[drymite]

So i have a 2007 335i with a seized engine 221k km. Im going to eventually LS swap it but at the moment i want to swap another n54. With 137k km also comes with 60 days warranty.
What can i do to prevent Rod knock thats my only worry i don't care about having to change turbos eventually hpfp water-pump etc my main focus is preventing a Rod-knock since my first n54 crapped out on me I'm guessing abuse from previous owners
I live in the GTA toronto
I know oil changes i was using fully synthetic 5w40 should i be using 5w30
Fuel injectors what index should i get?
Im not looking for crazy hp max hp i would want is 400 at the crank 350 whp.
I need to daily drive it and i want it to be as reliable a n54 can be.

Any information will be appreciated

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by drymite

So i have a 2007 335i with a seized engine 221k km. Im going to eventually LS swap it but at the moment i want to swap another n54. With 137k km also comes with 60 days warranty.
What can i do to prevent Rod knock thats my only worry i don't care about having to change turbos eventually hpfp water-pump etc my main focus is preventing a Rod-knock since my first n54 crapped out on me I'm guessing abuse from previous owners
I live in the GTA toronto
I know oil changes i was using fully synthetic 5w40 should i be using 5w30
Fuel injectors what index should i get?
Im not looking for crazy hp max hp i would want is 400 at the crank 350 whp.
I need to daily drive it and i want it to be as reliable a n54 can be.

Any information will be appreciated

Index 12 injectors, a stage 1+ map will give you close to 400bhp at the crank.

Get all the maintenance done, especially the OFHG gaskets, valve cover gaskets, crank seals, pulleys belts etc.

Rod bearings too.

5W30 or 5w40 both fine, fully synthetic only.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by drymite

So i have a 2007 335i with a seized engine 221k km. Im going to eventually LS swap it but at the moment i want to swap another n54. With 137k km also comes with 60 days warranty.
What can i do to prevent Rod knock thats my only worry i don't care about having to change turbos eventually hpfp water-pump etc my main focus is preventing a Rod-knock since my first n54 crapped out on me I'm guessing abuse from previous owners
I live in the GTA toronto
I know oil changes i was using fully synthetic 5w40 should i be using 5w30
Fuel injectors what index should i get?
Im not looking for crazy hp max hp i would want is 400 at the crank 350 whp.
I need to daily drive it and i want it to be as reliable a n54 can be.

Any information will be appreciated

Run 5w-40 if you are changing out the Rod bearings w/ standard King Bearings

[Tyc0]

Don't touch the bearings just let the engine warm up and you'll be fine.

[Emilime75]

Keep it stock if you want it as reliable as it can be. Save your money for the LS swap.

[tisdrew]

I've owned 3 n54s and never had rodknock with them but I also ensured 1) index 12 injectors 2) all gaskets replaced especially if they could cause an oil leak 3) ensure engine is warmed up and has full oil. Lack of oil or burnt up old oil will cause a host of issues. My cars seemed to like castrol edge or liqui moly for oil as I did have codes when I tried others (not saying oil caused it could've been coincidence/other factors).

I agree with Tyc0, don't worry about the bearings.

[iqraceworks]

New injectors, changing your oil every 3-5k miles, and not hammering the throttle until the oil gets up to proper temp should keep you from having any rod knock issues. The only time I have heard of rod bearing issues is from people who don't maintain their cars, drive them thousands of miles with leaky injectors,ash the gas to the floor as soon as they fire up the car, and never change their oil.

[N54Fiend]

Can someone ELI5 how old index injectors can cause rod knock? My car is on index 6 and running fine. Maybe I’d be more inclined to allocate funds to upgrading injectors if I understood how older injectors will lead to catastrophic failure. Thanks!

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by N54Fiend

Can someone ELI5 how old index injectors can cause rod knock? My car is on index 6 and running fine. Maybe I’d be more inclined to allocate funds to upgrading injectors if I understood how older injectors will lead to catastrophic failure. Thanks!

Not nec. old but bad injectors can/will leak and dilute the oil which in turn leads to/increases chance of rod bearing failure.

[Yotaismygame]

I really don't see the point in doing an LS swap. And I myself am building a full custom LS swapped truck right now. If the vehicle comes factory with a good motor why swap it out for something that doesn't belong?

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Yotaismygame

I really don't see the point in doing an LS swap. And I myself am building a full custom LS swapped truck right now. If the vehicle comes factory with a good motor why swap it out for something that doesn't belong?

Because if you want big (800+hp) power, you can do it with an LS for much cheaper than an N54....plus the aftermarket tuning solutions available for LS motors is awesome. Having to rely on a "tuner" to make changes an adjustments for you is a really pain in the butt.

