Lawson Henry's 5.0L Bmw swap

[lawson4323]

Well I've found some extra time to start work on the car again. In about a week or so I going to be pulling my car apart for some more bmw mustang identiy crisis maddness. Before that happens I thought you guys might like to see some pics of the car. I've been driving it EVERYday to and from work, friends house, pick up parts, etc etc so on and so forth. I sat down and did the math I actually managed to put 9,234miles on the car and only issues I've had was slight coolent leak, the rear of my exhaust came out of the Y pipe (fu*king NYC roads) and thats about it. I'm very happy with it and I think now its time for a little pay back for taking care of me for almost 10k miles of NYC, NC,NJ,PA blah blah blah you get the point.. on to the pics

before:


after:





I raised it way up


first drive was to this photo shoot




do work!


playing in the city with point and shoot V8 torque




snow days


some tail


thanks for stopping in

[M5Hunter]

I love your engine bay!

[lawson4323]

Thanks!

[aussiebj]

what no GV pics ..thats lame ..come play with the big boys...

[lawson4323]

what no GV pics ..thats lame ..come play with the big boys...

I'd love too

[Pzary3233]

Very nice!

[lawson4323]

Very nice!

Thx dude!

[Pzary3233]

Also, which style 5 wheels are those? E34?

[lawson4323]

Also, which style 5 wheels are those? E34?

e39

[mateo m3]

look very good, nice and clean

[hefftone]

Wow, what an improvement. Car looks great, and the engine compartment is superb. Nice work!

[M///BMW]

Car looks awesome! Do you have a video?

[lawson4323]

Thx for the words guys vids soon I promise lol

[Spencedaddy]

have you tracked your MPG at all? i am riiiiight about at the point of purchasing a 5.0 to put in my 318is, but the MPG change could be the killer!

is your 5.0 Tuned up and such or is it just stock computer wise?

[lawson4323]

have you tracked your MPG at all? i am riiiiight about at the point of purchasing a 5.0 to put in my 318is, but the MPG change could be the killer!

is your 5.0 Tuned up and such or is it just stock computer wise?

I haven't been keeping track of the MPG sorry. One of the issues I will be taking on is proper operation of the tack, mpg and factory coolent temp gauges in the cluster (as inaccurate as it is). I've got a lot of people who want me to build a car like this for them and I'm sure they would love to see everything working and not just dead gauges. I don't do modifications for people and compromise factory function no matter how inaccurate or small it is. For this car I was more into getting a running driving safe everyday car out of it.

I wouldn't consider the mpg a killer though. It is a V8.. it's a big and nasty monster compared to the 318 or anything else. Swapping in any v8 and anyone hopeing for a mpg friendly car is sadly mistaking.

[Spencedaddy]

I've heard rumors of upwards of 22mpg with fox bodies driving nicely and tuned correctly, so i guess it could be conceivable for a BMW, especially with the final drive in E36's like my 318is....

once you have a chance you should log your fuel economy, i'd love to see what you're getting with your mods on that motor!

i have 0 clue hwo to send private messages on here, you should send me one and if you have some time we can discuss this a bit more!

also, where did you get your GT40 intake? its just like the one on my Lightning and i LOVE the way it looks!

how long did the swap take you from pulling the motor to driving it away?

[lawson4323]

Yeah its great on gas for a v8. Everyone thinks just becuse you have a v8 that half the tank of gas is gone after a block of driving. Lol

[M5Hunter]

Swapping in any v8 and anyone hopeing for a mpg friendly car is sadly mistaking.

I disagree, I get comparable MPG to the stock 2.5L monitored on my Scan Gauge 2. I've gotten 32mpg on a highway cruise and always get mid 20's with 50/50 highway-city driving.

[Spencedaddy]

but LS1's get great fuel economy regardless, buddy's 02 SS camaro gets 29 on the freeway if i remember right...its really astonishing actually!

what is the difference between the fuel mileage of the M3 motor and the 302? would you say its drastic or barely noticeable?

[lawson4323]

Not to sure honestly my car was a 318is and I didn't last long enough with the 1.8 for me to put gas in it haha. To me there's a massive generation gap between the technology and efficiency of the fox 5.0 and the Ls motors so yeah chances are the Ls may be much better on gas. (I guess I should have been more specific). However for me.. Well I'm about as cheap as they come hints swapping a 5.0 and not s54 but I can tell you for sure I'm not crying when it comes to mpg!!!!! Besides the fun of the car is to overwhelming to care about mpg, trees and fuzzy bunnies

[Spencedaddy]

hmmm..i'm interested to know what youre getting now lol

please please please will you track it! please!

[lawson4323]

Haha sorry man. It's off the road for a new motor paint wheels and boost.

[rprbeantown]

Haha sorry man. It's off the road for a new motor paint wheels and boost.

Lawson,
I'm doing a 5.0 swap into a 95 318is. What did you do for the driveshaft? My car came with no drivetrain and I wanted to know if I should get a junkyard shaft and have it customized or if I need the Jags That Run BMW flange (http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_BMW_heavy-driveshaft-flange.html) and then have a custom shaft made.

Thanks,
Ray

[M5Hunter]

Your best bet is to get the rear flange and a front yoke and have one made, I had a 2.75 steel one made for $160

[rprbeantown]

Your best bet is to get the rear flange and a front yoke and have one made, I had a 2.75 steel one made for $160

Awesome! That was just the answer I needed. Are all of the 4 bolt Diff flanges the same? The pick and pull near me has lots of 6 cylinder e36s.

Thanks,
Ray