Introducing myself and my CSE project

JetDexter

JetDexter

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Hi all,

I have met a few of you in some threads but this is my first introduction. I have owned a lot of terrific BMWs old and new, but have always wanted a coupe. That idea had to get pushed back once kids came along.

Finally my time has come. Over the summer I found a very interesting 1974 European market CS with a rare European sunroof (highly desirable to me). So I get small bumpers, and heater controls in German.

Originally Polaris over blue, one owner had some inspiration and took her all white including the wheels and whitewall tires. She runs very strong, though the clutch doesn't disengage- so it's a riot.

BMW-CS.jpg


BUT - Over the last several years I have driven a Tesla Model S. This ruined me for gas, exhaust, oil, and transmissions to help them stay in their tiny little band of torque/HP. So I plan to put a Tesla drive unit into the CS, building the first CSE.



I respectfully realize that this may fall flat with a lot of purists here (It generally goes that way when people convert Porsche 911s to electric :) But in case any of you are interested, I did build a blog site that you can check out. https://bmwcse.com

I am doing the blog because a lot of my friends and clients around the country are interested to follow along casually, as well as the folks at the DIY Electric Car forum that I am a part of.

I do hope that enough of you are open to my friendship as I will certainly need to be involved here for so much terrific E9 knowledge, parts and information that I am soaking up already.

Thanks again guys for the forum, and I look forward to getting to know more of you in the future!

Paul Dexter
 
I'd love for you to keep a build thread going on here.
Suspect some of the 'purists' will hit you up for your cast off parts :)
 
Welcome to the forum. Your build sounds pretty cool, and I'll be watching with interest. Is the plan to repaint the car in Inka as in your graphic? (great graphic, by the way) :)
 
JetDexter said:
Hi all,

I have met a few of you in some threads but this is my first introduction. I have owned a lot of terrific BMWs old and new, but have always wanted a coupe. That idea had to get pushed back once kids came along.

Finally my time has come. Over the summer I found a very interesting 1974 European market CS with a rare European sunroof (highly desirable to me). So I get small bumpers, and heater controls in German.

Originally Polaris over blue, one owner had some inspiration and took her all white including the wheels and whitewall tires. She runs very strong, though the clutch doesn't disengage- so it's a riot.

BMW-CS.jpg


BUT - Over the last several years I have driven a Tesla Model S. This ruined me for gas, exhaust, oil, and transmissions to help them stay in their tiny little band of torque/HP. So I plan to put a Tesla drive unit into the CS, building the first CSE.



I respectfully realize that this may fall flat with a lot of purists here (It generally goes that way when people convert Porsche 911s to electric :) But in case any of you are interested, I did build a blog site that you can check out. https://bmwcse.com

I am doing the blog because a lot of my friends and clients around the country are interested to follow along casually, as well as the folks at the DIY Electric Car forum that I am a part of.

I do hope that enough of you are open to my friendship as I will certainly need to be involved here for so much terrific E9 knowledge, parts and information that I am soaking up already.

Thanks again guys for the forum, and I look forward to getting to know more of you in the future!

Paul Dexter
Click to expand...


Get hold of Mike for tips...


https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082166_classic-bmw-coupe-becomes-800-horsepower-electric-car
 
Sounds great guys- I will go ahead and start a project thread then. Yes, I will certainly have some parts to sell. The drive train is coming out in the next week or so. I have one party that is interested but if that doesn't work out I will post it here.

Yes, I am pretty much settled on the Inka, which I used in the mockup- and thanks for that nice comment. I may revert back to silver though by the time she is ready for paint. My wife isn't a fan of the orange- but the kids love it...

I hadn't seen Mike's car, but I will certainly reach out to him. He is going the route of a lot of the 911 guys- making a monster short range car. WAY more fun for its 50 mile range. But I am taking the approach of a daily driver with a 250+ mile range with 4 usable seats. Still quick enough to make you queasy but no monster. I need to see that thing!

Thanks again guys-
 
Once you’ve seen one plasma ball at Seca from a over clocked motor you don’t want to see another.

I’m sure there will be a ton of interest on your build.
Lots of pics please!
 
XKE Zero article in WSJ (from Friday). Interesting discussion on how they tried to maintain the weight ratio and the potential concern with making sure their classics remain viable in areas with combustion crack downs. Only $75k for retrofit and $375k for a whole car. https://www.wsj.com/articles/1968-j...intage-roadster-as-an-electric-car-1538753455

Oh, my wife, driver of 3 successive white cars and 1 silver car, quickly fell in love with my green machine.
 
Yeah, building an EV on a thin budget gets really heavy real quick. Not that I am made of money, but by using Tesla drive unit and Tesla batteries- which are expensive but known to be extremely efficient for their weight- you basically are using their proven formula for long range in a modest weight. It is likely that that 320i was either lead batteries, or less expensive Li-Ion batteries that are better, but still too heavy.

Tesla did the first work on packing more power per ounce (well Panasonic partnership on the cells, but Tesla battery units). Generally available at the salvage level, but still $20k for drive unit and batteries. But when you go that route, you get the power at about the same weight as the drivetrain and fuel tank you are removing.
 
Interesting project, I'll follow it! I'm a beginner when it comes to EVs.
I'm guessing you won't use a complete tesla battery pack due to the size, so you will spread the modules around the car where they (might) fit?
How many modules are you aiming to fit?
 
I am still doing the math, but I am hoping for at least 10 modules but I know that will be tricky. We weighed the 4 corners of the coupe as it is, then we will be weighing it again with the drivetrain, fuel tank, etc missing in a week or so. That will then tell me what I can afford in overall weight, and where it needs to go front and back. Most of the modules will go up front where the motor was- as low as possible up there, and I was hoping for a couple where the fuel tank was, depending on how the weight of the drive unit affects the balance. I am not against raising the floor behind the front seats, as well as the rear seat shelf slightly. By next week I should have a much better indication of the options.
 
I don't know the form factor of these modules, but there is also some space under the rear seat. At least a couple of members have relocated batteries for their cars in this location.
 
There was a black electric E9 over here at a show. My friend took some pictures of it with some quite handy details with regards to battery layout and so on.

I'll post the pics up tonight
 
That sounds great- for over a year I kept googling for any electric E9 conversions and couldn't find any- now 2 in one day thanks to you guys:) Looking forward to chatting with them.
 
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