Re: Vorshlag E46 Alpha - 330Ci LSx Build Thread
Terry,
The car's looking great. I'm really interested in the headers when you finish things up.
I'm sorry to be out of touch. We'd talked online when you were just completing the E36 LS1-- I'd followed that on the website a lot.
We did complete our 6.0L E46 wagon a little over a year ago. Motor's installed in a 323iT "Sport Touring" wagon-- I've always loved "sleeper" grocery-getters, so this one looks very vanilla, until you hear the exhaust when it fires up. We started with an LQ4 bottom end and installed '243 LS6 heads, Comp .568/.566 112LSA cam and Weiand Lingenfelter LS6 intake. PCM is the stock "Red/Blue" LS1/6 computer, but re-programmed for this cam set-up.
Issues we ran into:
1) For 'fit' reasons we concluded that the late-GTO pan, forward sump, was our best bet. I think we are mounted a hair forward from what your pics show. Using the T56, we ended up with the F-Body (rear) shifter location and it pops up in the exact right spot in the BMW. We did select our 323iT for already having a manual 5-speed in it-- -saved grief with clutch, master considerations.
2) We are running BOTH BMW computer (to keep CAN bus and gauges happy) and GM PCM (to run the engine and present an ODB-II port). ODB-II works great that way and would scan without Readiness or Error codes were we to have emissions testing here.
3) We used the M3 LSD diff to be on the safe side. I like the ratios a lot for this application-- loafs on the freeway, but still short enough to work with the T56's F-Body gearing
4) Cam has a nice lope, but will idle at 950. It pulls hard to redline at 6800, where we cut fuel off
5) Biggest issue we ran into was "cooling"--- We ended up buying the E46-M3 radiator, which is a drop-in. But, still had issues with airflow. Due to hood sealing, airflow is very constrained with the stock fan. We finally wired in a monster electric fan, which will keep heat in check even on a 120 day.
Net is that we really like the combination-- It was built to your #2 objective-- a daily driver that can be taken to the track.
Anyway, I stumbled back across your 330Ci thread and wanted to check back in. No threadjack here, but wanted to offer any thoughts on stuff we ran into. Would love to install your E46 headers when you get them wrapped up-- I'm sure we are power-limited (410-ish currently) by exhaust flow right now. We have Magnaflows on it, but did a custom hack on the manifolds. Long tubes would help a lot.
Best regards,
Tom
Terry,
The car's looking great. I'm really interested in the headers when you finish things up.
I'm sorry to be out of touch. We'd talked online when you were just completing the E36 LS1-- I'd followed that on the website a lot.
We did complete our 6.0L E46 wagon a little over a year ago. Motor's installed in a 323iT "Sport Touring" wagon-- I've always loved "sleeper" grocery-getters, so this one looks very vanilla, until you hear the exhaust when it fires up. We started with an LQ4 bottom end and installed '243 LS6 heads, Comp .568/.566 112LSA cam and Weiand Lingenfelter LS6 intake. PCM is the stock "Red/Blue" LS1/6 computer, but re-programmed for this cam set-up.
Issues we ran into:
1) For 'fit' reasons we concluded that the late-GTO pan, forward sump, was our best bet. I think we are mounted a hair forward from what your pics show. Using the T56, we ended up with the F-Body (rear) shifter location and it pops up in the exact right spot in the BMW. We did select our 323iT for already having a manual 5-speed in it-- -saved grief with clutch, master considerations.
2) We are running BOTH BMW computer (to keep CAN bus and gauges happy) and GM PCM (to run the engine and present an ODB-II port). ODB-II works great that way and would scan without Readiness or Error codes were we to have emissions testing here.
3) We used the M3 LSD diff to be on the safe side. I like the ratios a lot for this application-- loafs on the freeway, but still short enough to work with the T56's F-Body gearing
4) Cam has a nice lope, but will idle at 950. It pulls hard to redline at 6800, where we cut fuel off
5) Biggest issue we ran into was "cooling"--- We ended up buying the E46-M3 radiator, which is a drop-in. But, still had issues with airflow. Due to hood sealing, airflow is very constrained with the stock fan. We finally wired in a monster electric fan, which will keep heat in check even on a 120 day.
Net is that we really like the combination-- It was built to your #2 objective-- a daily driver that can be taken to the track.
Anyway, I stumbled back across your 330Ci thread and wanted to check back in. No threadjack here, but wanted to offer any thoughts on stuff we ran into. Would love to install your E46 headers when you get them wrapped up-- I'm sure we are power-limited (410-ish currently) by exhaust flow right now. We have Magnaflows on it, but did a custom hack on the manifolds. Long tubes would help a lot.
Best regards,
Tom
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