LS1 swap 318IS

[!RocknE30!]

Nice pics! Those canvas prints turn out awesome, gf and I have a few of them with pics from camping trips and cool shots of our dogs (I do photo as a side hobby) that look great. I will probably have to do the same and get some nice pics of my vehicles printed. So I've been mulling around the idea of throwing some money aside over the next year or two and doing a LS swap in my 318is once my gf finishes up med school and I have more disposable income for fun/projects. And it just so happens you have the same starting vehicle as me and the engine I'm split 50/50 on going with while mulling it over in my head.

If you did the swap again and the engine cost wasn't an issue (dont know if that factored in for you at all) would you still do the LS1? My initial thoughts were the LS1 is super prevalent and cheaper, plus, do I really need the extra horsepower from a 6.0/6.2? Then I ended up down the youtube rabbit hole and have seen a few LS3 swapped E30s and I'm having second thoughts, because they look like a total blast...at least in a straight line. Granted, I am sure I would end up doing full bolt-ons with a LS1 and at that point you likely aren't that far off from a LS3 with your basic intake/exhaust for the swap.

The LS1 swap would still easily out power to weight ratio anything else I've driven, I'm just trying to determine if I'd regret not going with more displacement. I drove my parents E36 M3 and subsequent 07 335i a bunch in HS/college and had a '13 WRX for 7ish years after graduating college, so it'd be my first vehicle with a V8. So the appeal of going big just for the fun factor of having a car with borderline too much power is definitely there, but I also dont want a car that is too much of a handful to comfortably take on the track. Granted, you've mentioned yours is really predictable with the suspension upgrades.

To sum it up:

1) What are your thoughts on LS1 vs LS2/3 if you did the swap again
2) How big of a hindrance do you think the extra power from a minimally modified LS3 vs your LS1 would be on the track?

Appreciate it! If I end up serious about the swap or even if I bail on the idea, I'd love to check your car out in the future if you're cool with it. I'm in north glendale. Need to get my 318is running again before that so I wouldnt have the shame of rolling up in the 07 prius that I'm currently DD'ing (although I thoroughly enjoy only filling it up once a month).

[tyeler18]

Nice pics! Those canvas prints turn out awesome, gf and I have a few of them with pics from camping trips and cool shots of our dogs (I do photo as a side hobby) that look great. I will probably have to do the same and get some nice pics of my vehicles printed. So I've been mulling around the idea of throwing some money aside over the next year or two and doing a LS swap in my 318is once my gf finishes up med school and I have more disposable income for fun/projects. And it just so happens you have the same starting vehicle as me and the engine I'm split 50/50 on going with while mulling it over in my head.

If you did the swap again and the engine cost wasn't an issue (dont know if that factored in for you at all) would you still do the LS1? My initial thoughts were the LS1 is super prevalent and cheaper, plus, do I really need the extra horsepower from a 6.0/6.2? Then I ended up down the youtube rabbit hole and have seen a few LS3 swapped E30s and I'm having second thoughts, because they look like a total blast...at least in a straight line. Granted, I am sure I would end up doing full bolt-ons with a LS1 and at that point you likely aren't that far off from a LS3 with your basic intake/exhaust for the swap.

The LS1 swap would still easily out power to weight ratio anything else I've driven, I'm just trying to determine if I'd regret not going with more displacement. I drove my parents E36 M3 and subsequent 07 335i a bunch in HS/college and had a '13 WRX for 7ish years after graduating college, so it'd be my first vehicle with a V8. So the appeal of going big just for the fun factor of having a car with borderline too much power is definitely there, but I also dont want a car that is too much of a handful to comfortably take on the track. Granted, you've mentioned yours is really predictable with the suspension upgrades.

To sum it up:

1) What are your thoughts on LS1 vs LS2/3 if you did the swap again
2) How big of a hindrance do you think the extra power from a minimally modified LS3 vs your LS1 would be on the track?

