Project: E30 touring, M57-8HP LTW

23732

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Dec 4, 2018
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E60 535d M57N
Since the local forums are dying I thought I would post the projects of me and my brother here, mostly mine as his is just a copy of we are doing to mine.

The touring was bought many years ago, 2016 i believe, driven as a daily for some time before being parked "for good".
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Didnt start the restoration until last october, and offcourse found alot of rust. I cant weld unfortunatly, but my brother does. So made him a deal, he welds all the rust and I does the wiring of his car.

So, i had alot of engineideas with this car. 2jz, s54, but landed on the m57 because I got it approved by the dmv and the reliablility and power from it.

Unfortunatly, engineswapping in Norway is really strict. Since this is an 1993model, I basicly have to comply to the same emissions as the car that the engine came in, in this case, a 2008 E60 LCI 525D.
Also I was limited to 450nm max torque, and the only 3l M57 that has that little, is the 525d.
I also cant exceed the axle weights of the car. With just an m57 that would be no problem, but paired with an 8HP automatic gearbox, that is an issue, so I have focused on making the car as light as possble, with a good balance, how, you'll see 😉

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This is the engine fitted, this is 95% final position, some adjustments to be made, but tilt and height is final.
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As the car will be somewhat low, not stancenation bruh, but tastefully, we wanted to retain the rear sump, but it had to be chopped alot, also making som wings and extend the pickup.
Those with a keen eye will spot the treehouse cabs, but machined from 7075 aluminum, and saves about one and a half kgs from the original cabs, this is how far we have to go to comply with the axle weights.
I also like to think outside the box a little and come up with my own solutions to things, so some special parts will be a part of this build.

Weight of the engine without acpump and dpf.
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This is the level of the wiring of the car, dont like to call it milspec as that means jackshit of the quality.
So instead, calling it a proper motorsport harness.

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Will follow up with more pictures in the next couple of days
 

fmorelli

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Welcome. And great build! Looking forward to more!

Filippo
 

Torgus

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How do they know which M57 engine you have in there? Can't you just say it is X model m57?

An M57TU2D30 like in the US X5/335D would be ideal I would think. Delete it and start having fun. 475-500 whp and 680-700 wtq is very doable. More if you want to get crazy.

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ShocknAwe

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How do they know which M57 engine you have in there? Can't you just say it is X model m57?

An M57TU2D30 like in the US X5/335D would be ideal I would think. Delete it and start having fun. 475-500 whp and 680-700 wtq is very doable. More if you want to get crazy.

View attachment 46596

Probably has to be registered with actual part numbers and pass an inspection to confirm that's what you used and didn't lie.
 

23732

New Member
Dec 4, 2018
9
6
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E60 535d M57N
How do they know which M57 engine you have in there? Can't you just say it is X model m57?

An M57TU2D30 like in the US X5/335D would be ideal I would think. Delete it and start having fun. 475-500 whp and 680-700 wtq is very doable. More if you want to get crazy.

View attachment 46596
Hi, excellent question.

To be honest, the inspectors couldnt see a difference, except maybe for the biturbo setup.
For the most part we did it like this so it got a little bit cheaper, a parted out 535d or 530d for that sake, would be very expensive for parts in comparison to a 525d. Also, r90 pump, meth, hybrid turbo, 535d injectors and it will see 450hp no problem.

Looking forward to the rest! Are you keeping it RWD?
Yes, making room for 255 tires both 17" and 18"
 
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23732

New Member
Dec 4, 2018
9
6
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E60 535d M57N
A little sideproject of mine. This was bought two years ago and started the dieselobsession of me and my brother. So much that he bought the same car, only in black instead.

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2005, 535d, only 67000 miles when I bought it, now 75000.
Its a pretty "poorly" specced 35d to be honest, except for bixenon with ahl, dynamic drive, active steering and twozone climate control.
So in my ownage, I have added sport seats from 520d, part leather/fabric, black headliner, Quaife ATB, KW V3 coilovers and lightweight Speedline rims, which together with the dynamic drive, makes it handle like a gokart. Handles like an E30 basicly 😅

Plans for this is NBT retrofit, LCI taillights, proper meth kit, dual cp3 pumps, 8HP gearbox and upgraded axles.
 
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Itsbrokeagain

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Jan 28, 2018
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Another awesome swap coming about. Sick E60 as well. You Europeans always make short work of wiring/swaps/NBT things, meanwhile over here guys are struggling for months/years to get it to work properly.

One thing for sure though, I would NOT want your MOT/DOT rules as far as engine swaps/inspections. Pretty lax here in New York, depending on where you go.
 

23732

New Member
Dec 4, 2018
9
6
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E60 535d M57N
Any updates? I'm curious about the M57 with an 8HP ... would be a huge upgrade from the 6HP.
Hi, extremely late reply here. Haven't been on this forum for ages! Also the projects have stopped a little bit up due to other things in life.

The E30 has been sat pretty much since the last update. Not really done anything except for some rustrepairs, a new removable front coresupport and minor stuff.

The E60 hasn't had much done either except for maintenance and driving. Such a wonderful car to be driving in the winter. The Quaife combined with proper studded tires makes it quick the machine in both drivability and accessibility.

BUT, have finished an 8HP swap into my brothers car! And the result is awesome. The great thing about the box is due to the ratios, with each gear shift you end up right in the perfect torque/hp curve, so it feels exponentially faster. Just by swapping the box, we got it half a second quicker 0-100kph(60mph). On this box we used Turbolamik tcu for controlling it.

For my own E60, it looks like I can be starting the 8HP90 swap into it in late spring/summertime. Not sure if I am going to use Turbolamik or Cantcu. It depends if a little if I can get a custom map on xhp or not. As the only car that got 8HP90 rwd, is a couple of thousand F01/F01 760i's, the market is so small that Xhp themselves are not making any tunes for it. If not, I'll be using turbolamik, quite happy with that also.

Other projects that has taken up time is this thing:
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A dream come true, it much more raw than expected and really quick for what it is. I might be one of the few people that like the SMG. The shifts in S6 mode is just brutal. A friend of mine ended up with a stomach ache due to the shifts when he testrode it 😂
But as with all used, old cars, it was more neglected than the seller had given the impression of. So for the first two months of ownershit it stood on the lifts for repairs. Which includes new oil lines feed and return for the oilfilter housing, new gas tank due to vacuumissues, new coalfilter, both horns, exhaust, anti rolls bars etc.
And now the car is on the lift again for changing of the diffunit to a Quaife, the exchange of the gastank, an oilchange on the gearbox and chaing from H&R springs to Eibach, for a little more ground clearence.

So in the near future there will be more updates, as I am focusing on the E60 and the E30 to be finished before I retire 😅
 
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