Tweet
mauswerkz's 1992 BMW 318is
Hey guys.
As parts are starting to show up, I figured I might as well start a build thread for my bimmer.
First, some photos how it sits now. I bought it like this. The previous owners had put lowered springs on it (leaving the OEM shocks). They also put oil pressure, oil temp, and boost gauges in. Don't get your hopes up, it's naturally aspirated. (Yes the boost gauge only shows vacuum). It has genuine BMW M3 wheels which have (sadly) been painted black along with the bonnet. Luckily, the rest of the car was resprayed to the stock Alpine white at the same time, so it's very clean and straight.
I installed the stereo (JVC KD-BT1, Response 6.5" Kevlar splits, Response 6x9" kevlar coaxials, sony 75x2w amp on the 6x9s). Will get a sensible subwoofer to finish up the stereo someday.
So much of my effort to start with for this car will be into restyling it to fit my own tastes, as well as prep it for its future mods (more on that later).
I'll be refinishing the wheels (back to stock silver) and repainting the bonnet to the stock Alpine white. I'll also paint the calipers green, because white and green are sexy together.
In addition to those plans, I also want to raise it back up at bit. I like it low, but it's a bit too "gangster" low for me. Thankfully, these showed up today:
Don't ask what brand they are, they're cheap-ass eBay generics. They've recieved good reviews from the (many) folks who've installed them, so I'm hopeful. I'll shoot for stock M3 ride height, maybe a bit lower. If they turn out to be junk, I'll buy some spring spacers and put the lowering springs I've got back on (at least they ride nice) with 1cm or so more ride height.
If you've followed me at all on the forums, you probably know that I'm planning on converting this BMW into an electric car.
The controller is under development, and I'm making good progress on it. I'm hoping to get it to the point where I can do some medium scale testing on it by the end of July (uni break). More on that as it develops. I figure the EV conversion is still a couple years off at best. It'll depend on funding more than anything else.
Other long term plans for it:
Re-upholstered interior with charcoal alcantera and dark green inlays/trim.
Blocked off radiator openings for extended range on batteries (retain stock look by using black material for blocking off).
Full LED/HID lighting conversion (to save electricity).
Back seat delete (that's where the batteries will go, no compromise on boot space) (still deciding on this).
Custom LED "angel eyes" (my own variation, made from scratch).
Custom carputer with data logging, EV system monitoring/configuration/display, navigation, and entertainment.
The goal is to make an electric car with decent range (budget restraints limit me to about 70km range for now). I plan to use it as a daily driver, a test/development bed for my controll and other EV products, as well as a car that will turn heads and get people asking questions. I'd like to change the way people think about electric cars. I want it to be a car that people will look at and go "I'd drive that", even after finding out it's powered by batteries.
Electric cars suffer from a stigma that they're slow, tiny cars that have that "green car" look (think Prius or Insight).
Anyway, I could rant about EV's forever.
So that's my car and what I've got in store for it. Thanks for reading!
As parts are starting to show up, I figured I might as well start a build thread for my bimmer.
First, some photos how it sits now. I bought it like this. The previous owners had put lowered springs on it (leaving the OEM shocks). They also put oil pressure, oil temp, and boost gauges in. Don't get your hopes up, it's naturally aspirated. (Yes the boost gauge only shows vacuum). It has genuine BMW M3 wheels which have (sadly) been painted black along with the bonnet. Luckily, the rest of the car was resprayed to the stock Alpine white at the same time, so it's very clean and straight.
I installed the stereo (JVC KD-BT1, Response 6.5" Kevlar splits, Response 6x9" kevlar coaxials, sony 75x2w amp on the 6x9s). Will get a sensible subwoofer to finish up the stereo someday.
So much of my effort to start with for this car will be into restyling it to fit my own tastes, as well as prep it for its future mods (more on that later).
I'll be refinishing the wheels (back to stock silver) and repainting the bonnet to the stock Alpine white. I'll also paint the calipers green, because white and green are sexy together.
In addition to those plans, I also want to raise it back up at bit. I like it low, but it's a bit too "gangster" low for me. Thankfully, these showed up today:
Don't ask what brand they are, they're cheap-ass eBay generics. They've recieved good reviews from the (many) folks who've installed them, so I'm hopeful. I'll shoot for stock M3 ride height, maybe a bit lower. If they turn out to be junk, I'll buy some spring spacers and put the lowering springs I've got back on (at least they ride nice) with 1cm or so more ride height.
If you've followed me at all on the forums, you probably know that I'm planning on converting this BMW into an electric car.
The controller is under development, and I'm making good progress on it. I'm hoping to get it to the point where I can do some medium scale testing on it by the end of July (uni break). More on that as it develops. I figure the EV conversion is still a couple years off at best. It'll depend on funding more than anything else.
Other long term plans for it:
Re-upholstered interior with charcoal alcantera and dark green inlays/trim.
Blocked off radiator openings for extended range on batteries (retain stock look by using black material for blocking off).
Full LED/HID lighting conversion (to save electricity).
Back seat delete (that's where the batteries will go, no compromise on boot space) (still deciding on this).
Custom LED "angel eyes" (my own variation, made from scratch).
Custom carputer with data logging, EV system monitoring/configuration/display, navigation, and entertainment.
The goal is to make an electric car with decent range (budget restraints limit me to about 70km range for now). I plan to use it as a daily driver, a test/development bed for my controll and other EV products, as well as a car that will turn heads and get people asking questions. I'd like to change the way people think about electric cars. I want it to be a car that people will look at and go "I'd drive that", even after finding out it's powered by batteries.
Electric cars suffer from a stigma that they're slow, tiny cars that have that "green car" look (think Prius or Insight).
Anyway, I could rant about EV's forever.
So that's my car and what I've got in store for it. Thanks for reading!
So they are good cars only problem is the range and how they are charged. You could rework a industrial VSD and use a small three phase motor 
You've got the right idea though, I can't wait for things to start happening testing-wise. Its going to be awesome! Any plans to maybe take it to AutoSalon once its completed, maybe get featured in some magazines for your awesomeness? :P
I am normally a ah.. electric vehicle disliker, but i actually like your ideas, its the whole electric cars have to be tiny and ugly thing.. 
Comment