loopy127

Well, I figured it was about time to post a thread to keep me motivated because there's too high a chance that this project will stall out when I start teaching again in the fall. I have a 2005 BMW that is about to have a perfectly good 4.4 liter engine and trans pulled out in favor of a basic 5.3 truck engine. Why? One of this car's 11 on-board computers is refusing to wake up and do what it's supposed to, which is causing all of the other computers to do nothing. So in order to drive my car without being a slave to the dealership, I'm taking control away from all of the on-board computers and putting it back into my hands. Provided that the project succeeds, I'll be adding options like; "starts when you turn the key" and "won't go into limp mode when it wants new spark plugs".

The Car:



Engine in:



Engine out:



That's where I'm at. Tomorrow I'll start pulling the 5.3 out of the truck and start taking measurements. To start with this is going to be an extreme budget build. Down and Dirty. When I get the car up and running then I'll start upgrading. I'm going to need lots of advice as I think I have jumped in way over my head. My only other engine swap was an S10 with a small block V8. This is going to be interesting to say the least. Let's see if it's possible to free this thing from the dreaded BMW CAN.

casias

iTrader: (1)

That's a pretty nice looking car. Good luck with your build.

Lost_in_calgary

Watching as well. I don't think there has been another E60 swap due to the fore mentioned computers.

Will be interesting to see how the electronics of this swap goes. I'm sure there a few E60 530 owners that are interested in how this goes too.

Good luck

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

Go totally neanderthal and put a carb in that bad boy...

alocker

iTrader: (10)

I assume that's planned obsolescence by BMW, right? Great looking car and good luck.

What's a car like that cost with a bad module?

loopy127

Don't Tempt me

loopy127

Here's a little background on the car. I bought an '04 BMW 545i (silver) around the first of this year with a bad transmission but the engine ran beautifully. Then I bought this black one with a good trans and a bad engine for $2400. I proceeded to pull the good engine out of the silver car to install it into the black car. Got the install completed and the car refused to do anything. I checked my work several times and never found anything out of place. All of the BMW techs that I spoke to said that unless something was left unplugged, it should start right up...or it could be one of the bazillion different modules or computers on the car. After checking every single fuse and relay, I decided to just build what I want in the first place. An LS powered 4 door sedan that's good looking, not too big, and that I can mod and tune whenever I want. Right now I am treating this like an experiment just to see if this swap is even possible while doing my best to keep things as inexpensive as I can. If it works then This beauty (the black car, not the silver one) will be sporting something of the 6.0 variety sometime down the road.

unnatrl

iTrader: (1)

I dig it! I'm at the tail end of an E39 swap. You certainly have your hands full in regard to the extra modules and canbus issues. If it's any help, the E46 guys have similar problems. There is a gentleman on Bimmerforums that goes by Thaniel. He is very knowledgeable about the canbus issues and has some solutions for it. He uses a ardunio board to intercept/ convert the messages. Several people are running around with stock gage clusters that are working because of the ardunio solution.

One other suggestion that worked for me- buy the PASoft 1.4 scanner. They are ~30.00 on eBay. You can scan all of the modules on the car and find out what ones still respond when the engine is out. This will give you an idea of what will or won't work once you have the car running. In an E39 the abs, heater, light control module, etc are more or less stand alone. The only thing I have to use the ardunio for is the a/c signal coming out of the HVAC control head. You will have to use it for more, but I don't think it's as daunting as it may seem.

Looking forward to updates. Hope this helps!

loopy127

These are getting pretty cheap if they have some sort of catastrophic problem. I paid $2400 for my swap victim and another $800 to ship it in from Texas. I actually paid more for my parts car (which I didn't end up using) but it has active steering, which I really don't want to deal with for an LS swap as the steering unit is significantly bigger. Maybe when I have the time and motivation, I'll throw the good engine and trans into the silver one and see if I have any luck with it. I'm getting really good at yanking and reinstalling the drive train in these cars.

DW SD

Cool project. I'm interested in your ability to make headway here. good luck!

Doug

Gardner-Peter

Hey dude, I can't wait till this build is done. The sweet engine builder taking on this build, he's my uncle. I can't wait to get a ride in that thing. He'll have the comfort of plush German interior, and the monstrous torque of a good old God bless American V-8. Good luck, can't wait till it's done.

