Alpine003

x2

Luv all the details.

ucsbwsr

I test fit my shift arm and found out that the rear support is actually compressed while installed which meant I couldn't install the bushing with my PVC inserts, I needed to take the front insert out and trim it down more. The upside is now the PVC insert is a size where the bushing snaps into place but also the smaller diameter of the installed bushing holds the insert firmly in place.

Pic of the adjust front insert


Mounted front insert


Mounted rear insert, held in place by the metal carrier


My AC condenser core had a bunch of bent fins from the 105k miles of service, there was also a bunch of rocks and debris stuck in there. There are intercooler fin tools which you can use to straighten these but if you have ever tried to use once before you know they suck and the process sucks. I opted jut to get a new core.
Old core


Clearly the damage is isolated around the kidney grill area. BMWs with their kidney grills really restrict the amount of direct airflow getting to the radiator


Core removed


But why AC condenser? On the E6X there are 3 cores stacked in the radiator as seen below and if the front core (AC) is bent, blocked with gunk, it will limit airflow to the following core which on my car are the radiator and then the oil cooler.


The E6X actually has a nice large oil cooler core, it is actually impressive how large it is compared to the E9X cars.


Picture showing the oil cooler, it is about 18"x24"


New AC core installed


My M5 ABS/DSC hardlines finally arrived from Germany



The "nightmare" DSC hard line which runs from the pump behind the driverside wheel liner, up by the master cylinder, over a partition, along the firewall, around the block, over to the front passenger brake line. It wasn't fun putting this in. Had to drain the coolant remove coolant lines on the firewall, remove AC lines, bend, finagle, sweat, and swear.


Wasn't fun at all.


My shift knob came in but thanks to Shifteck giving me the wrong info on their own shifter it doesn't fit. They said it was M10x1.25 and it looks to be M12x1.25, I guess I should have done my own research but I would hope a company would know their product better.
Stainless steel, 2" diameter, 5XXgrams

ucsbwsr

Previously my vacuum tanks were held together with zip ties and then zip tied to the ABS hard lines which ran along the firewall. It was a simple and easy solution but was looking for something a little more "legit."


I came up with this setup. After trimming one of the tanks with a dremel and finding the appropriate sized hardware I was able to mount the tanks on the firewall partition which doubles as HVAC ducting.


I was pretty happy how it came out as the bolt was held in place by the partition and acted as a stud.


Mounted


After some more research and some data offered by Doug @Frankenturbo I decided to simplify the setup and run a single tank.


Much more stealth


Also rerouted my ABS/DSC wiring harness along the firewall to keep it away from the engine and heat, prior it was configured in a way that had about 6" exposed in close proximity to the hot-side of the engine and rear manifold.


Oddly enough all of the ABS/DSC lines I ordered from BMW (Germany) cam pre-bent except for the rear 2.


So I had to bent them, a large socket I bought to remove by transmission output flange did the trick.


Not perfect but good enough, much respect to the guys who bend air system hard lines by hand.


Fuel-It upgraded fuel lines, ethanol sensor, and JB4 integration.


I realized there was an oversight on my end with running M5 ABS/DSC hard lines with a non-M5 DSC unit, all but 1 port are in different locations and 2 have different diameters, ~3AN-4AN and ~4AN-3AN. Weeeeeeeeee


Looking into flexible lines with bubble fittings, if I can't find any then I may just build my own hardlines.


On my ABS/DSC connector there were some identical wires which may need to be switched. I pulled up the diagrams in the Bentley manual and made a comprehensive pin-out. My DSC isn't showing up in any coding software so I may have some pics swapped; there are 2 pairs of twisted wires and 1 pair of single wires which are identical so there are 8 potential configurations.

Black boxes designate pins which are not used. Solid lines designate pairs of wires and yellow highlighted pins with dotted lines designate possible swaps.

ucsbwsr

First of all big thanks to a fellow forum member Levan (on N54Tech), he was instrumental in getting my PT-CAN system up and running so my DSC module could be recognized, we synced up on Teamviewer and I let him work his magic. Since I have an E61 and am running a DSC module from a RWD E60, since there was never a RWD wagon produced, removing replacing PT73 (wagon) with NW13 (sedan) in the VO gave the DSC the info it wanted to see, VO was not saved in CAS or LMA.

Levan even added some files so that I could control the module via INPA, previously INPA only recognized DSC60 not DSCPP which is what I have. The DSC controls in INPA are in German but that is A-ok with me, I am just happy to have the software at my disposal for diagnostic future diagnostic work.



