WIBIMMERS

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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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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My 335Xi is no longer a 335Xi. It's a LS swapped e92 with a 4L80E transmission and is rwd ONLY. I decided on motor plates and pulled all the stops on going fast. The engine is a 5.3 iron block that is my "test" engine, you know one I won't feel bad about flogging until it blows. The new engine that will replace it will be a 427 cubic inch dart LS next block with two big snails hanging off of it. Also for interested parties, swapping out to kirkey racing seats and removing all other seats/ deadener in this car will save you in the neighborhood of 400lbs (my current configuration)..yes I actually weighed it all. New engine sits 7" further back in he chassis and driveline sits 2" lower. And I have the interior electronics working without canbus issues.

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I might be down for some fun, just have to see if I can get some of the platteville guys to road-trip with me.  Its always fun launching the xi at the track!

Initially the newer bmw's are a pain to get over the technology hump. Take it from me, I came from the audio world initially and basic engine work on my own domestics or Japanese cars. It took a while to figure out how the N54 works, but I'd never be afraid again. I'd honestly prefer an older bmw like an e30 though for simplicity. The really trying part of these new cars is when something acts up intermittently and you have to diagnose. A good challenge for all and it will test your troubleshooting abilities... Although I'm a bad example since mine went from oem to full retard in about 2 months.

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jc43089 said:

Go help Thad put his vert together, I only built the engine 3 years ago.. it's never been fired yet after a full rebuild. The suspense is killing me.

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I try to buy it from him every time I see him..lol

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The plan is to show the world that I am crazy...lol  My end goal is 4 digits at the rear wheels, 1200 long term.  The proposed powerplant is a Iron block 6.0L LS stroker motor with big ole turbo on it...lol.. Of course some internal work will be done but that is in the details   Ive figured out how to make the car play nicely (keeping factory locks and HVAC and radio and power options)  and am working out fueling and getting the rest of the gauges to work, shouldn't be too hard.  Heck I was even debating trying to put together a kit for those out there who feel like they wanna get a little bit bonkers with their rides.  This being said, I just posted a bunch of my parts up for sale, so if you are N54 powered and you are looking for a serious kick in the pants that wont kill your wallet, check it out and please tell the other guys!  The sale of my parts starts the funding for the new engine.  If you see anything you want message me, and for my local WI bimmers guys we can maybe work out not having to ship things which saves everyone more $$!  Price for the kit without shipping is $3800 which makes me want to cry considering what I paid for it last year.  A couple people have already approached me asking why.. My answers, first was why not, and second is for the power goal I am looking for at this point it is more cost effective this way.  I am not saying the N54 is not capable of it, as I truly believe it is, just more frustrated at high end tuning options from the ECU side of things.  Its really hard to justify a $5300 computer to hopefully break 1000whp when the LS platform has more proven controllers to do just that for $1200.. With all that being said, i am not going to even attempt to ruin the handling of the car, its the one thing I greatly love and the reason I will swap before switching cars.

But one thing is for sure,

This car has definitely done one thing for me, make me addicted to power!
P.S. John, its still not fast

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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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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Not sure if you figured out your bluetooth or not, but FYI I was able to snag a cigarette lighter bluetooth module from bestbuy I plugged in via aux in my center console.. its completeley hidden and I have bluetooth music now.  I think it was like $20, I could be wrong though.

LOL FYI as well, more power is never the answer.. the lust for more never stops..  Good looking ride though man and looks like a fun build!

Here was a random pic I found comparing the OEM snails to the new Snail..

suspenceful said:

Do you have a link to the Bluetooth unit you have?

And thanks! I could probably have 1000whp and still want more...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rockford-fosgate-rfbtaux-universal-bluetooth-audio-adapter/1310107496.p?id=mp1310107496&skuId=1310107496 

that one is pretty close to what I have.

i_love_cars said:

Just ordered a JB4, flex fuel wires, Fuel-It stage2 LPFP, 3.5 Tmap sensor & adapter, cooler plugs, and fluids for refilling the car when it's all back together. Going to shoot for somewhere in the 60-70% range of E85 and see if I can be at 20-21 psi without meth. Methanol injection is really the only missing piece of the puzzle for the car right now and if I can even approach 500 whp without it, I'll probably leave it off the table. If push comes to shove and I really need it to hit my power goals, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. 

FYI no octane benefits over E60. I think I can run close to 20psi with port injection and pump gas FWIW as well. 50-60% e and No meth should be fine I'd think on 20-21 easy..

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Thought of post an update for a few new items and plans. Car is still apart inside garage. I got all my new injectors about a month or so ago, just waiting on good weather to install them. I also got my hands on something I HIGHLY recommend all N54 owners get. I got my RB external PCV kit in the mail last week. I ordered the full kit with head plugs and all. This kit runs dual catch cans (50 micron mishimoto compact at idle and no boost, then transfers over to my BMS can once boost is built. This eliminates any gunk on the valves. Also the head ports are plugged in the process so the factory pcv valves in the head are bypassed and blocked off. This is to keep the valve cover and crankcase under vacuum. I have a friend who lost his engine because one failed and starved the engine of oil, so of rather not take that chance. Ordered the evolution of speed intake with port injection bits so waiting for that to arrive. Also in transmission land, the 4L80E is pushed back to next spring now. Not overly happy about hearing this so I talked to a few people and will most likely go 6MT RWD. Something about less controllers and a proven transmission is a nice thing. I don't drag my car a lot so for roll racing I feel this the better choice. I don't know of anyone here also knows of syvecs? They are releasing a ECU this year for the N54 that is plug and play. Working on getting my hands on one thru group buy. No more piggybacks and tunes fighting the ECU, and more rpms and total control Gotta be prepared...lol.. planning out 6MT this summer and syvecs next spring. Heck if I can put enough aside I'll even debate getting an ABR punisher to drop in next year

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Looks fun man! Can tell though at upper rpm those turbos are struggling a bit..

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