That being said.....if you want 800+hp for drag racing, there are much better chassis to put that power into.

[Yotaismygame]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

Because if you want big (800+hp) power, you can do it with an LS for much cheaper than an N54....plus the aftermarket tuning solutions available for LS motors is awesome. Having to rely on a "tuner" to make changes an adjustments for you is a really pain in the butt.

That being said.....if you want 800+hp for drag racing, there are much better chassis to put that power into.

First of all swapping in an LS and making big power out of one is not cheap unless you're using the cheapest of parts, and fabbing everything yourself. Which still is not that cheap. At that point you're crossing your fingers it will hold up. Also nowhere in this thread is there talk about big HP numbers or drag racing. Yes if that was the plan I would look at other chassis as a starting point. I'm well versed in the LS world and I've seen what it takes first hand to make big HP and last for very long. Be much smarter to stick with the N54.

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by Yotaismygame

I really don't see the point in doing an LS swap. And I myself am building a full custom LS swapped truck right now. If the vehicle comes factory with a good motor why swap it out for something that doesn't belong?

How about N54 FBO power from either a stock, or relatively stock, LS without all of the maintenance and reliability headaches? How about the inexpensive parts? The way better sounding exhaust note? And, yes, there is a coolness factor involved.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

How about N54 FBO power from either a stock, or relatively stock, LS without all of the maintenance and reliability headaches? How about the inexpensive parts? The way better sounding exhaust note? And, yes, there is a coolness factor involved.

Yep....hard to argue with that. A darn near stock 6.0 LQ4 out of a truck should make 450-ish hp with just a cam and a decent set of heads. And be 1000% more reliable vs. a FBO N54. I actually thought about doing an LS swap also.....just don't have the free time to mess with it right now.

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

How about N54 FBO power from either a stock, or relatively stock, LS without all of the maintenance and reliability headaches? How about the inexpensive parts? The way better sounding exhaust note? And, yes, there is a coolness factor involved.

I agree it sounds much better, but if you want reliability and power, then you will need deep pockets, plus the value of that car will plummet,

[Yotaismygame]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

Yep....hard to argue with that. A darn near stock 6.0 LQ4 out of a truck should make 450-ish hp with just a cam and a decent set of heads. And be 1000% more reliable vs. a FBO N54. I actually thought about doing an LS swap also.....just don't have the free time to mess with it right now.

Lol yes you just need a motor, heads, valve springs, gaskets, injectors, cam, wiring, computer, exhaust, cooling, all the plumbing, and other custom parts. Pretty cheap huh? This motor you speak of too are you grabbing a high mileage junk yard motor or what? Should we get into how well an LS motor integrates into a bmw or.....?

You want to motor swap just to make 450hp?

I'm currently going down this road, and my buddy is too but he's further along. If you want to build anything halfway decent there's nothing cheap about it. Then just wait until you pop your first short block. Just another 3k minimum for a forged setup. This would all make a lot of sense if the N54 was a POS that was difficult to extract power from. Unless you've legitimately looked into this or have done it you really don't understand. In theory it sounds great.. then add a couple zero's to the price tag and some headaches

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by Saif2018

I agree it sounds much better, but if you want reliability and power, then you will need deep pockets, plus the value of that car will plummet,

Not interested in watching some video. The point was that a bone stock LS can make as much power as a modified and tuned N54. As for reliability, my GM V8 powered cars have been fantastic over the years, and I'd have zero hesitation about buying another, in fact, I am. I've spent substantially less on maintenance and repairs of an 05 Suburban over 100k miles than(cutrently at 190k) I have on my 2010 335i over 18k miles, currently at 67k. Yet, I never, ever worry about the Suburban not starting or getting me where I need to go, something I don't necessarily feel the same about my 335i.

As for value plummeting...I disagree and, furthermore, don't care. No one does something like this as an investment. They do it for the fun of it and building the car they want. It's not like an E9x is some prized possession.

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

Not interested in watching some video. The point was that a bone stock LS can make as much power as a modified and tuned N54. As for reliability, my GM V8 powered cars have been fantastic over the years, and I'd have zero hesitation about buying another, in fact, I am. I've spent substantially less on maintenance and repairs of an 05 Suburban over 100k miles than(cutrently at 190k) I have on my 2010 335i over 18k miles, currently at 67k. Yet, I never, ever worry about the Suburban not starting or getting me where I need to go, something I don't necessarily feel the same about my 335i.

As for value plummeting...I disagree and, furthermore, don't care. No one does something like this as an investment. They do it for the fun of it and building the car they want. It's not like an E9x is some prized possession.

