Electric E39

Ok so am going to test the waters a little here and see if there is any interest. Not even sure if I even want to sell but have too many projects and really want a Tesla battery pack for the E31!

This car was my second EV conversion and by far the most successful to date. The donor was a 2001 M54b22 engined E39 purchased in Cork in December 2012 for 700 euros with a badly blown head gasket and 170k miles on the clock.

Throughout 2013 the drive train and petrol fuel system were removed and replaced by an electric drive system consisting of a rebuilt GE DC motor , 5 speed manual gearbox , custom 1000amp motor controller and a pack of then state of the art CALB CA180FI Lithium Iron Phosphate cells with a nominal 175V pack voltage (33kwh).

This system was gradually tuned and shaken down until working reliably. The electric drive line has been fully integrated with the BMW systems so all normal safety features like ABS , SRS etc remain fully functional.

The five speed manual gearbox works in all forward gears and reverse without the use of a clutch which has been deleted. However first and second are largely unused by me as I pull away in third and use fifth for motorway cruising.

A 4kw electric fluid heater was fitted and plumbed into the existing heater matrix so all climate controls work as normal. Although 4kw is only a fraction of the waste heat that would be produced by the original engine for cabin heating it is quite satisfactory and up to temp in a few minutes even on a freezing morning. I deleted the air conditioning as the added complexity was not deemed necessary at the time of the build for the whole 2 weeks we get of hot weather in this country!

Power steering is fully functional using a Toyota mr2 12v electric pump. However I would say the steering is not as light as an engine powered E39 due to the mr2 pump being not up to the demands of the BMW rack at high rates of turning. An Opel Zafira pump would be much better as has been seen on the E31 and they are readily available on Ebay and at breakers yards.

Brake servo assistance is provided by an Audi A6 vacuum pump which works perfectly even under heavy repeated braking.

This car has been my daily driver for work and all local runs for the past three years and has amassed nearly 50k miles during that time. The car will return a solid 80 to 100miles of range depending on driving , terrain , use of cabin heat etc. Top speed is around 90mph and easily cruises on the motorway at 70-75mph. Charging can be from either single or three phase power and the car is setup to use public charge points however there is no fast charge system on the vehicle due to incompatibility of rapid charge points in this country. A charging timer is fitted to allow use of cheap night rate electricity (about 2.50 for a full charge) as well as a battery heater system so range and performance do not degrade during the cold months.

A typical charge takes 6-8 hours on single phase or 3-4 hours on 3 phase power depending on depth of discharge. Its not a sports car but acceleration is quite adequate somewhere in the 9-10 seconds 0-60 range.

Black leather interior was fitted in 2014 and all lights in the car except the headlights are LED and fully NCT compliant. Running on 15” Bridgestone Ecopia tyres with about 30% thread left.

Bosal towbar and electrics fitted last year and tows a small trailer no problem. Pulled 420kg load 10 miles to the dump without breaking a sweat.
Tax 01/18 and NCT 01/18. Tax is 120 Euros per annum. Price is 6,500 Euros firm. This is about half of what i have spent on the car so I believe it to be fair. Yes you can get a 2011 Nissan Leaf on Donedeal for this money.

Now I’m not an aesthetic person and couldn’t draw the dole so looks wise the car is very plain but has now ran for three years in all weathers and conditions and never let me down.

Happy to arrange a test drive for anyone seriously interested. Tried to put in as much detail as possible so sorry if it’s a bit long winded:)

Wow....

The car wouldn't work for my needs but I have to say I'm hugely impressed with the concept and the execution. Congrats and good luck with the sale.

Thanks. I should also mention the build has been documented on youtube. For anyone with insomnia here is the playlist :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...vSGyibmyiA26bj

That's class Jack.

Can I ask why (or if you gave thought) to pulling out the fuel tank and mounting the power cells in there or the space it occupies? Or was the boot used for environmental stability, containment etc? Just thinking now that it's probably not suited with prop etc
What kinda torque does the GE DC put out?

Yes it would be possible to use the fuel tank area for some cells but I needed a car on the road asap at the time so the boot was the easy option. I don't know the torque figures for the motor but you can pull away in fifth gear no problem!

This car could be my e39 number 8.
Awful Tempted Damien.
Any hassle with insurance company being as it's,, cough, cough 'modified slightly'. ?

@ SplitBusVanatic
Sorry only saw this now. Initially yes had insurance problems but a friendly broker got it sorted. Forget going online or talking to some drone on the phone. Get a good broker and/or write to every insurance sompany via registered post. Costs time and effort but will usually get a result.