BMW E46 with Chevy LS2 build
Discussion
I thought I would post some information and pictures of my E46 GMW project. It may not be everyones cup of tea but it’s something I have wanted to do for a long time. I love BMW’s and have had several in the past one of my favourites being my E46 330d.
I am building a E46 BMW with a GM LS V8 with a T56 gearbox and a LS7 clutch/flywheel, I plan to use a 6.0 LS2 with a flowed/ported cylinder head and a stage 1 camshaft upgrade to give 500bhp, the engine when built will be dynoed, mapped and generally checked to make sure its happy to go into its new home.
I bought in September 2012 a rather scruffy black E46 330ci to use for the project, I have already sold the engine, gearbox and a few other parts. The 330ci has a nice black leather interior but scruffy bodywork so a good friend has agreed to paint the car for me in Fire orange when I am ready.
I know a few of you will say why remove the straight six and fit the V8 ??
There is only 18kg difference in weight (between the engine/gearbox combinations) and the V8 is lower and further back in the chassis so I am sure it will not hinder the cars handling in any way.
Power and noise, the straight six is a nice sounding engine but it cannot match the V8 in my opinion, a lot of effort will be put into the exhaust system with a X pipe to give the lovely V8 rumble, large primaries with twin 70mm secondaries will be fitted so she should breathe well. Yes I could fit a M3 engine and turbo it but it’s all about the V8 for me!
I really enjoy the engineering side of the project, myself and another friend have already completed quite a lot of work on the wiring and think we have it covered including the canbus side of operation. The plan is to only use this car on the road so it doesn’t need roll cages, heavy springs, big anti roll bars and massive brakes front and rear. If things go well I may do a track version with all the above bits but we will see.
I also plan to JIG the exhausts etc so myself and friends can build more future examples.
When the car is finished it should be quick enough:-) but not really turn heads too much so I can use it for fun or work, I also plan to LPG the car to make it more affordable on an everyday basis. I’m not a wealthy person so the build will take me quite a few months but I’ve already spent quite a bit of time on the project. I’ll post a few pictures of progress so far.
I am building a E46 BMW with a GM LS V8 with a T56 gearbox and a LS7 clutch/flywheel, I plan to use a 6.0 LS2 with a flowed/ported cylinder head and a stage 1 camshaft upgrade to give 500bhp, the engine when built will be dynoed, mapped and generally checked to make sure its happy to go into its new home.
I bought in September 2012 a rather scruffy black E46 330ci to use for the project, I have already sold the engine, gearbox and a few other parts. The 330ci has a nice black leather interior but scruffy bodywork so a good friend has agreed to paint the car for me in Fire orange when I am ready.
I know a few of you will say why remove the straight six and fit the V8 ??
There is only 18kg difference in weight (between the engine/gearbox combinations) and the V8 is lower and further back in the chassis so I am sure it will not hinder the cars handling in any way.
Power and noise, the straight six is a nice sounding engine but it cannot match the V8 in my opinion, a lot of effort will be put into the exhaust system with a X pipe to give the lovely V8 rumble, large primaries with twin 70mm secondaries will be fitted so she should breathe well. Yes I could fit a M3 engine and turbo it but it’s all about the V8 for me!
I really enjoy the engineering side of the project, myself and another friend have already completed quite a lot of work on the wiring and think we have it covered including the canbus side of operation. The plan is to only use this car on the road so it doesn’t need roll cages, heavy springs, big anti roll bars and massive brakes front and rear. If things go well I may do a track version with all the above bits but we will see.
I also plan to JIG the exhausts etc so myself and friends can build more future examples.
When the car is finished it should be quick enough:-) but not really turn heads too much so I can use it for fun or work, I also plan to LPG the car to make it more affordable on an everyday basis. I’m not a wealthy person so the build will take me quite a few months but I’ve already spent quite a bit of time on the project. I’ll post a few pictures of progress so far.
The mock up engine is mounted with engine and gearbox mounts built, the exhaust system is made and fitted its all a bit tight but we are really pleased with it:-) it should sound fantastic with the X pipe and slightly lumpy camshaft;-)
another view
near side front view
the full system with twin 70mm secondaries
off side view
off side front view
nearside side view
the full system off the car for TIG welding
another view
near side front view
the full system with twin 70mm secondaries
off side view
off side front view
nearside side view
the full system off the car for TIG welding
Good work, member BikealarmBlair has done something similar so you might want to have a look at his build thread which may help with your build.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Look forward to progress.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Look forward to progress.
more bodyshop progress, sorry the pictures are not brilliant
sorting out years of car park dents!!!
in the paint booth
nice Fire Orange, it will calm down a bit when the black detailing parts are fitted;-0, we are almost upto date now and the rest of the car ie bonnet, doors, wings, spoilers etc will be painted in the next week or so
ill post some more pictures as she moves forward
sorting out years of car park dents!!!
in the paint booth
nice Fire Orange, it will calm down a bit when the black detailing parts are fitted;-0, we are almost upto date now and the rest of the car ie bonnet, doors, wings, spoilers etc will be painted in the next week or so
ill post some more pictures as she moves forward
Here is my donkey
a nice low mileage LS2, its has a custom stage 1 camshaft which will have nice road manners, flowed and ported cylinder heads, one piece pushrods and uprated valve springs. I have fitted a oil pan to clear the subframe etc. I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
I will post some pictures/video of the dyno run and of course a dyno sheet, I am hoping for 500 plus BHP and 470 plus ftlbs! should be fun ?
a nice low mileage LS2, its has a custom stage 1 camshaft which will have nice road manners, flowed and ported cylinder heads, one piece pushrods and uprated valve springs. I have fitted a oil pan to clear the subframe etc. I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
I will post some pictures/video of the dyno run and of course a dyno sheet, I am hoping for 500 plus BHP and 470 plus ftlbs! should be fun ?