I can't speak for US, but in UK modified cars typically loose resale value, it's not about having a prized possession but the fact that most people like to buy standard car, so it can be difficult to sell when the time comes, one with a completely different engine will loose even more value, plus LS can blow like any other engine, old technology and you need deep pockets to build one up properly, better off just sticking to the N54 engine for the 335i in my opinion.

I've had carp Vauxhalls, Lexus's, M50, M52, M54 and N54 BMW's, never had any issues starting, and spent a lot less on repairs on many of those, that doesn't mean much.

[drymite]

Originally Posted by Yotaismygame

Lol yes you just need a motor, heads, valve springs, gaskets, injectors, cam, wiring, computer, exhaust, cooling, all the plumbing, and other custom parts. Pretty cheap huh? This motor you speak of too are you grabbing a high mileage junk yard motor or what? Should we get into how well an LS motor integrates into a bmw or.....?

You want to motor swap just to make 450hp?

I'm currently going down this road, and my buddy is too but he's further along. If you want to build anything halfway decent there's nothing cheap about it. Then just wait until you pop your first short block. Just another 3k minimum for a forged setup. This would all make a lot of sense if the N54 was a POS that was difficult to extract power from. Unless you've legitimately looked into this or have done it you really don't understand. In theory it sounds great.. then add a couple zero's to the price tag and some headaches

Currently Following LSxe90 Full swap kit / Drift HQ manual transmission Gs6-53bz adapter. And Holley terminator X is around 4.5-6k. Its not a new car its been swapped multiple times already. A Lm4 -7 is 400$ more or less here in the GTA so even if you blow one your not dropping 2k+ for a n54..
Im going to swap a N54 first either way but eventually i want to LS swap it..

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by Saif2018

I can't speak for US, but in UK modified cars typically loose resale value, it's not about having a prized possession but the fact that most people like to buy standard car, so it can be difficult to sell when the time comes, one with a completely different engine will loose even more value, plus LS can blow like any other engine, old technology and you need deep pockets to build one up properly, better off just sticking to the N54 engine for the 335i in my opinion.

I've had carp Vauxhalls, Lexus's, M50, M52, M54 and N54 BMW's, never had any issues starting, and spent a lot less on repairs on many of those, that doesn't mean much.

You missed my point again on resale value and that is that it doesn't matter. That's not what these types of projects are about. Back in the day when I was stuffing MkII 2.0 16Vs into MkIs and MkIII VR6s into MkIIs, I never once stopped and considered what it would do to my resale value. All I cared about was how much enjoyment I got out of each build and how much fun those cars were to drive. Beyond that, I highly doubt American V8 parts availability and cost compare in the UK and US. Here, I can walk into any local auto parts store and come out with whatever I need to fix it. The fact that you think it's "old technology " is a joke. You could say the same for BMW and their inline 6cyl. There are many reasons why the LS has become the most popular engine to swap into just about anything you could imagine. Cost, reliability, performance and potential are some of those. If the engine sucked or was expensive, it wouldn't be as popular as it is.

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

You missed my point again on resale value and that is that it doesn't matter. That's not what these types of projects are about. Back in the day when I was stuffing MkII 2.0 16Vs into MkIs and MkIII VR6s into MkIIs, I never once stopped and considered what it would do to my resale value. All I cared about was how much enjoyment I got out of each build and how much fun those cars were to drive. Beyond that, I highly doubt American V8 parts availability and cost compare in the UK and US. Here, I can walk into any local auto parts store and come out with whatever I need to fix it. The fact that you think it's "old technology " is a joke. You could say the same for BMW and their inline 6cyl. There are many reasons why the LS has become the most popular engine to swap into just about anything you could imagine. Cost, reliability, performance and potential are some of those. If the engine sucked or was expensive, it wouldn't be as popular as it is.

Popularity is a criteria to judge which engines are reliable, cheap or sucked?

Cost varies wildly based on where you are,

lol, I was referring to engine technology, which LS engine you on about exactly?

The N54 was ahead of its time technically when it came out,

The newer LS engines are expensive,

I remember reading about 2 valve per cylinder huge engines, underpowered for the size compared to European performance engines.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Saif2018

Popularity is a criteria to judge which engines are reliable, cheap or sucked?

Cost varies wildly based on where you are,

lol, I was referring to engine technology, which LS engine you on about exactly?

The N54 was ahead of its time technically when it came out,

The newer LS engines are expensive,

I remember reading about 2 valve per cylinder huge engines, underpowered for the size compared to European performance engines.

You can find the iron block 5.3, 5.7, 6.0 truck motors all day long for $500-$1,000 at junkyards....depending on their condition. just saying.......