Hello, i am new to this site but i have my eyes set on a 2003 e46 wagon. it has 140k miles on it so i am interested in a v8 conversion. years ago, i put a small block chevy in a toyota, it was fun for a first time project. I like all the kits available for the e36 through this site, does anyone know where i could find a similar conversion kit for the e46? I do not care if its a ford or chevy conversion as much as i care about the ease of doing the conversion. thanks for any advice in advance...
Nothing to add except you are going to fit in around here
Good luck on that.... Electronics are the killer if you want to keep the stock gauges. Mounts are going to be custom as noone I know are commercially available.
So all it really needs is custom motor and transmission mounts plus a custom cluster/stack dash...
How hard could it be?
indeed.. the E46 has a lot more electronics running everything than the E36
You'd better have an electrical engineering degree... We had an E46 in a shop I used to work in with some SMG shifting issues, and wound up chasing down issues in a headlight.
unevolved wrote: You'd better have an electrical engineering degree... We had an E46 in a shop I used to work in with some SMG shifting issues, and wound up chasing down issues in a headlight.
Bet it had HIDs and autoleveling?
No, it was pretty thoroughly track-prepped. Not enough, apparently.
Where are you located?
Were you thinking modular 5.0 or windsor and do you have emissions testing in your state? My thinking would probably be along the lines of a bmw 4.0 swap for maybe a better electronics connection or the stripped down track version. But then again, the electrons tend to befuddle me when they get into CAN bus configurations, but it's not impossible.
Not quite a 5.0, but a similar concept.
Might want to read up a bit:
http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7939
Fair & crew have more than a little GRM cred.
I read through the article and it doesn't take much to see that this is still in the developmental stages. Perhaps another year to two will clear things up. I cannot warm up to the e36 body styling, I've tried but no can do. I do like the nostalgia of the e30, something to think about. I like the wagons, wish they were more readily available. Thank you for your thread on this topic, these discussion groups are awesome...
I say do it. See what you can learn. So long as you're not too attached to the body electricals, what's the worst that could happen?
YOU NEED TO DO THIS !!
(And take lotsa photos.) (Grin)
dj wrote: So all it really needs is custom motor and transmission mounts plus a custom cluster/stack dash... How hard could it be?
Famous last words. 
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