LQ4-E39

iTrader: (7)

Good luck! Looks like a fun build, interested to see how you tackle mounts, oil pan, and especially wiring.

loopy127

First off, thanks for all of the positive comments and wishes for good luck that you've all given me. I'm going to need all of the good luck I can get. And thanks to unnatrl for the info on the ardunio board. I'll have to get a hold of thaniel when I get to that point. Here is where I'm at for today: I got the 5.3 pulled and took a bunch of measurements.


This truck now feels like it has a hole in it's soul.


And here is the perfectly good 4.4 liter aluminum engine that is being displaced in favor of the iron block 5.3.
Finally, here are a bunch of measurements for anyone who happens to have a dead 545i or two sitting around and wants to make it reliable with an lsx engine. All measurements are approximate and are rounded to the nearest inch:

BMW engine and trans length: 55 inches
Chevy engine and trans length: 59 inches
BMW engine height: 27 inches
Chevy engine height (with truck oil pan and intake): 32 inches
BMW engine width (manifolds do not add extra width): 27 inches
Chevy engine width (manifolds add to width): 31 inches with truck manifolds
Chevy engine width (without manifolds): 21 inches
BMW engine only length:26 inches
Chevy engine only length: 26 inches
BMW bellhousing at widest point: 18 inches
Chevy bellhousing at widest point: 18 inches
BMW engine bay width: 31 inches
BMW engine bay usable length: approximately 34 inches.

Again. All measurements are approximate and their only purpose is to give me an idea of whether it's gonna fit. Obviously the truck manifolds are a no-go. I'll try a set of Camaro manifolds (donated to the project by my awesome nephew) to see if I have any better luck with them.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Hooker makes very tidy manifolds for the LS engines. In for more updates.

Andrew

unnatrl

iTrader: (1)

Front facing manifolds also fit much easier! Beside that, a single down pipe makes for less work when ruining the exhaust. :-)

loopy127

Small update for today. First off, after doing some cleanup in the engine bay, I found that the end of the BMW power steering high pressure line threads right into the chevy power steering pump. BONUS. But the low pressure side still has to be adapted. Shouldn't bee too big a deal. Also, with the Camaro manifolds, I can shave another 4 inches off of the total width. That may work on the passenger side, but I don't think it's going to get past the steering linkage. I was actually looking at hooker headers earlier this morning as a possibility. I will also try facing the camaro manifolds forward just for kicks to see if it works better. I haven't done any test fitting of the engine yet, but I'm already thinking that the C5 vette oil pan might be the best fit as the bmw oil pan is very shallow and wide. I'll have to see what the actual measurements come out to be once I get the motor in and start mocking things up.

DW SD

Corvette LS3 manifolds are very narrow. I'm guessing narrower than Camaro. Might try those.

loopy127

Well I had a chance to do some mock up today. A couple of things became obvious very quickly. First, the truck manifold, and thus, the truck accessories are not going to work (no big surprise there). Second, the oil pan sump drops too far below the cross-member for my liking. On a good note, the camaro manifolds just might fit with some tweaking. A lower oil pan would allow me to move the engine back a couple of inches which just might give me the room I need. Here are a whole bunch of pictures for your enjoyment.


Unless I go with a hood scoop, the intake has got to go. This is as far as the hood would close with the truck engine and accessories under the hood.
Passenger side clearance


Driver's side clearance.

From the rear of the oil pan to the crossmember is just about 12 inches when the engine is sitting in it's current position.

Oil pan dipping below the crossmember. Don't worry, I centered the jack stand under the oil pan sump after taking this photo.


Camaro manifold clearance on the Driver's side.


Camaro manifold clearance on the passenger side.


A shot from underneath.


And a shot of the clearance I get with the truck oil pan in regards to the bellhousing.


You'll notice here that the engine is not centered perfectly. This was just a quick mock up to see what fits and what doesn't.

loopy127

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting old broken studs out of a rusty manifold?

DW SD

1. MAPP torch. 2. Oxy Acetylene. 3. MIG Weld nut to the stud.

AND / Reverse threaded drill bit if broken off flush after heat treatment 1 or 2.

Doug