E46 M3 V10 Swap; Seeking Phil Morrison's advice

Raven5052

New Member
Greetings to all on the forum from the United States!

I joined this forum in hopes of attaining information regarding swapping a V10 from an E60 M5 or a V10 equipped M6 in to my (US Spec; Left hand drive) 2003 BMW E46 M3. I have attained some details from the Speedhunters.com article about Phil Morrison's E46 M3 and some more details from a thread on this forum and am still hoping to speak with Mr. Morrison over messages online regarding some even more finite details regarding his swap; For instance:

What exactly was done to the steering column as "extra links were added"? Was this only necessary as a result of running the factory E60 M5 exhaust manifolds (meaning would aftermarket or custom headers clear the steering column?

Was the Mazda RX7 steering rack absolutely necessary or would the factory rack clear if you were to make completely new engine mounts which allowed the engine to sit a little "high" in the engine bay for the sake of keeping the factory steering rack? If this is unavoidable; What generation and year(s) RX7s are compatible and / or what needs done to the Mazda RX7 steering rack for it to bolt to the chassis?

(Depending on how the engine is mounted); How much room is available at the bulkhead / firewall? Is any chopping or pounding of the firewall necessary?

I realize some answers might be different for left hand drive and I realize this swap is an expensive swap. I have already found several engines around $6,000.00 to $8,000.00 USD with exhaust manifolds and all associated ancillaries attached including wiring harness. $6,000.00 is the "going rate" for a replacement S54 in the states so they're almost equal in price.

I appreciate the work you did on your E46 M3 and wish you years of enjoyment from the chassis! I am wanting to do the swap keeping a factory BMW E60 M5 or M6 ECU, wiring harness, instrument cluster and possibly retain SMG with the 7 speed SMG 3 transmission as the units I have found are very affordable ($1,300.00 with ancillaries!) so mine will vary from yours.

Thank you for your time if you are reading / have hopefully read this message. It is almost impossible to attain ANY information about the swap from any one in the states as $20,000.00 is the "starting rate" (without an engine) to "get the swap underway" and I'm sorry but an E60 M5 can be had for $25,000.00 so that seems a little exorbitant (without an engine).

Anyway; Greetings to all on the forum!

Be well and God Bless!

- Nick

P.S: I am willing to disclose an email address privately if it would be easier to inform me than publicizing any information you do not wish to be made public and I would respect the privacy of any such knowledge.
 
Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper just buy a m5 or m6. You will have a much nicer car and you can drive it from the word go.

Phil had a place that are known for there rx7 conversions and high quality work so probably did cost more than if it could done the work himself.
 
Alright; I am still 100% on doing this swap and here are some questions I STILL have for Mr. Morrison if he so wishes to grace this thread with his information:

I see any swap like this as "unachievable" and "unaffordable" until someone actually does it and possibly does it with OEM BMW parts and does it for a reasonable amount of money (reasonable when it comes to BMW parts). As far as "You could purchase an ///M5 or ///M6 for the amount it would cost to do this swap." Yeah....maybe but even then it would be a high mileage and possibly poorly maintained (if maintained at all) example of an ///M5 or ///M6 so that argument is, with all due respect, moot. A thing a lot of people might not realize either is the amount of maintenance required to keep a straight six (S54B32) in an E46 M3 going is about what it would cost, if not more, than to do a S85B50 swap. I hate explaining myself but there you go. You can ask anyone on any legitamte BMW forum about maintenance on an S54B32 and it breaks down to around (at minimum $8,500.00 in a span of 2 years ownership, period.). There are also the periodic maintenance items like valve adjustment(s): $700.00 USD parts and labor (approximate) and throttle body adjustment(s) and / or adaptation(s) which (each) cost around $650.00 and this is REQUIRED if you want the car to run properly and make the OEM power it made when it left the factory, period. The S85 will need the same periodic adjustment(s) but the valve timing units (one per each bank) for example are $1,100.00 each (purchased from BMW) BRAND NEW as opposed to a $5,000.00 rebuilt VANOS unit on an S54 so I mean....even with labor included; That is still coming out better and you will have a V10 after repairing it.

My question(s) to Mr. Morrison which I am STILL WONDERING about and no one in the United States is willing to offer even a suggestion about are:

Did you only have to use a steering rack from an RX-7 because you wanted the engine to sit a slow as possible as I read in the SpeedHunters.com article? Could this have been avoided by settling for the engine sitting a little high and maintaining the factory rack or switching over to a Z3 or Z4 rack?

As far as the steering column modification(s) of adding a link or two(?); Was this only done as you wanted to maintain the factory exhaust manifolds (which are pretty amazing)? What I mean is; With any LSX V8 swap in any car; This becomes a problem as the headers protrude so much as to block the path of the steering column and some people (240sx owners specifically) have found a way around switching steering columns by fabricating their own headers which accommodate a factory steering column. I think, if this is the case, this could be avoided and the factory steering column could remain or the Vorshlag Motorsports (order by demand) steering column could be used as it is one piece and is noticeably more thin in the middle.

The transmission will be sourced either from an //M5 or ///M6 which came with the S85B50 and with minimal modification to the transmission mount should not be much of an issue. I am converting my car from SMG to manual which Mr. Morrison can attest to if he has dealt with any SMG E46 ///M3s (They are HORRENDOUSLY problematic and essentially cost $10,000.00 to replace every component in order to keep the car running with an SMG transmission).

That about covers it. I appreciate any concern in the way of my finances but again; Do the reasearch in to what it costs to own an E46 ///M3 (even in today's day and age) and then research what a used V10 goes for. I can source a V10 for around the same cost of what I can sell the engine in my car for or I wouldn't even be considering doing any of this. I will not be doing any of the fabrication work myself but will be entrusting a reputable source who will do all they can to use as many OEM BMW parts as absolutely possible.

Thanks in advance and cheers!

- Nick
 
P.S: (Attn. to Mr. Morrison); If you would prefer not to share any information on the swap publicly; You can email me at your convenience:

VaderS50@gmail.com
pitchblackn1@hotmail.com
Raven5052@icloud.net

Any of those work and for the record; I do not own a shop and / or am in no way, shape or form affiliated with any race team who would wish to publicize, market or "trend" any information you wish to share with me in this thread or privately discussed unless you so wished any such information be shared.

Thanks again in advance,

- Nick
 
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