the page!

it does look like e34 BMW v8 cars are out there for under 7 grand if in good shape, taking out the bmw powerplant for an LS1 is a proper way to wake the car up to its full potential. I am pondering this swap for a nice sedan but finding the right car close enough to home is the toughest part if you want to keep it on a budget as its true the v8 cars are pretty hard to find... only 2 years ofor v8's in the e34 maybe?

I think the newer e39 cars have more gizmos and electronics incorporated into weird systems so it will be harder to get one of the newer electronics to all function properly.

keep us posted on the swap, should be great fun when youre done.

justanova

that looks like the car that came into our shop, really clean install.

Derek 357i

iTrader: (1)

Another thing to note if you are doing an e34 car (not sure if this applies to e39s or not). BMW used a special remote brake booster and master cylinder on the V8 cars which located them right behind the driver's side headlight. You will likely need this setup for a V8 powered car, since the BMW 6's slanted away from the driver's side, you might end up with interference with the brake booster.

Like I said, I currently have both cars one 94 6cyl and a 95 V8 if anyone needs pics of anything.

redmist

I loved my 5-series Ls1 six speed until I lent it to my son and he totaled it in 5mins.
BMWs last forever I have two 87s that drive like new. Just watch out for rust.
The older the BMW the easier the conversion.

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ts/Dead%20557/

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

Derek 357i

can i get some pictures im trying to get a idea of what to build if you cant post them here can you email them to jbuickgnx@yahoo.com thanks.


jonathan

JoeZ

iTrader: (5)

pugads650

iTrader: (1)

whats up with the steering looks wierd.

thats why you dont start your kids in fast cars the first car should be the slowest one you can find like a prius or a 3cyl geo metro