DIY Electric Car Forums banner

Tesla Powered BMW E31 8 Series

41763 Views 110 Replies 25 Participants Last post by  jackbauer
3
So some of you might already know about my E31 conversion as it's been going on 3 years now! Currently running a Siemens 1pv5135 motor and DIY inverter and 6 speed manual gearbox. Has been running very well the last few months but with the Tesla components becoming available and my work on the open source control boards progressing nicely I've decided to convert the E31. Again.

I had originally thought to use the small high efficiency drive unit but decided to go all in and put in the Large rear unit for 450hp+ :D

Going to be getting some help and the use of a workshop and vehicle lift for the drive unit install as it will need some serious work done to the rear subframe and boot floor. Once the drive unit is in then I can start putting some batteries into that nice big empty engine compartment. Should make quite a fun car and test bed for the open source control board. Stay tuned:)

Attachments

See less See more
1 - 4 of 111 Posts
That is so neat!
You could fit that to almost anything
It is tidy, but the fit is only easy into rear-wheel drive vehicle with a trailing or semi-trailing arm rear suspension; the motor will interfere with the control arms or subframe of almost any multi-link or double-A-arm suspension not designed specifically to accommodate this drive unit. That design is obsolete now, but was standard practice for rear-engined vehicles (especially VW) and for a few decades of rear-drive front-engine cars with IRS... such as BMW, Mercedes, Datsun, Toyota, etc.

It seems inevitable that someone will do a Datsun 510 - because everything get tried with a 510 by someone - but good 510 bodies are rare (they are all over four decades old now) and they are in demand for use with the original drivetrain configuration.
...
The advantage of that design is that you only need mounting points for the cross beam
It would be a doddle fitting that in the back of almost any front or rear wheel drive car

All you need is lots of cutting discs and the correct attitude
If all you need to cut out is some crossmember that's not bad (although more work than with semi-trailing arm setups like this older BMW), but when the cutting disks take off control arm mounts it's not quite a "doddle". ;)

In a Model S the motor sits between suspension mounting points, but remember that this is a wide car; those points are closer together in a smaller car.

I don't think Kevin or others have found putting a Tesla drive unit in to VW van to be trivial, either; they're getting there, but had to cut vehicle structure to get it in... and that's one of the easy semi-trailing arm designs (although they're converting to an aftermarket double-A-arm design as well).
I'm putting a tesla drive unit in the back of a 1969 Jaguar XJ6. Im aware it will be complicated to fit and i need to add an upper control arm.
That will be interesting! :)
If you have inboard brakes, this seems like the time to convert to outboard.
I am wondering if it might fit in the back of a Porsche 996 widebody. There is a lot of room between the subframes, and LOTS of room behind them. Even if it had to be mounted a little way back, and a little more angle on the CV joints.
The more recent rear-engine Porsches (since the 993, the first without semi-trailing arms) might be an unusually easy fit for a Tesla drive unit, among cars with multi-link rear suspensions, because they are already designed to clear a wide engine immediately behind the final drive housing. :) Obviously, there's no crossmember right behind the axle line, but clearing the rear control arm inboard mounting points and their aluminum subframe is likely still a challenge.
1 - 4 of 111 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top