Appreciate it! If I end up serious about the swap or even if I bail on the idea, I'd love to check your car out in the future if you're cool with it. I'm in north glendale. Need to get my 318is running again before that so I wouldnt have the shame of rolling up in the 07 prius that I'm currently DD'ing (although I thoroughly enjoy only filling it up once a month).

I have zero regrets with the LS1, but really a 5.3 with cam and bolt ons would be plenty of power with my current setup. That being said, if the LS1 ever dies I'll be sticking a 6.2 in it. The car is very predictable but on the mussleman track it still has way more than enough power to get away from you if you're not ready. I've let a few people drive it, my girlfriend and one of my buddies both did a few laps at the last track day and both like how responsive the car is and were well aware of throttle requirements on corner exit. I still have yet to bomb off the track in this car, whereas my wide tire C5 I send off the track with slower lap times every single event. I really dont think you can go wrong with the swap in any way, it's the perfect all around setup.

If you ever want to check the car out let me know! I do bring it up in the area every so often, I'd gladly take you for a spin

[!RocknE30!]

I have zero regrets with the LS1, but really a 5.3 with cam and bolt ons would be plenty of power with my current setup. That being said, if the LS1 ever dies I'll be sticking a 6.2 in it. The car is very predictable but on the mussleman track it still has way more than enough power to get away from you if you're not ready. I've let a few people drive it, my girlfriend and one of my buddies both did a few laps at the last track day and both like how responsive the car is and were well aware of throttle requirements on corner exit. I still have yet to bomb off the track in this car, whereas my wide tire C5 I send off the track with slower lap times every single event. I really dont think you can go wrong with the swap in any way, it's the perfect all around setup.

If you ever want to check the car out let me know! I do bring it up in the area every so often, I'd gladly take you for a spin

Awesome, thanks for the extra info! I figured really any of the aluminum block engines would be more than enough regardless of displacement. I guess it will come down to what pops up on the market when I am serious about doing the swap and starting to get pieces put together. My dad had an 01 Silverado with the 5.3 and I think just an exhaust and that thing was pretty damn fun to drive for a truck, it could move. I remember whenever I got to drive it on my own I would just stand on it any chance I got haha. That's awesome to hear about how it handles, glad it doesn't turn into a complete pain in the ass to keep it on the track. As long as you're not driving like 17yo me in my dad's truck.

It seems like the L92 is the best bang for the buck based off the ebay market for the various engines. And now I am curious if the chip shortage and lack of new cars/inflated used car market has bumped prices up on used engines as well. Swap out the manifold (doesn't sound like the truck variation would come close to clearing the hood), delete the vvt and throw a mild cam in it and that's that.

Since you've got at least two LS swaps I know of, do you normally just keep an eye on CL/FB marketplace/OfferUp? Any other places you check? I don't think I've ever been to any of the local junkyards, but I would have to imagine any aluminum blocked LS variation that isn't hand grenaded is getting snatched up quickly, especially the 6.2's.

When I've got more free time I'll definitely take you up on that offer! Much appreciated.

[tyeler18]

Awesome, thanks for the extra info! I figured really any of the aluminum block engines would be more than enough regardless of displacement. I guess it will come down to what pops up on the market when I am serious about doing the swap and starting to get pieces put together. My dad had an 01 Silverado with the 5.3 and I think just an exhaust and that thing was pretty damn fun to drive for a truck, it could move. I remember whenever I got to drive it on my own I would just stand on it any chance I got haha. That's awesome to hear about how it handles, glad it doesn't turn into a complete pain in the ass to keep it on the track. As long as you're not driving like 17yo me in my dad's truck.

It seems like the L92 is the best bang for the buck based off the ebay market for the various engines. And now I am curious if the chip shortage and lack of new cars/inflated used car market has bumped prices up on used engines as well. Swap out the manifold (doesn't sound like the truck variation would come close to clearing the hood), delete the vvt and throw a mild cam in it and that's that.