If you recall on my chicken scratch pin-out: pin #25 and #40 went to X10554 and X10555, after poking around ELE and ELC in the Bentley manual I couldn't find where these points were but I knew X designated them splices or connections.


Here you can see how the DSC and 6AT are connected in PT-CAN


This meant I needed my 6AT wiring harness which I had previously disconnected and hacked up to make my custom wiring harness for the DSC unit, lol. Thankfully I saved the connector and the wires which were not needed, you never know when you might need them!



AT connector in the DME box


Harness plugged in and PT-CAN wires looped (SW/BL and GE)


DSC shows up in UIF! Free LSD!


Coding Setup


Schumacher power supply has a "flash" mode which holds 14.2V stable so I can code for days.


Made the wiring harness into a smaller "key" to keep the DME box tidy.





Realized I never coded my injectors are reinstalling them in the new engine.


Pedals calling my name

Johntee540

**** Wipes a tear from his eyes as he finishes this epic Thread*** I am speechless. Thanks for documenting this. J

Nurburgringer

Hi Even - I found this site and started your thread last night, and just now caught up to the latest. Amazing, simply amazing.

The only thing I love more than the methodical and very clear way you've documented your work is that virtually all of your tools are Harbor Freight

I may be joining the E61 club in the next few days, pending PPI results on a 80k mile 2009 car located far away from me. Won't be doing anything like what your mods of course (would like to ditch the 4WD system though), but very much looking forward to finally scratching the BMW Wagon itch I've had for many years (here in the states I DD a E39 528 for 10 years until getting an E38 740 Sport 2 years ago, but while living in Germany for a few years had many great laps of the 'Ring in E39 540iT, E61 535d, and E91 528is), and tuning it to 400-450hp.

Thanks for posting all of this, deinfitely looking forward to more!
cheers
Kurt
Houston

phenryiv1

Late to the game following this thread but the roof wrap is very nice. Do you have any issues with heat in the summer?

I have never had a black roof before but I am having my Alpine E61 tinted next weekend and they offer wrapping services. On the fence about it so I thought I'd get your impression.

ucsbwsr

Sorry for the delay.

I love the wrap, it helps protect against mountain bike grime and such, it visually hides the roof rails which is a nice aesthetic touch.

Sun is a concern but not a huge issue as I primarily garage my wagon. It has been a few years and it is due for a new wrap, it is still in good condition but I am fearful of waiting too long and having the wrap become brittle during removal, or worse fuse with the roof which would require paint correction to remove any contamination.

Evan

ucsbwsr

So I blew my motor mid March 2016, let's see if I can get this thing done before the 1 year anniversary.
My M5 drivetrain retrofit is not complete. With the exception of the front suspension my wagon had M5 brakes, drivetrain, and rear suspension. M5 purists uncomfortably reposition themselves.

Picked up my lengthened and rebuilt M5 driveshaft. It was done by a local shop in Westminster, CA called Driveshaft Pros (Powertrain Industries). It was pricey but they did a great job.


Trans support is held in place by 1 bolt on the passenger side and resituated the tie down so that it securely holds the support but out of the way of the driveshaft and guibo so I can drive my car to a local shop to have a custom trans support fabricated.


When installing the shaft I noticed my LSD input flange had a small flat spot from being mishandled, the lip of the flange was inward about .8mm so not much but enough that the CV wouldn't seat. A couple whacks of the hammer took care of that, hopefully there are no vibrations.


Finding the right torque specs for the M5 driveshaft hardware was unnecessarily difficult to track down but I did it.


Driveshaft in!


Unfortunately one of the spacers supplied with the UUC SSK was deformed or incorrectly machined so I will need to see if UUC can send me a replacement.




Aside from the incorrect spacer the shifter assembly is installed.



I will be running the silver BMW nob temporarily until I get the shifter height dialed in, after that I plan to modify the UUC SSK and fabricate a machines gated shifter plate. I guess there are some hurdles which I might have to face with externally gating an internally gated shifter. We shall see.


Some eBay Specials which I will be using for my gated shifter, both are stainless steel and heavy, 1lb 7oz to be exact.


The threads needed to be cut down and the rod was too shiny for my preference.


Threads cut and rod brushed. Left=Temp Right=Final


There are some nice Ferrari gates and I also like the R8 design but the Lamborghini Gallardo gated plate is my main inspiration, I have to replicate the clean design with recessed hardware.


Notice a theme?



Up next will be finalizing the ABS/DSC M5 relocation...

Evan

sterile stork

Haha! Perfect caption.

Great work, Evan; a true inspiration for this community.