My E46 V12 6speed swap

[e46v12 477]

Hi Team

So i'm a new member myself and thought i'd kill two birds with one stone and introduce myself. 

Names Richard and i'm here to share my journey with my dream car build.

Yes you read it right i am going to drop a v12 into the best shape ( my opinion ) bmw ever made. So i had purchased the v12 motor and auto box off trade me late 2015. Have also managed to find a rare 6 speed box that come out of the 850csi bmw that i had to get shipped from Britain. 

Treated myself to a nice New Zealand new 2000 manual 232i for my birthday earlier this year. Very nice looking with the factory 18inch mags and msport half leather seats and factory spoiler kit too.

So here the build begins.

over the 3day weekend i disassembled the engine to start cleaning parts for the rebuild. Had already took the heads off and sent to an engineering place to price up getting some custom cams and an ITB set up made. I also have a full new gasket set, head bolts and piston rings that will be replacing all the old stuff, a custom dry sump set up from the states as the oil pan had to be modified to fit the factory cross member. 

Here are a few picture of the motor in bits. 

feel free to pass on feed back or any advice team happy to share this build with you guys.

Edited June 7, 2017 by e46v12

[LemonHunter 583]

 

Awesome concept man, brilliant Idea to get some boogie into the V12, I always thought the stock 750/850's sound like they are yawning at full speed.

There is a chap on this forum that owned a V12 5L E34 Estate, possible you two could have a lot to chat about, I don't recall whether he did the conversion or not, and couldn't google (within my attention span) any links on this site.

Not E46's, but some dialog of E36 swap this thread 

 

 

 

[zero 1162]

Awesome build.

 

What rear end setup are you going to use to handle the extra torque?

[e46v12 477]

Euro V8 was that the one that was on trade me not long ago? 

I've done a lot of google searching for people that have attempted/done this swap. the main concern was the sump itself needing to be modified. So hopefully with the dry sump will get awesome clearance and sit nice and low in the car. Give me a bit more room for some customs exhaust manifolds too.

ZERO I'm planning on swapping a whole e46 m3 rear end in, have one lined just just waiting on Brent to get his butt moving and dismantle his m3  

Edited June 6, 2017 by e46v12

[M M 250]

I will definitely be following this.

[francoisv 466]

Now this is cool, Richard

[LemonHunter 583]

2 hours ago, e46v12 said:

Euro V8 was that the one that was on trade me not long ago? 

Yes, but some shenannigans suspected in the Auction, most recent Vendor doesn't appear to be a Bimmersport member.

[*Glenn* 855]

Lance (mellowpuf) was the member who fitted the V12 into Andy's E34

Edited June 6, 2017 by *Glenn*

[e46v12 477]

Yeah saw that it was on trade me again just a few weeks being purchased. I will have to give (mellowpuf) a message.

So the current situation, is i was taking the pistons out and managed to get all the conrod bolts undone bar 1 which i rounded. Spoke to a mate and didn't know why i didn't think of this at the time but will grind the bloody thing off. Have ordered a new set of arp bolts. Once all parts are out will take the block to get acid dip cleaned and checked to see if it needs a resurface, plus had 3 small bolts snap on me where the water flows through. Must have rusted them in, hopefully the machine shop can help me out there too. 

Then reassemble time.

Thanks for all the good feed back too team, feel free to ask if you want any specific pictures taken and i'll do my best.

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by e46v12

[*Glenn* 855]

You must use high quality torx sockets when working on european motor vehicles and keep away from impact guns

[zero 1162]

6 hours ago, e46v12 said:

Euro V8 was that the one that was on trade me not long ago? 

I've done a lot of google searching for people that have attempted/done this swap. the main concern was the sump itself needing to be modified. So hopefully with the dry sump will get awesome clearance and sit nice and low in the car. Give me a bit more room for some customs exhaust manifolds too.

ZERO I'm planning on swapping a whole e46 m3 rear end in, have one lined just just waiting on Brent to get his butt moving and dismantle his m3  

You are doing it right.

I'm putting a m62b44 in my e46, and also using the e46 m3 rear end.

The m3 diff is near bulletproof so perfect for high torque engines.

You may want to consider changing the ratio - I changed mine from 3.64 to 3.23.

If you do, or just want advice on diffs I can highly recommend talking to Kayne Barrie.

 

I presume you will use the m3 front brakes as well? From everyone I have spoken to the m3 brakes will be sufficient for these higher powered applications.

Any reason you are going auto box and not manual?