Since you've got at least two LS swaps I know of, do you normally just keep an eye on CL/FB marketplace/OfferUp? Any other places you check? I don't think I've ever been to any of the local junkyards, but I would have to imagine any aluminum blocked LS variation that isn't hand grenaded is getting snatched up quickly, especially the 6.2's.

When I've got more free time I'll definitely take you up on that offer! Much appreciated.

L92 is definitely best bang for the buck, if you can find one. Join AZLSX on facebook, theres always 1-2/week listed on their by the local LS dismantlers, grab one with a lifter failure since you want to do cam anyways and you can snag one for $1500 or so. AZLSX is my go to group for engines, both my swap engines have come from there and I've picked up 5+ others off there for locals swaps.

You will be hard pressed to find a *good* aluminum block in the yard. 99% chance you'll never see a 6.2 in the forseable future as even the salvage yards pull those before they hit the u pull its. I've found a few 5.3s but most are stripped quick. Really though I tell everyone to grab the first good AND as complete as possible engine as they can find in their budget. The 80lbs of iron block on the front end isn't going to be huge and an LM7 complete can be had for $3-400. I got lucky with my LS1, otherwise I wouldve grabbed an iron 5.3 or 6.0 like my montero has. I feel less bad shelling a $300 5.3 over a $1500 6.0 and these are easy enough to acquire/swap that if you do kill one it's not a big deal to fix, or upgrade down the road.

[!RocknE30!]

L92 is definitely best bang for the buck, if you can find one. Join AZLSX on facebook, theres always 1-2/week listed on their by the local LS dismantlers, grab one with a lifter failure since you want to do cam anyways and you can snag one for $1500 or so. AZLSX is my go to group for engines, both my swap engines have come from there and I've picked up 5+ others off there for locals swaps.

You will be hard pressed to find a *good* aluminum block in the yard. 99% chance you'll never see a 6.2 in the forseable future as even the salvage yards pull those before they hit the u pull its. I've found a few 5.3s but most are stripped quick. Really though I tell everyone to grab the first good AND as complete as possible engine as they can find in their budget. The 80lbs of iron block on the front end isn't going to be huge and an LM7 complete can be had for $3-400. I got lucky with my LS1, otherwise I wouldve grabbed an iron 5.3 or 6.0 like my montero has. I feel less bad shelling a $300 5.3 over a $1500 6.0 and these are easy enough to acquire/swap that if you do kill one it's not a big deal to fix, or upgrade down the road.

Sweet, I will join that group! That's a good tip on finding a discounted L92 too. I've never researched these engines in depth, so I've been on an internet crash course lately. I looked into M/S5x swaps many years back but never strayed outside of BMW options. I figured it was a pipe dream to find anything aluminum in decent condition in the yard unless you are there the day it shows up haha. The 6.2's are so easy to pick out being in a Denali/Escalade it makes sense they would yank those instantly with how much they go for online.

I found a channel yesterday that goes out to junkyards to find engines to flip or potentially use in projects and they mentioned the same thing about ls swaps. Just get a cheap iron block that runs and use it as a working mockup engine to get the swap done and then you can wait for the engine you really want to pop up that will drop right in. And you have a drivable car in the meantime. I like that idea a lot as well because I would be a lot more willing to at least source an engine and get it cleaned up on the side if I'm only a couple hundred deep into it vs a couple grand for a larger displacement aluminum block.

And that leads me into another question, how did you handle the wiring harness (and ecu) setup since the stock one was melted? I don't recall seeing that ITT. That's one area where my brain just flatlines thinking about figuring it all out. Doesn't appear to be overly complicated, it just looks like a disaster anytime I see one yanked out. That's definitely one of the more intimidating area of the swap for me. I know sikky has a harness ($$$), there's the diy painless harness or you can use the factory harness and pull what isn't needed. I assume if I go LM7 -> L92 I'd be SOL on reusing a harness since the LM7 is gen III and the L92 is gen IV? Trying to find some build threads that go more in depth on the various harness setups but there's a lot to sift through.

