tacr2man Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 As AZ suggested a dedicated thread , The story so far , my 110 which I have owned since 1986 was an original V8CSW , which was fine when I bought it , and then replaced the old 3.5 V8 carb engine with 3.9i , when I was in Australia , another good move, and fine with fuel costs over there but AFAIC not viable in UK /europe for long term travel . I then looked at diesel options, having been spoilt by V8 performance levels , I considered 300tdi or TD5 , but both would require quite a bit of tweeking to get the power levels I feel I need ! The HS 2.8 I believe is NLA , The 2.5 M51 ala P38 from experience is a bit leisurely , so as BMW commonality like LR parts suggested going up a bit to M57 . This engine in standard form gives RV8 type output . I then bought a 530D to get the engine that was advised to be the best option , ie pre 2004 manual . The car was a one owner full BMW history with under 100,000 miles . I ran it for just over a month, and it worked very nicely with plenty of torque , and good economy . Pulled the V8 out , and then got to looking at trans options , A r380 L suffix was suggested with , uprated bearings and oil cooler , with a cost approaching £1400 after sourcing a suitable unit. and a conversion bell housing would be needed as well . Did some research into making a bell housing ist quote £1100 , and then another at £600 , they started but took ages to do the first part. , found another couple of businesses that were much more reliable, and ended up with modified unit as in the pic. Its a amalgamation of the original Lt85 rear bellhousing and a P38 M51 diesel manual . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangy35 Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Very cool conversion there mate, I think she will run perfctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 14, 2013 Author Share Posted September 14, 2013 I hope so, as its very much a find out as I go operation. They have been used in Dakar vehicles by Rally Raid , but not in the powertrain that I intend . I am intending to keep both parts ie engine, and vehicle as standard as possible. I have stayed with the BMW active engine mount system , although that was a right PITA as they a set assymentrically both in fore and aft and up down . The V8 mounts on the chassis were cut off and new mounts fabricated and welded in their place . The extra holes are to allow for pipe connections . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Nice project, what is that thing on your front axle housing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 14, 2013 Author Share Posted September 14, 2013 Thats a Maxidrive front difflock actuator The flywheel is a dualmass M51 , with a HD cover and friction to suit . The p38 M51 diesel bellhousing , front half houses the pull off mechanism , and the rear half is the bit that i modded to join to the rear part of the Lt85 V8 bell housing . The M57 spigot bearing has to be removed and a V8 bush and adapter housing fitted in its place . the welding glove is a specialist anti weld spatter guard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Ahh I see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 14, 2013 Author Share Posted September 14, 2013 One of first things found was that engine in logical ( keeping Lt85 in OE location) position means the aircon pump fouls the steering box (RHD) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 maybe you can get the engine a little higher up? Nice project by the way... Wytze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 maybe you can get the engine a little higher up?Nice project by the way... Wytze The available height inside the engine compartment , gives a quite limited range of height possibilities , the r/h engine mount clearance to the top of diff on full deflection dictates the lowest point , and then engine to underbonnet limits the upper , this is all within a limit of about 40 to 60mm to give a safety margin at each end I used the bmw fan position in cowl on a TD5 radiator and intercooler that I am using as the ideal . If you used different engine mountings then you could possibly go lower but where I have mine is at the upper safe limit or so . HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Looks like there is some room to go up, with the pump. So making a new bracket for the aircon pump? Are you gonna use the aircon? Wytze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Yes will be using the aircon , as I have a big rooftop unit , how it gets driven is another matter altogether ? about 3 possibles at the moment mulling over . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Excellent thread. Those two bell houses look like a happy marriage. If the rest of the fit goes well then I could imagine this becoming a popular option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 Well the engine is in on the mounts, rad in position , with modified bmw pas cooler , its a td5 rad and intercooler, slight mod to BMW rad hoses (same bore) ends removed and small silicone hose extensions used. The same pretty much with the turbo hoses , the n/s was a little bit more convoluted to clear the pas hoses for the cooler. The BMW viscous fan is slightly smaller than the td5 . so will have to mod the TD5 cowl slightly to get a closer fit. Clutch slave had to have a 90 degree adapter specially made for hose to clear prop . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddychris300tdi Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Nice fit. And how does it drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 23, 2013 Author Share Posted September 23, 2013 Nice fit. And how does it drive? Bit premature , its not a running unit yet , still got all the wiring, and fuel system to sort + a front exhaust pipe ! Hope to have on the road in November due other time constraints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Do you have any more pics ? I'd love to see a few more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 Do you have any more pics ? I'd love to see a few more. First engine start at 17:30hrs today it even fired up without the two fuel pumps running , (pumps relay wire off) restarted and short run to prove fbw throttle response , as no coolant , one turbo hose to be connected . Further info and pics shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 First engine start at 17:30hrs today it even fired up without the two fuel pumps running , (pumps relay wire off) restarted and short run to prove fbw throttle response , as no coolant , one turbo hose to be connected . Further info and pics shortly Needs a video too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 With decent audio, still to be convinced on diesels generally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 This sounds an interesting conversion. 6-pot diesels certainly do have appealing sounds characteristics. I don't think I could ever enjoy driving a Tdi the way I do my V8. As this is a fairly high tech modern engine, what have you had to do with the electronics to get the engine to run, now it doesn't have the rest of the Beemer wrapped around it? From what I have read (briefly) there are many iterations of the M57, with varying outputs. What made you choose the car derived version for this conversion? I wondered whether the 3 ltr Td6 from the Range Rover would have had better torque characteristics for a heavy wagon like a 110. OK it will probably have had a harder life to begin with, what with hauling the Rangey around... but I would have thought it would also be better suited for running at off road angles of lean. Maybe this isn't your intended use, just my mind ticking over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomark10 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I like the idea of the welded bell housings, did it take much work to get them jigged up for welding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 This sounds an interesting conversion. 6-pot diesels certainly do have appealing sounds characteristics. I don't think I could ever enjoy driving a Tdi the way I do my V8. The engine choice was driven by the same sort of consideration s I have 300tdi auto in my 90 which is adequate , but not comparable withe |V8 3.9i I had fitted previous. but the fuel consumption is untenable As this is a fairly high tech modern engine, what have you had to do with the electronics to get the engine to run, now it doesn't have the rest of the Beemer wrapped around it? I used a harness from rallyraid uk , and the BMW key with the steering lock antenna round it , which all plugs into the BMW immob box . This is all fitted into the sealed ali box mounted at rear of engine bay which also houses the engine ECU . Then you have about 8 wires to connect to the 110 harness for ign , alt light , oil light , water temp, revs, start , fuel pump. and 12v supply . From what I have read (briefly) there are many iterations of the M57, with varying outputs. What made you choose the car derived version for this conversion? The 530d upto 2003 is simplest to fit , and has biggest turbo I wondered whether the 3 ltr Td6 from the Range Rover would have had better torque characteristics for a heavy wagon like a 110. Its about 410nm standard and is easily uprateable OK it will probably have had a harder life to begin with, what with hauling the Rangey around... but I would have thought it would also be better suited for running at off road angles of lean. Maybe this isn't your intended use, just my mind ticking over... I am working on the principle that these engines have been designed to handle fairly high G maneuvers , and Rallyraid seem to use them in Dakar type vehicles without any special mods in that respect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 I like the idea of the welded bell housings, did it take much work to get them jigged up for welding? I used a jig that was based on position of the clutch release guide tubes in both bell housings. The length was governed by the primary shaft of the Lt85 . Both bell housings were milled back to use a flat plate joiner rather than trying to fill all the gaps in the profiles of the two bell housing . Connecting to a R380 would be a lot simpler . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 With decent audio, still to be convinced on diesels generally No exhaust yet , but the turbo gives a real nice whistle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomark10 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Why have I stumbled across this thread! This swap looks a brilliant solution to the landy downfalls... lack of power from the diesels and lack of reliability and mpg from the v8's. The Mrs will kill me if I mention doing an engine swap.. only just rebuild the v8! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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