[WIP] BMW E6 - 2002 Touring

[mane2]

Starting a project to convert BMW 2002 Touring from -73. Tesla SDU to the back, X5 pack to front, Outlander dc-dc and charger, Simpbms with Teensy 4.1 for BMS. IBooster and maybe Mini R56 electric steering rack.

[mane2]

Motor removed.

[mane2]

Type 2 charge port installed. Really nice fit. Need to invent something for attaching the original chrome cap to that plastic one.

[marlinarnz]

Cool project, thanks for sharing! Which SimpBMS hardware with Teensy4.1 do you use? It's hard to keep an overview of (working) projects.

[mane2]

Cool project, thanks for sharing! Which SimpBMS hardware with Teensy4.1 do you use? It's hard to keep an overview of (working) projects.

Thanks! Plan is to control everything via canbus. Also adding some VCU functions to that Teensy and add a relay board to switch 12V to different devices. So only Teensy 4.1 + relayboard.

[mane2]

3d printing type-2 charging socket cap that goes into chrome gas filler cap housing.

[muehlpower]

This one converts 02 BMWs to SDU. Unfortunately, there are few pictures or data.

https://www.bavarianecons.com/

[mane2]

This one converts 02 BMWs to SDU. Unfortunately, there are few pictures or data.

Thanks! Interesting.

I think there was a picture of this car


Nice and good quality video but would have loved bit deeper dive into tech stuff, as always

i3 battery seems to cope well with the heat generated doing Nordschleife lap. No info on the cooling on the web pages either.

[mane2]

Cutting the trunk and subframe for making space for the motor. Next up, buy some metal profile for strengthening the rear and create mounts for the SDU.

[mane2]

Battery box in works. 12 of these X5 modules will fit in engine bay, including safetybox. 3 levels of 4 batteries. Each level will have its own aluminum plate to help heat exchange.

[mane2]

I'm planning to use BMW SafetyBox but now when opening it up I can see that contactors in it are rated for only 175A. (TE EVC 175). I have Tesla small drive unit (SDU) which can pull 600-700A for few seconds.

I was thinking that these contactors were rated for too low amps but looking at the specs https://www.te.com/commerce/DocumentDel ... F1308008-1 it says "Short term current rating: 500 A / 0.5 min; 1,500 A / 2s". So I think these contactors will work with SDU and even with LDU, as it won't pull 1500A more than few seconds.

What do you guys think? Anyone have experience on these with SDU?

[AMP3R]

They will be welded

[mane2]

They will be welded

Do you know for a fact or just guessing? Looking at the specs, they shouldn’t get welded.

[AMP3R]

viewtopic.php?t=1995&start=950

[mane2]

That is different contactor from different SBOX. BMW 330e box, this is X5 box.

That Panasonic contactor specs say:
“ Max. Carring Current 120A Continuity
225A 3 min.
400A 30 sec. (38mm2 wire)”

This TE one is beefier and according to specs, it should cope.

[AMP3R]

When can you test it under load?

[mane2]

When can you test it under load?

Maybe late this year.

[jrbe]

That is different contactor from different SBOX. BMW 330e box, this is X5 box.

That Panasonic contactor specs say:
“ Max. Carring Current 120A Continuity
225A 3 min.
400A 30 sec. (38mm2 wire)”

This TE one is beefier and according to specs, it should cope.

Did the Greg ever say how or why the contactor welded? I know he had a shot precharge resistor somewhere along the way, that definitely could have injured the contactor if it's all the same group of events I'm thinking of.
It's not easy to build things like this at the edge of a spec. It's definitely easier to overbuild it.
The rest of the bus bars, etc inside the box are likely built to the same current specs, so it would likely be use the group or do something else in it's place.
Will your battery be able to put out that much current? And with that light of a car and that much power you'll be at top speed in what, 14 seconds?
If you're carefull with your inverter current settings you might be ok for road use. But it might fail if you're doing an autocross / track event. You can keep an eye on it knowing you might have to upgrade it or do it now.
I'd try to use it as it's and datalog a bunch.
And make sure the precharge resistor is good before you install it.

[mane2]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check the precharge resistor.

I'm using 12 of those X5 modules, I don't know how much they can put out amps, but as there are double amount of parallel cells compared to 330e and 530e batteries, it should give me double the amps that those batteries can put out. Not sure if anyone has tested these.

Busbars seems to be sturdy on the box. I don't think that's going to be a problem. But those BMW specific spade connectors seem bit flimsy side. Not sure how much current those can take. They are short though.

Yeah, I'll start upping the max current once I have everything in place. Maybe add temperature meter inside the sbox.. Or maybe sbox already has one?

[Jacobsmess]

I think Greg swapped the BMW contactors for Leaf ones as they were better rated and were a direct drop in but don't quote me on that... Ask @Gregski

[arber333]

I'm planning to use BMW SafetyBox but now when opening it up I can see that contactors in it are rated for only 175A. (TE EVC 175). I have Tesla small drive unit (SDU) which can pull 600-700A for few seconds.

I was thinking that these contactors were rated for too low amps but looking at the specs https://www.te.com/commerce/DocumentDel ... F1308008-1 it says "Short term current rating: 500 A / 0.5 min; 1,500 A / 2s". So I think these contactors will work with SDU and even with LDU, as it won't pull 1500A more than few seconds.

What do you guys think? Anyone have experience on these with SDU?

I had one of those inside Jaguar Ipace contact box. I am sure it shouold work with 500A. It also include economiser inside...
Its just that contct surface is a bit smallish...

[mane2]

I had one of those inside Jaguar Ipace contact box. I am sure it shouold work with 500A. It also include economiser inside...
Its just that contct surface is a bit smallish...

Thanks, very good to know! Then it will definitely work with SDU as the Ipace puts out a lots of amps!

[mane2]

I'm testing my BMW X5 safetybox with Damien's Arduino sketch (converted to Arduino MKR with can shield, thanks ChatGPT ) . I'm using my lab power supply to give 90V to simulate HV-battery and multimeter connected to + and - output. But weird things happen and I can't figure it out why. Here's what happens:

All contactors off: 0V
Negative contactor on: 0V
Precharge contactor on: rises to 60V (not 90V ..?)
Positive contactor on: 60V
All contactors on: 90V

Also few more weird cases:
- commanding "positive contactor on", it seems to close negative too, and shows 60V.
- when all contactors are off, and you command precharge, you can hear small relay tick and voltage rises to 60V on multimeter, but big contactors won't make the usual loud click.

Why it's showing 60V and not 90V? And what's different when I command "all contactors on"? Any ideas? One contactor welded, negative? (both contactors click)

[tom91]

There are problems then in your setup. Measure the voltage into the box, might be that the power supply is not providing 90v.

What is the Sbox reporting over CAN it is seeing?
Also share your software as you modified it.

[mane2]

Here goes:

Measure the voltage into the box, might be that the power supply is not providing 90v.

Multimeter shows 89,6V

What is the Sbox reporting over CAN it is seeing?

Code: Select all

***************************************************************************************************
Battery Current: 13.00mA
Battery Voltage: 89.90V
Output Voltage: 0.23V
CAN 0x100 control byte: 0
***************************************************************************************************

Also share your software as you modified it.