[zero 1162]

2 hours ago, *Glenn* said:

You must use high quality torx sockets when working on european motor vehicles and keep away from impact guns

What brand torx sockets do you use glenn?

[BM WORLD 1286]

cool project , how you doing the front sump /oil pick up etc is it not right where the rack is ?/

also I have a 330d rear end if you want a large case diff  /axles and brake setup

[*Glenn* 855]

37 minutes ago, zero said:

What brand torx sockets do you use glenn?

I have a set of Snap On, Stahwille and some specific genuine BMW ones

[e46v12 477]

Nice work ZERO a v8 wouldn't be bad either in the e46.

yup already spoke with Kayne Barrie hes the one suggested to just purchase a full m3 rear set up as i was looking into just modifying the factory one with a LSD. Hopfully the ratio won't be too bad as i will be using a manual 6 speed gearbox. The s6s 560g is what the v12's oringally came out with so managed to get my hands on one. 

So yes will be going manual  as for front brakes i'll deal with that when i come to it as there are heaps of aftermarket options there.

Hey Brent i don't think you saw the earlier post of me saying that i'm waiting for you to sell me the m3 rear end haha. Had this dissusion with you about the 330d rear end as i would end up spending more money trying to modify it to fit. Kayne said just save the money and get a m3 rear end as it's a straight bolt in and the diffs are built like brick houses. As for the sump set i have purchased a dry sump set up from Dailey Engineering awesome looking piece of work, don't have a picture but will put one up as soon as it's in my hands   

[zero 1162]

9 minutes ago, *Glenn* said:

I have a set of Snap On, Stahwille and some specific genuine BMW ones

So only slightly better than my Craftsman ones

[zero 1162]

3 minutes ago, e46v12 said:

Nice work ZERO a v8 wouldn't be bad either in the e46.

yup already spoke with Kayne Barrie hes the one suggested to just purchase a full m3 rear set up as i was looking into just modifying the factory one with a LSD. Hopfully the ratio won't be too bad as i will be using a manual 6 speed gearbox. The s6s 560g is what the v12's oringally came out with so managed to get my hands on one. 

So yes will be going manual  as for front brakes i'll deal with that when i come to it as there are heaps of aftermarket options there.

Hey Brent i don't think you saw the earlier post of me saying that i'm waiting for you to sell me the m3 rear end haha. Had this dissusion with you about the 330d rear end as i would end up spending more money trying to modify it to fit. Kayne said just save the money and get a m3 rear end as it's a straight bolt in and the diffs are built like brick houses. As for the sump set i have purchased a dry sump set up from Dailey Engineering awesome looking piece of work, don't have a picture but will put one up as soon as it's in my hands   

Agree with Kayne on this as I had the same exact discussion when I was looking at using a 330d rear end.

What did the dry sump cost you? I cant see prices on their website.

[e46v12 477]

I'd rather not say ZERO i'm a bit embarrassed as it was quite a lot, but here is an example of one on someones else motor.

are you wanting one for the v8?

[Olaf 3341]

1 hour ago, zero said:

So only slightly better than my Craftsman ones

Yeah, I'm in the Powerbuilt, Jonnesway, and Koken zone where it comes to Torx bits.  Oh an possibly a Halfrauds piece or two.

[zero 1162]

50 minutes ago, Olaf said:

Yeah, I'm in the Powerbuilt, Jonnesway, and Koken zone where it comes to Torx bits.  Oh an possibly a Halfrauds piece or two.

Which ones do you find best of the three?

[*Glenn* 855]

The best quality tools have the distinctive smell of burnt roses.... it must be the metal. I always go for those tools... I've never been let down and some I have are over 30 years old

[*Glenn* 855]

Oops... we need to get back on track and stop the unnecessary banter which could spoil this amazing thread and project. Apologies to  Richard on my part .... carry on sir 

[Michael. 2313]

Should be quite interesting with ITBs, cam and tuning work. Will certainly get more life out of them.

They're a bit too dull in stock form, and it's not exactly an easy conversion. 

Is this an M70 or the M73? 

[e46v12 477]

haha no worries there GLENN i love a bit of banter myself.

Michael it's a m73 model and agree they could do with a bit more power. Am hoping to get it looking and sounding similar to this guys one on youtube

 

but love the sound of this v10 itb. would give my first born to get my v12 to sound like this  

 

 

[e46v12 477]

So have some goodies that arrived today thought i share 

conrod bolts, head bolts, gaskets, rings everything from top to bottom needed for rebuild.