540i-LS3-TR6060

[zr6sbc]

I really liked our 540iT but didn't care for the engine maintenance. We sold the car but a transplant sure seemed like a fun project. Fast forward a couple of years, and we have a project.

The car. 1997 540i, 6spd manual

The engine/trans. 2010 LS3, TR6060


AKA


Out with the German Fahrvergnügen.







In with the American Yeehaw!


Mock up 6L motor with a hole in the block. LS3 Camaro manifolds that don't quite fit. Also didn't really care for the steering box location.


Prior to starting the project, I really preferred the six cylinder front subframe. For local licensing reasons it seemed easier to start with the 540. I came across a 528i being parted out. I ended up with the whole car which was actually in pretty decent shape. I've decided to transplant the 528i subframe into the 540i.

From rao's post, I decided to try some LSA manifolds on the 540 before moving over to the 528.
Steering shaft and LSA exhaust manifold occupying the same space (they're touching). In hindsight, the manifold modifications performed later would likely have fixed this problem. Picture is from below on the driver's side of the 540. The LSA manifolds have some big honkin flanges!


On to the donor 528i that will donate it's front subframe to the 540i. Out with the 6.


In with the mock up block.


LS3 Camaro manifold. It's hits but seems likely. With a similar modification as performed to the LSA's, the Camaro manifolds would likely work with the block as far back as possible (rear of passenger cylinder head nearly hitting AC bulkhead). Picture below if of the 528 with the Camaro manifold (2010).


Here's the stock LSA manifold. Doesn't fit as well as the LS3s but sure has better looking ports. Can't resist.


Angle milling the manifold about 6 degrees to suck them closer to the block. The mounting flange is getting thin ... we'll see how this works out.


Cut down LSA manifold flange to mate with Camaro exhaust pipe flange. I'm using the 2010 Camaro cats so this helps clear the steering shaft and mounts to the parts I have.




Modified manifold fit. Below the flange, you can just see the top of the cat pipe.


Transmission mount is shown below. Actually, this is version two. In the middle of the night I realized that the engine needed to move forward 1". I was blinded by desire to have the engine weight as far back as possible which also allowed extra room for the oil pan sump. The price was too high. The picture above is with the engine moved forward 1". (This would have made the Camaro manifold interfere even more with the steering shaft.)

Reason for moving the engine forward.
* The LSA driver's side exhaust manifold was too close to the steering shaft (previous post is will the engine moved forward)
* Passenger side cylinder head was almost touching the AC plumbing.
* Transmission was really close to the tunnel sides.
* Engine mounts would have been a bit more difficult.
* And the killer ... shifter was starting to interfere with some unibody structure. 2010 TR6060 shifter is funky. However, in the current engine location, the shifter is in the same location as the 540 shifter.

Driver's side engine mount. Engine plates were $10 each from DT products (http://www.dtprofab.com/12106-LS1-MOTOR-MOUNT_p_71.html)


Passenger side engine mount.


Now starting on the rest of the exhaust. The Camaro system is surprisingly close ... until you reach the fuel tanks.

This post has been edited by zr6sbc: Dec 30 2011, 10:07 PM

[Schitzo]

Looking good Lenny. looking forward to the swap and the LS3 will wake that thing nicely.
Why did you choose the I6 subframe if you already have the 540i?
SS + German car =

[zr6sbc]

Looking good Lenny. looking forward to the swap and the LS3 will wake that thing nicely.
Why did you choose the I6 subframe if you already have the 540i?
SS + German car =

I had a number of odd reasons for the subframe swap..
* Cheap donor car.
* Didn't want to reduce the oil pan volume by shortening up a GTO pan. I planned to modify the 540 subframe to allow for the stock GTO pan but..
* Didn't like the convoluted engine mount required to get around the AC compressor.
* Hopefully can use the oil cooler that came on the Camaro.
* Like rack and pinion.
* I want to use stock manifolds and the R&P unit seemed more friendly. I considered sticking 7 degree angle shims below the rack mount which would have lift the steering shaft and cleared (I think) the Camaro manifolds. Not sure how this would have affected bump steer.
* The 528 has new Bilsteins and springs.

I'll keep the 540 frame ... in case this was all a mistake.

[James39]

Ha ha!! nice, another one in the works.

My modded GTO pan holds 5 quarts, FWIW...

[hefftone]

Nice work! Some really cool ideas. Good luck with rest of swap, and please keep sharing. Looks great.

[Jesus Freak]

Nice work! I woulda just bought a kit from bmwman528 for the 540 tho...

Good luck, its a lot of work!

[Schitzo]

Gotcha.
You mentioned the trans mount in your post but I don't see the pics.

[garretvs]

Nice work! Good to see rational engine mounts that use stock engine isolators on the crossmember. You will have very little rolling motion of the engine from engine torque reaction. Keep the pics coming & share your solution to the CAN problem.

[zr6sbc]

Gotcha.
You mentioned the trans mount in your post but I don't see the pics.

Thanks for the catch ... fixed. The rear trans mount holes are version 1. Picture doesn't really show the foward holes.

Ha ha!! nice, another one in the works.

My modded GTO pan holds 5 quarts, FWIW...

Thanks. The Camaro pan has no hope of fitting but held 8 quarts!

Nice work! Some really cool ideas. Good luck with rest of swap, and please keep sharing. Looks great.

Thanks.

Nice work! I woulda just bought a kit from bmwman528 for the 540 tho...

Good luck, its a lot of work!

Thanks. bmwman528 has nice stuff and is a great resource. Like a few others, for me the journey (fab work) is the fun.

Speaking of a kit. Your work looks like a good six cylinder car kit candidate. Love the headers and would enjoy seeing your mounts.

