E46 Sedan LS1 V8 Swap

Picking LS1 motor up tomorrow or Friday. Its a bone stock motor from a totaled SS camaro. has ~ 50,000 miles on it. Getting it and the Tranny for 3K! ("Local" motor/tranny fell through...too much money asked)Granted there's miles, but the motor is going to be completely broken down and rebuilt better and stronger from the ground up. Motor will have a vengeance cam, full custom heads, LS7 lifters, full custom headers/exhaust...the werks. No turbo or SC at the moment, but I'm aiming for 500WRHP NA! Definitely can be done.

I'll be fabricating everything myself and will have everything on cad files for future reproduction. Video documentary of the whole process will be done as well for future reproduction. Subframe will be strengthened tremendously. Electronics are near stand alone. Custom diff still has to be acquired. Other than power dome, no exterior modifications will be made (other than "clears") Bilstein coil overs will be done as well (PSS10's or B16?) Hoping will have $$$ leftover for some ICE.

THIS IS FOR REAL!!!

Nice, I've been thinking about doing this to my car for years ... never got the budget or guts to do it

Can't wait to see it

You are my hero.

BEst of luck.

Depending on how this goes, i might scrap my 135i order and throw a LS1 in my 320i! 170HP to 500HP for $5k and a little sweat!

that is going to be impressive

Originally Posted by ThunderRobo

BEst of luck.

Depending on how this goes, i might scrap my 135i order and throw a LS1 in my 320i! 170HP to 500HP for $5k and a little sweat!

3K for motor tranny, and only 2K for the remaining to acquire all needed components to make the swap happen and have 500wrhp?! Sorry, but its gonna be a "little" more than that!

Do we get a new thread when you pick up the motor? 11 so far...

Originally Posted by dumkopf

Do we get a new thread when you pick up the motor? 11 so far...

only reason I'm doing new threads is because the last thing I want is some 50 page thread like the MIT46 thread on the s54 swap. Think I went through all of those pages?

But there will be an official thread on the progress, and I'll probably do one more after that where it condenses the whole process into one post.

Sorry for the multiple threads, but its been a lot of research to get to where I'm at right now. Please don't Hate.

Originally Posted by ///LS1

only reason I'm doing new threads is because the last thing I want is some 50 page thread like the MIT46 thread on the s54 swap. Think I went through all of those pages?

But there will be an official thread on the progress, and I'll probably do one more after that where it condenses the whole process into one post.

Sorry for the multiple threads, but its been a lot of research to get to where I'm at right now. Please don't Hate.

Just checked it out...the MITE46 thread is "only" 239 pages long!

PM me when you get the motor and start the installation thread because I don't check the boards often and would like to see this. I'll subscribe to that thread; I can't wait. GL

Isn't there another dude on the forums doing this engine swap as well? I think his name is Dukman or something.

Good luck, but...

I think it is a violation of a BMW. In the track with little straights you might be slower then 330ZHP, due to weight distribution, which will be 60/40 in best case.

Originally Posted by Julius

Good luck, but...

I think it is a violation of a BMW. In the track with little straights you might be slower then 330ZHP, due to weight distribution, which will be 60/40 in best case.

how little you know. LS1 is a very light engine, you'd NEVER hit 60/40 by putting one in a bimmer. you'd likely remain at 50-50, as its not going to be as long as the bimmer inline 6, meaning itd be further back in the engine bay.

woo! best of luck keep us posted this'll be awesome

Can't wait for updates on this...good luck!!

Good luck man. Be prepared for cost overruns though.

American Muscle...never been my thing but rock and roll buddy...hope everything works out for you!!!!

Originally Posted by AdamBath

how little you know. LS1 is a very light engine, you'd NEVER hit 60/40 by putting one in a bimmer. you'd likely remain at 50-50, as its not going to be as long as the bimmer inline 6, meaning itd be further back in the engine bay.

Exactly, and it also sits closers to the ground, thus lowering the center of gravity. The E46 doesn't have a perfect 50-50 distribution, there is a slight bias toward the front. Putting an LS1 in will probably make it a perfect 50-50.

this thread will be 90 pages long if this goes through

for doing it... no guts no glory

Originally Posted by JonJon

This isnt going to fly...

You have created 13 New threads for one username and now youre starting to create more under another username all for the same thing..

Make ONE THREAD about your project... thats it
And please pick ONE username to use and Ill ban the other one.

EDIT: Merged all your threads into one thread http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=561408

Please decide on a username.

Tell em Jon