My life in the slow lane: Turning a z71 4x4 335I into something respectable.

[i_love_cars]

Chris what do you think the timeline for everything is? Will this be ready for us to see next season?? I know you're using the iron block for testing purposes but are you just going to basically use it to get all the ECU controls and creature comforts sorted, and then blow it up so you can quickly move on to the new motor?

[Chris Welter]

I am really hoping to make a couple passes on the 4L80e and the stock N/A 5.3 in the spring to set a baseline against my stock N54 timeslips. The turbo setup will come later as I have to select the turbos so I only buy one set and be done with it. The general idea right now for the engine is run the 5.3 and get some base times and tunes down so if I blow it up I'm out $500 instead of the new motor (which I'm having tuned). The other thing is the new motor will be $$$$ so it will buy me some fun drive time until I get the funds together to buy it. The initial power goal (hence bigger cube motor) is 1200 whp but we'll see how everything pans out as I don't plan on spinning it past 6500. Gotta make it worth the swap as the N54 is a powerful motor to replace . Transmission will have a HD2 shift kit in it soon and will be upgraded to a Jake's performance level 5 when the new motor is ready. As for rear end, I already plan on shredding it so I've ran up some plans to beef up my subframe and control arms and also install a 9" ford DSS IRS conversion kit. Again reasoning is I want to maintain BMW designed suspension just stronger.

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[Chris Welter]

Big hold ups right now are mechanical fuel pump surge system (jc43089 helped me through this one), stock LS intake and water pump, alternator mounting, and other small items besides the Ecu. I am heading over to get my oil pan setup today, so there is still progress.

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[wasnt m3]

What intake manifold and water pump are you looking to run? Odds are, I know someone that has what you're looking for.

[Chris Welter]

For now just stock LS1 stuff for cars on the 5.3..

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[Chris Welter]

So yet another update. I got the motor to fit into the car and the second set of headers are installed (first set were too long). Motor is in with a motor plate and I spent a good amount of time freshening up gaskets and cleaning the test engine. I have learned you really have to wanna go fast to attempt to do this kind of swap. Engine is almost in completely and wiring will be fairly quick thanks to my Dominator harnesses and a spreadsheet I made of all the wires I need to modify for the oem harness. Going to make the tach and oem gauges work for the most part until I'm ready to drop the 7" Holley display in. Now some update pix.

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[Chris Welter]

Overall progress of fitting motor and getting correct fitting headers. Motor cleaned in the pics and reassembled with new gaskets ect. Powder coated valve covers for a hint of color and a ls1 water pump. Now to just get it final mounted on the motor plates with the c5 corvette racing alternator and we are in business.

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[YoungCR]

That motor looks badass!

[Jdesign]

Yes! Glad to see an update on this!!

[Chris Welter]

Here's another shot as of recent.. Dominator is installed and wiring is ran. Put the front on to figure out the cooling and the turbo/exhaust situation.

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[i_love_cars]

awesome progress. It looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel now. Seems pretty plausible that this car will be running well before summer is done?

[B C]

Nice update! 
Access to the front of the engine looks improved over the I6 (obviously), Is there anything that is going to be a royal PITA to work on with this setup that will require pulling the engine, that normally wouldn't (spark plug access etc.)

[patsbimmer1]

Awesome! Managing underhood temps looks like it's going to be your biggest enemy here.  I hope I get to see see this thing running one day!

[Chris Welter]

i_love_cars said:

awesome progress. It looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel now. Seems pretty plausible that this car will be running well before summer is done?

That is the plan, I'd like to get it on the track at least once before it gets cold. The engine is almost there, just gotta get the trans and shift linkage in and get the d/s made. The exhaust can be really easy for the time being to just get it to run. Main obstacle with the turbos will be that radiator fan, but I have a few ideas to eliminate that issue.

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[Chris Welter]

Snap said:

Nice update! 

Access to the front of the engine looks improved over the I6 (obviously), Is there anything that is going to be a royal PITA to work on with this setup that will require pulling the engine, that normally wouldn't (spark plug access etc.)