[tyeler18]

Sweet, I will join that group! That's a good tip on finding a discounted L92 too. I've never researched these engines in depth, so I've been on an internet crash course lately. I looked into M/S5x swaps many years back but never strayed outside of BMW options. I figured it was a pipe dream to find anything aluminum in decent condition in the yard unless you are there the day it shows up haha. The 6.2's are so easy to pick out being in a Denali/Escalade it makes sense they would yank those instantly with how much they go for online.

I found a channel yesterday that goes out to junkyards to find engines to flip or potentially use in projects and they mentioned the same thing about ls swaps. Just get a cheap iron block that runs and use it as a working mockup engine to get the swap done and then you can wait for the engine you really want to pop up that will drop right in. And you have a drivable car in the meantime. I like that idea a lot as well because I would be a lot more willing to at least source an engine and get it cleaned up on the side if I'm only a couple hundred deep into it vs a couple grand for a larger displacement aluminum block.

And that leads me into another question, how did you handle the wiring harness (and ecu) setup since the stock one was melted? I don't recall seeing that ITT. That's one area where my brain just flatlines thinking about figuring it all out. Doesn't appear to be overly complicated, it just looks like a disaster anytime I see one yanked out. That's definitely one of the more intimidating area of the swap for me. I know sikky has a harness ($$$), there's the diy painless harness or you can use the factory harness and pull what isn't needed. I assume if I go LM7 -> L92 I'd be SOL on reusing a harness since the LM7 is gen III and the L92 is gen IV? Trying to find some build threads that go more in depth on the various harness setups but there's a lot to sift through.

I bought what was supposed to be a 99-02 fbody harness and then depinned, stripped it and made it standalone. Midway through stripping I found out it was a 98 harness which is quite a bit different than 99-02. The smart thing would've been to just buy a new harness and start over, but in the interest of budget building I converted the harness to 99-02 and then to 04 vette hybrid (i use an 03-07 pcm). It was a bunch of work, and would've been more cost effective to buy the cheap $260 standalone harnesses off amazon and then add in the wiring for cruise control and A/C (they dont come with it, easy enough to add). An fbody harness is the easiest way to go if you can get one cheap. Mine was $40 so not a bad initial price if it would've been 99-02 like it was listed as.

Gen3 to gen 4 causes some issues. Gen 3 PCM's are way more swap friendly for things like A/C and cruise control, I'm building a gen 4 for a friends truck right now and we're using a P59 03-07 pcm like I use by swapping the 58x crank reluctor for a gen 3 24x. With the reluctor swapped you're good to go with gen 3 electronics so no issues there. Lingenfelter sells a converter box but theyre problematic and if you can pull the crank a reluctor swap is cheap, easy, and no extra module to worry about failing.

[tyeler18]

Haven't updated in a while, mainly because I haven't had much to update. I've just been driving the car. I ended up rolling my montero back in july of last year which warranted building a new one and ate through a bunch of e30 mod cash. In came V2, out with my poor V1. V2 got a cam, billet triple disc converter, and a TBSS intake along with a 615hp/670ft/lb tune on a measly 9lbs of boost.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Then we decided to take all 6 of our huskies back to south dakota for christmas in it, which ate even more play cash.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

And just recently I traded my C5 for an evo 9 MR to become the new track toy. Ive been wanting a 9 to go with my 8 for a long time. I'm excited to see how this stacks up against the e30 on track. 275 tires all around, similar power to the e30, but ~700lbs heavier. My 8 would decimate the e30 with a wheel/tire change, but the 9 is near stock power wise. There's a track day on the 24th and I plan to bring both cars and see how they compare!

