This will be awesome. Subscribed.
It'll be a little bit - the shop is about a month out (currently two swap projects in the bays). I'm up next, but David has indicated it takes about a month to acquire all the parts from the various vendors, and then about 3 weeks to do the swap, and a week of drive-ability testing to sort the car properly.This will be awesome. Subscribed.
The M3 rear end is on the list as the next step in the project. I've got other cars to beat on (if I want to do that sort of thing), so the thought is get the drivetrain swapped out and all the integration/electronics working and the bugs worked out before changing out the rear. (When I do the rear, it'll be a 'acquire + perform full-rebuild' before putting it under the car, so it won't be a cheap option...)Wow!
400+HP and no LSD?
Don't think there's any way I'd let that leave the shop without an M3 subframe etc.. They're already blowing the rest of the driveline apart anyway, including modifying the propshaft to connect to the T56. It'll need modding again to connect to an LSD..
Any idea of the state of the likely 16 year old rear bushes at least?
Oh, it's not that cheap here in the 'states either... By the time I'm done, I could have gotten an M3, and most likely have most of the major 'new to me' replacement/upkeep items done. I'm already in for nearly $20K USD, but I'm pretty meticulous in how I do things: All the maintenance items on the car have been gone through: bushings and suspension, the convertible top/hydraulics/top wire harness, all the existing electronics and normal 'wear' items.A man with a plan!
Sounds awesome.
Looking forward to your updates - wish we could source motors and trans like that for reasonable money here in the UK.
Would love a setup like that in my 325ci but parts alone would probably be close to M3 money..
I don't plan on beating on the car (at least, not initially). 3 or 4 years out, the engine will come out, be completely gone through. That'll give me time to get the M3 rear end in it, sort that out completely, get some better sway bars and other bits on it, get the interior replaced, get it painted, get wider rims/tires. The 'performance goodies' will all go in at the time of the engine refresh (FAST intake, 102MM throttle body, ported heads - the 'usual'), but I have to have the M3 rear end (or a Ford 8.8) before I try and do silly HP/TQ numbers...While you are working on the valve train you may want to consider Straub trunnions and bushings, there is a lot of talk about them over at www.ls1tech.com
I am working on a very similar project, currently working the transmission tunnel to fit a 4L60E behind a 5.3 LS on a 2003 330ci.
I used the TDR (Tire Death Racing) engine mounts from www.v8schassis.com I am very impressed with the quality of the mounts.
Using the automatic trans is a bit out of the ordinary for a E46 LS swap, but it makes for an easier swap into an already automatic car and I already have a peppy 6 speed ND Miata in my stable.
I will have to modify some headers or exhaust manifold to work with the transmission and go around the pan. the swap headers are all made for the T56 and are very expensive compared to modifying a pair of block huggers, but that will certainly take some work.
I read you are going to use the BMW exhaust, will it be too restrictive? Are you using everything from the flanges back, including the cats? If it works I can do the same thing and save myself some time money and effort.