[snapc33]

Hey guys. Found a few people talking about my car on these forums so I though I would copy over my build thread here. Feel free to ask any questions about the build, Id love to help anyone else thinking about doing a swap in one of these chassis. It is not as big of a deal as everyone had made it out to be.

Decided it was time to build a new car. I wanted a platform with a newer body style, 4 door, decent handling, not commonly swapped and could be built correctly to be daily driven. The goal with this car is to be a super responsive daily that will do great burnouts when I need it to and be mild enough for anyone to drive.

Motor setup is pretty common parts. Megasquirt 3x, Gen4 iron 6.0, ls2 pistons, cheapo trickflow cam and springs, seimens 80lb injectors, vs7875 turbo. Transmission is a tr6060 out of a 2010 Cts-v with an ls7 clutch. Stock BMW rear end to start.

I found a 2006 BMW 325i with a locked motor for a great price. From my research I have not found anyone who has swapped one of these yet. Seems like most people are too scarred of the fully integrated canbus system. I would like to keep the factory HVAC working and will tackle that project when the time comes.

Lots of photos to follow.

Edit lots of changes since this starter. My website is lse90.com and here is the first video of a tutorial we did.

[snapc33]

Did things a little backwards and built the turbo kit before I even had engine mounts. I figured it would be easier to build mounts to clear the hot side rather than the other way around.

Passenger side is a truck manifold forward and down with the first runner chopped off and replaced with a 2.5" stainless elbow. Plumed the removed runner back into the elbow and dropped on a T4 flange.







Driver side was a little more tricky to clear the steering and ac/heater lines. I used a C6 manifold and chopped off the stock flange, milled the runners at a slight angle, then welded on a new flange. The result was a C6 manifold that was about an inch closer the block but still had good plug access.







Cross over is 2" and passes under the oil pan in front of the cross member.








Wastegate has not been placed yet. Starter and Ac compressor need to be installed to check fitment.

[snapc33]

Motor mounts were pretty simple. I utilized the stock BMW lower mounts and made plate mounts that mate the motor to them. Drew them up in cad and plasma cut the parts.






The motor I bought did not have any accessory brackets so I decided to just build them to fit the bay the best. I also wanted to reuse the stock BMW power steering pump so they entire system would stay stock. I drew up some flanges and checked their fitment with a few paper mockups. I still need to build a few spacers and get an idler pulley.






I am using a TR6060 from a 2010 Cts-v which normally uses a remote mounted shifter. I needed to have the shifter basically mounted on the tail housing to line up with the stock BMW shifter location. I started by building an offset lever similar to what is used in a t56 and buying a cheap t56 short shifter. I built an adapter plate that would mount to the transmission and allow the shifter to be mounted on the tail housing.

It took a couple iterations to get the geometry right but now it shifts great.











Started the intercooler. I used an aftermarket intercooler for a BMW 335I which I took a guess that it would fit. Turns out it wouldn't just bolt in so I had to chop the outlets off, cut new holes in the end tanks, and build new mounts.










Updates. Finished up the charge pipes and down pipe. Built a transmission cross member that bolts into the stock BMW location, and working on finishing up the Megasquirt harness. Trying out concentric twisting on the harness. It is a pain to do but it ends up being very flexible and clean looking.

[snapc33]

This is going to be fun



Built an adapter to run a standard 1350 U joint out the back of the CTS-v trans.







Stock exhaust is going back on with a 3" cutout after the downpipe.


Installed the wastegate on the crossover due to space limitations. Heat wrapped and installed all the hotside for the last time. Also installed a blow off. Lots of odds and ends to go but it is getting there.









Getting closer. Hotside and harness in.


Starting to look like a car again


Exhaust it about done. 3" downpipe to a 3" cutout to a Y merge out to the stock exhaust. Should be super quiet with the cutout closed.



Running, still have a small exhaust leak to track down and tuning.

Bmw e90 Ls swap first start - YouTube

[snapc33]

Made a gauge pod to fit in the stock ashtray and had a buddy 3d print it for me.






Got the car moving under its own power, enough to get a little bit of turbo noise out of it. I had to pull it back apart to fix the turbo drain that was poorly placed and causing some smoke.
E90 Ls swap test drive - YouTube

While it is apart I started putting the ac compressor into the car. I ended up using the BMW compressor to simplify plumbing and wiring. I needed to run the compressor off the front belt for clearance behind it for the hotside.






New updates. Getting the AC lines taken car of. Built a few aluminum barbs to weld on the existing lines so I could crimp on rubber hose. The AC compressor was right in the way of one of the cold side pipes so I had to redo that. Relocated the turbo oil drain the the front cover. Also picked up some new wheels and tire, car fit a 275/35/18 on the back with out any issue.













New aluminum CSF race radiator






Made a new driveshaft U joint adapter out of aluminum. Car is all put together and has been running well. Here is a little video of just cruising though the neighborhood.





bmw crusing - YouTube

[snapc33]

Ford 8.8 irs differential swap underway. Differential is from a 2007 Explorer with 3.55 gears.

BMW diff weighs 70 lbs, Ford is 67 lbs.









New diff mounts almost done.

[noah.s]

Wow, do one for me!

[GottWhat]

So awesome!

[WhiteBeard]

Wow man!
1. How long it took you?
2. Total cost (325 donor + parts)?
3. What education you have or where do you have such skills man? Seems like you can do anything from CAD design to machine building
4. Hypothetically speaking - how much would you take $$$ to install a turbo (any turbo of your choice) on e90 328, given if person delivers the car to your garage, leaves it for any period required and will pick it up after it's done?

[Grip Grip]

Very nice! Subscribed here and Youtube!

[snapc33]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

Wow man!
1. How long it took you?
2. Total cost (325 donor + parts)?
3. What education you have or where do you have such skills man? Seems like you can do anything from CAD design to machine building
4. Hypothetically speaking - how much would you take $$$ to install a turbo (any turbo of your choice) on e90 328, given if person delivers the car to your garage, leaves it for any period required and will pick it up after it's done?

I built this car in about a year, but that is working on it on and off. Total cost is fairly low if you only include parts I purchased and put no value on my design or fab time.

I am a mechanical engineer but work very hands on and enjoy building things and cars. This is not for first swap project. I'm not sure I would take on a project like this for someone else so I cannot give you a price. I can say that this car will be for sale and I am developing a kit for this swap that will include mounts, accessory drive, rear end parts, ect..

[lab_rat]

Impressive skills to say the least! I would be extremely interested in your swap kit once developed for market...I love the Thunderbolt Miata website/kit/videos. Makes me want to go out to the garage and start taking the car apart right now lol

[cdgatti]

You sir are a beautiful nut! Way back in the day, my Dad and I put a Chevy 350 in my 4 cylinder Chevy Monza (piece of shit) made that car a deathtrap. This would be so cool, but the engine management computer side of it all would be most intimidating to me.

[Boland01]

Wow, super engineering job. You can make money with your skills.

[buzzard]

Wow, amazing job. I can't believe you figured out where all of those wires went and got it to actually start and run. Very impressive. Congrats.

[Unknown_Car]

Nice job man get A dyno when all done :-) .

[ferocity02]

Holy shit... absolutely incredible work. This is a dream swap for me but way too much work.

Looking forward to more!

[muncie21]

Awesome job!

[F22_Raptor]

wow, just wow

[CantCatchMe]

Awesome job! Looking forward to more videos.

I'm sure Axiom will make a post about this next too lol.

[Indyeah]

This is badass. Big respect for this project. Keep it up and keep us updated. Really interested in some performance figures.

[brewnami]

Holy shit.