Evo 9 by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

[tyeler18]

Spent the past couple months racing the evo and prepping some of my other racecars.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

The e30 developed an intermittent wiring issue where it would drop the whole right bank of coil packs at random. I knew it was either the power feed or the ground since the whole bank shares it, but I couldn't get it to act up without driving and it was intermittent enough to not catch with a scope. I had ordered a terminator X max for my montero and liked how well it worked enough to order an X max for the e30 too and just ditch the whole OEM harness and ecu.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

While removing the OE harness my suspiscion was confirmed. The ground cluster on the back of the head broke right at the eyelet. There's 4 grounds all bolted together there and the harness is taped together so tugging on the wires wasn't enough to pull the wire loose. It was easy to see with it unbolted that 20 years had done a number to it. No turning back at this point though. Harness went in much simpler than the OE integration. This also meant I could ditch the modified stock e30 gas pedal I made for DBW and go to an e46 DBW pedal. The modified pedal was pretty sensitive and most people struggled to drive the car with it. The e46 pedal has a more OE response to it and I can tune the throttle curve and kill some of the quick torque spike the LS produces at low throttle.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Spent about 30 seconds using holley's start up "wizard" and away we went. We were working on a buddies e30 this weekend and needed a few parts, so another friend took my car and I asked for a flyby on the way back to the shop. He reluctantly gave me the keys back and said something about not having enough money to make me a cash offer on the car lol

https://youtu.be/1R4utkZTic4

[Northern]

Something about the Evo 7/8/9 really does it for me.

Holley's recent ECU excursion seems to have been very good for them. Seems like the only way to go for anything LS.

[tyeler18]

Something about the Evo 7/8/9 really does it for me.

Holley's recent ECU excursion seems to have been very good for them. Seems like the only way to go for anything LS.

I love my 8 but the 9 has such a nice front IMO. I have a voltex widebody getting painted for my 8 right now so we'll see how I feel after that's installed.

The terminator is definitely impressive for the $1600 price. The harness is a pretty cheap china built harness but it's a powerful setup for how cheap it is. I'm definitely sold on ditching OE pcms in swap vehicles completely with it. Now that HPTuners is slowly pulling emissions controls from the software it makes an even easier choice.

[DEV0 E30]

I love everything in this thread. Need to have an Arizona E30 day at some point.

[tyeler18]

I'm definitely up for that. I've only met a couple of the phoenix guys but I know quite a few of the Tucson guys from racing at mussleman.

[iso_hi]

Dude I need to go check your cars out. Lmk I can bring the beer.

[tyeler18]

Dude I need to go check your cars out. Lmk I can bring the beer.

Whenever you want man. I've got a museum of old mitsubishis to go through lol. Speaking of I added another one this weekend. Most will question wtf I got into here I'm sure, but this has been on the list of wants for a while.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

It's a 1992 Eagle summit 3 door (aka mitsubishi Expo/RVR for non N/A markets), This one is a little more special being an AWD 5 speed which weren't very common here. It's a south west car it's whole life so it's pristine underneath which is even less common since the SW most lyreceived FWD's and the salt belt ended up with the AWDs. I've had 3 dodge colt/mirage hatch- 2 with 4g63 AWD swaps and 1 base 1.5L which is what I traded for my e30. This is basically a bigger sliding door van version, but factory AWD. It has a rod knock on the 1.8L so we promptly took it out in the desert and tried to blow it up. So far we've failed, but the engine comes out this week and we're dropping in one of my 4g63T's to make a nice comfy sleeper. I should not be allowed adult money. Race weekend this saturday and the e30 will be out, can't wait to see some improvements.

[DEV0 E30]

I've always liked those. Eagle/Mitsubishi stuff always is cool in my book.

Got another question for ya regarding your E30. With your 5lug setup, (E46 calipers and rotors) what is the smallest wheel size you can run?

I may be considering that setup, but I like basket-weaves and I'm wondering what I can run (15/16s) etc.