Nice work! Good to see rational engine mounts that use stock engine isolators on the crossmember. You will have very little rolling motion of the engine from engine torque reaction. Keep the pics coming & share your solution to the CAN problem.

Thanks. Wish I had a plan for the CAN problem. For now I intend to copy what others have done. Sounds like the '97 cluster is that much easier to boot. I wish the BMW AC control panel could be better integrated.

[rao]

Nice progress

[Jesus Freak]

Thanks. bmwman528 has nice stuff and is a great resource. Like a few others, for me the journey (fab work) is the fun.

Speaking of a kit. Your work looks like a good six cylinder car kit candidate. Love the headers and would enjoy seeing your mounts.

I understand that, the fab has been fun and creative.
Thanks, I just got the headers back from ceramic coating, and I'm pulling the mounts out to get powdercoated today. After they're coated I'll post pics.

[dhcg86]

How much is total cost in parts+labor?

[zr6sbc]

How much is total cost in parts+labor?

I wish I had a straight forward answer but I don't. Some things to keep in mind (IMHO)

This swap makes no financial sense. Add someone else's labor and it makes even less sense. Most here have or learned what was necessary to do their own swap. So the out of pocket labor cost is zero.

For me, it would likely have been cheaper to buy a used CTS-V. I'm performing the swap for enjoyment (and hopefully for my son to learn a thing or two about mechanical things).

Buying a don0r car (LSn, trans, etc..) can save money and time in the long run. Locally, there have been a couple of LS1 automatic F-bodies in the 3-4k range. Not in great condition but sufficient. I guess truck drivetrains are more economical still.

If I had to guess (other's chime in), I'd say 10 to 20k in car + parts.

[series8217]

Looks good. That's a nice clever solution for tucking the manifolds in closer to the block.

Would you be interested in selling your unused manifolds? I'm looking for either LSA or LS3 manifolds. I'm planning a swap in California and need to do some test fitting...

[zr6sbc]

Looks good. That's a nice clever solution for tucking the manifolds in closer to the block.

Would you be interested in selling your unused manifolds? I'm looking for either LSA or LS3 manifolds. I'm planning a swap in California and need to do some test fitting...

I'd like to respond with a PM. I think you'll need to increase your post count to make that possible? I am interested in selling the Camaro manifolds and a bunch of other extra stuff..

[series8217]

It seems I didn't have enough posts. I have 10 now but still can't. Bugger. Can you send me an email? If you do a google search for my username, the 3rd result is my homepage.

[mikezohsix]

Nice work! Good to see rational engine mounts that use stock engine isolators on the crossmember. You will have very little rolling motion of the engine from engine torque reaction. .

I liked the looks of the engine mounts too, but then I started thinking about side loading that type of motor mount. In my last LS1 conversion, into a Volvo 960, I kept the load into the mount purely vertical. I reused the GTO hydraulic motor mounts and modified the aluminum engine side brackets to accept the different spacing both widthwise and forward and back required by the Volvo. I used the Hummer oil pan.

Did you consider the issue with side loading the mounts?










and mounted on the engine





I angle milled my manifolds and also angle milled an header flange.
That let me stay away from the thin flange issue.
I actually did two flanges at diff angles and picked the best fit.
Used spherical washers to make up for the bolt head angle change.

[garretvs]

Re: engine mounts --

When we built our swap, we weighed the entire drivetrain (engine, intake manifold, FEAD, harness, engine mounts, T56) on 3 scales. Our results were about 260lbs on the engine mounts, and 83lbs on the TX mount. These are "dead loads" (weight only).

For discussion's sake, assume that your engine isolators are 24" apart, and the engine puts out 400lbsft torque (live load). This results in 460lbs force on one isolator and 60lbs on the other (dead plus live loads). These loads are quite small. Note that one side is down-loaded and the other side is up-loaded.

We did some FEA on our mounts, with a 3g bump load (750# upwards) and a .3g fwd-aft load (75lbs). This resulted in about 20ksi stress on the A36 steel we used -- this is a safety factor of about 3:1. Note that you'd probably bite your tongue if you went over a bump that gave a 3g acceleration!

Sooo, no worries unless you hit a bridge abutment .......

[betaflame]

What did you do about the driveshaft and TR6060?

[garretvs]

What did you do about the driveshaft and TR6060?

We used a Camaro driveshaft, with JTR differential flange and Dana 1310 ujoints. The shop in Seattle we used charged us $254 for the mods, assembled, balanced and painted. See pics in our build thread.

[betaflame]

We used a Camaro driveshaft, with JTR differential flange and Dana 1310 ujoints. The shop in Seattle we used charged us $254 for the mods, assembled, balanced and painted. See pics in our build thread.

Link?

[mikezohsix]

re; engine mounts....

I was referring to the BMW rubber mount. The steel would never fail.
But thinking about it, you do have a normal load into the mount, so my original question was off base.

Watching your thread closely as this is going to be my next LS swap. I want to put a LS2/T56 into a 2000 or later 540 sport 6 speed or M5. Collecting parts now, still looking for the right car.

[M5Hunter]

The more that these e39 swaps pop up, the more annoyed I get with myself for not getting one in the first place

[garretvs]

re; engine mounts....

I was referring to the BMW rubber mount. The steel would never fail.
But thinking about it, you do have a normal load into the mount, so my original question was off base.

Watching your thread closely as this is going to be my next LS swap. I want to put a LS2/T56 into a 2000 or later 540 sport 6 speed or M5. Collecting parts now, still looking for the right car.

Photobucket was not posting the pics the other day .. would have made it more clear

[mikezohsix]

Photobucket was not posting the pics the other day .. would have made it more clear

yea, that's work for you. They block the photobucket links here, so couldn't see what I was doing. Copied the links from another site and they were obviously broken.