It really depends on how the exhaust and turbos all work out. The motor plate has been sheared and I can actually remove the plugs from the front of the engine (reach between the plate and the manifold to access them fairly easy). Compared to a C5 there is a lot of room and I could pull the intake manifold off or change oil or map sensors with engine in the car. The car being a prior Xi has a different front subframe that if the car is lifted there is HUGE access with the skid plate off. As of now I can't see a reason to pull the engine for anything really. It is truly impressive how it fit in there.

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[Chris Welter]

patsbimmer1 said:

Awesome! Managing underhood temps looks like it's going to be your biggest enemy here.  I hope I get to see see this thing running one day!

I have been thinking about that a lot recently and have been trying to come up with a solution. I thought about wrapping the headers since they are stainless but don't really want to deal with stressing the materials out with excessive heat and cracking them. It is looking like ceramic coating will be the best option but I've had crap luck with that in the past and it is rare it stays nice for long. Time will tell, might run them unfinished and insulate everything around them.. Hood louvers may be warranted..

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[B C]

Whenever I do ceramic coating, I top coat them with high temp spray paint so that a) it protects the ceramic and b ) its quickly and easily touched up when it does get scratched.

[patsbimmer1]

Chris Welter said:

I have been thinking about that a lot recently and have been trying to come up with a solution. I thought about wrapping the headers since they are stainless but don't really want to deal with stressing the materials out with excessive heat and cracking them. It is looking like ceramic coating will be the best option but I've had crap luck with that in the past and it is rare it stays nice for long. Time will tell, might run them unfinished and insulate everything around them.. Hood louvers may be warranted..

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I think coatings and reflective tape are usually the most popular options.  Louvers are an option but I know off the shelf options aren't always effective due to pressure variances caused by air flow over the hood/under the body compared to under the hood.  I remember a trick from my 240sx days was to shim the hood so it lifted the rear of the hood up an inch or so to increase airflow under hood.  I know I had read a pretty in depth article about why this worked with data from thermocouples to support it.  I can't find it right now but i'll keep looking.

[Chris Welter]

patsbimmer1 said:

Chris Welter said:

I have been thinking about that a lot recently and have been trying to come up with a solution. I thought about wrapping the headers since they are stainless but don't really want to deal with stressing the materials out with excessive heat and cracking them. It is looking like ceramic coating will be the best option but I've had crap luck with that in the past and it is rare it stays nice for long. Time will tell, might run them unfinished and insulate everything around them.. Hood louvers may be warranted..

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I think coatings and reflective tape are usually the most popular options.  Louvers are an option but I know off the shelf options aren't always effective due to pressure variances caused by air flow over the hood/under the body compared to under the hood.  I remember a trick from my 240sx days was to shim the hood so it lifted the rear of the hood up an inch or so to increase airflow under hood.  I know I had read a pretty in depth article about why this worked with data from thermocouples to support it.  I can't find it right now but i'll keep looking.

I would be interested to read that article if you do find it. I know that with the N54 if you removed the Ecu cover and that shelf that goes over the engine the amount of heat/air that poured out onto the windshield was unreal. Provided rain or washing the car at that point was prohibited but for hot weather and drag racing it worked out well. A good thing though is the wiring and all the heat sensitive components are away from the pipes for the most part now. BMW left the steering shaft hole for the right hand drive cars in the left hand drive chassis and installed insulated plug, that plug gave me a hole to run my Dominator wiring, it was almost meant to be..

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[Jdesign]

Chris Welter said:

I have been thinking about that a lot recently and have been trying to come up with a solution. I thought about wrapping the headers since they are stainless but don't really want to deal with stressing the materials out with excessive heat and cracking them. It is looking like ceramic coating will be the best option but I've had crap luck with that in the past and it is rare it stays nice for long. Time will tell, might run them unfinished and insulate everything around them.. Hood louvers may be warranted..

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Heat wrap will give you better fuel consumption, better turbo spool and wont heat everything in the engine bay to a million degrees. Make sure you get a good brand and soak it in water before you apply it. There is a lot of opinions about wrap on the internet, but if done right it makes a drastic difference. The stuff doesn't exist because it doesn't work. The only way I could see a manifold cracking would be due to weight and vibration without being properly supported. Ceramic coating is nice and I have had it on non-turbo manifolds before(mostly hondas) and it seemed to hold up fine. My issue with it is cost and effectiveness. Besides that though it also looks better than a mummy wrapped manifold.