Edited by GMW 360i on Tuesday 14th January 12:07
GMW 360i said:
I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
Jenvey do an individual throttle body kit for the LS1/2/6 series. The trumpets cross and are offset at about a 75° angle so you might not have clearance issues like you would with the Kinslers:
Love this and following with interest - colour change should really suit the car's character!
I have been harbouring dangerous intentions of having a 500+bhp LS3 engined E46 M3 built ever since following BikealarmBlair's thread!
Please keep the updates coming!
I have been harbouring dangerous intentions of having a 500+bhp LS3 engined E46 M3 built ever since following BikealarmBlair's thread!
Please keep the updates coming!
GMW 360i said:
Here is my donkey
a nice low mileage LS2, its has a custom stage 1 camshaft which will have nice road manners, flowed and ported cylinder heads, one piece pushrods and uprated valve springs. I have fitted a oil pan to clear the subframe etc. I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
I will post some pictures/video of the dyno run and of course a dyno sheet, I am hoping for 500 plus BHP and 470 plus ftlbs! should be fun ?
Was this the one in the Classifieds on here?a nice low mileage LS2, its has a custom stage 1 camshaft which will have nice road manners, flowed and ported cylinder heads, one piece pushrods and uprated valve springs. I have fitted a oil pan to clear the subframe etc. I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
I will post some pictures/video of the dyno run and of course a dyno sheet, I am hoping for 500 plus BHP and 470 plus ftlbs! should be fun ?
Edited by GMW 360i on Tuesday 14th January 12:07
I'm a big fan of big engines in relatively small cars, looks like a great project!
With regards to how you are going to get around the CANbus issues I'd be very interested to see how you get on. I've managed to get a Canbus engine ECU running fine in a non CANbus chassis but being from the same manufacturer there was some common ground whereby I could get the instrumentation to work correctly.
I imagine an engine from a different manufacturer means things are not as straightforward as it was for me?
With regards to how you are going to get around the CANbus issues I'd be very interested to see how you get on. I've managed to get a Canbus engine ECU running fine in a non CANbus chassis but being from the same manufacturer there was some common ground whereby I could get the instrumentation to work correctly.
I imagine an engine from a different manufacturer means things are not as straightforward as it was for me?
Ug_lee said:
I'm a big fan of big engines in relatively small cars, looks like a great project!
With regards to how you are going to get around the CANbus issues I'd be very interested to see how you get on. I've managed to get a Canbus engine ECU running fine in a non CANbus chassis but being from the same manufacturer there was some common ground whereby I could get the instrumentation to work correctly.
I imagine an engine from a different manufacturer means things are not as straightforward as it was for me?
This was my next question... I have another car/ chassis that I am interested in dropping an LS engine into but they only made it for one year in pre-CANBUS form so it would be good to have more 'choice' by knowing how easy it was to get round these issue. As I understand it, a lot of people end up retaining both ECUs, with the original one being used for the instruments, effectively.With regards to how you are going to get around the CANbus issues I'd be very interested to see how you get on. I've managed to get a Canbus engine ECU running fine in a non CANbus chassis but being from the same manufacturer there was some common ground whereby I could get the instrumentation to work correctly.
I imagine an engine from a different manufacturer means things are not as straightforward as it was for me?
Wow thanks everyone for the positive comments, I have been planning the build for a while and im really enjoying it I don't want it to be a credit card build so I will have to spread the costs over a longer period of time than I would really like.
The steering does look tight on the exhaust pictures but its all fine and ive a lot of heat shields to make along with some Camcoat on the headers.
The E46 does not have a lot of canbus and we have already got it all working, we are using our standalone ecu to run the engine and then using that to talk to the BMW's instrument ecu. To be honest it was not difficult but im lucky to have a genius electronics friend who I do a lot of work with
Really looking forward to hearing her fire up, a huge effort has gone into the exhaust system.
I don't want it to be a credit card build so I will have to spread the costs over a longer period of time than I would really like.The steering does look tight on the exhaust pictures but its all fine and ive a lot of heat shields to make along with some Camcoat on the headers.
The E46 does not have a lot of canbus and we have already got it all working, we are using our standalone ecu to run the engine and then using that to talk to the BMW's instrument ecu. To be honest it was not difficult but im lucky to have a genius electronics friend who I do a lot of work with
Really looking forward to hearing her fire up, a huge effort has gone into the exhaust system.
ManOpener said:
GMW 360i said:
I would love to fit the Kinslers as fitted in the picture but unfortunately they wont clear the bonnet and for a road car they are a waste of time!!!!
Jenvey do an individual throttle body kit for the LS1/2/6 series. The trumpets cross and are offset at about a 75° angle so you might not have clearance issues like you would with the Kinslers:Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff