Conversion Process Slideshow

Pre-conversion 1983 BMW 320i before 9/15/2013
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First step in the conversion process 1/06/2014
Internal combustion engine (ICE) removal. Click image to see video.
Pressure Washing the engine compartment 2/08/2014
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Weighing the vehicle after ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) removal 2/21/2014
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Cutting out the lead acid battery mount 3/10/2014
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Electric motor assembly placement for motor mount measurement 3/12/2014
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First time spinning the wheels with electric vehicle components 5/19/2014
Connected the motor, transmission, inverter and batteries to spin the wheels with electric power. Click image to see the video
Spoofing the Instrument Cluster 6/27/2014
Learning how to control the movement of the instruments with Pulse-Width Modulation. Click image to see video.
Battery conditioning system 7/17/2014
Battery cells require bottom balancing. Click image to see video.
Battery boxes fabricated and installation started. Contactor box for the battery connections. 8/17/2014
Click image to see video.
Delphi DC/DC Converter Upgrade 3/27/2015
One of many components I had to modify for the car. Click image to see video
Batteries all connected in rear seat boxes 9/03/2015
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Batteries placed in trunk box and started strapping up. 9/18/2015
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Wiring cross-over box 11/20/2015
Building up all the wiring connections. Click image to see video
Engine compartment components installed and wiring finished. 2/4/2016
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All electric drive components installed. Spinning the wheels, preparing for the test drive. 5/10/2016
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First test drive! 10/07/2016
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First test drive! 10/07/2016
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Major Milestone. Vehicle passes Massachusetts Inspection 6/19/2018
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Major Upgrade. Scott Drive Inverter 6/12/2019
Major Milestone. Commuting to work in the ElectricBMW320E 7/25/2019
Upgrades: New Wheels, Tires and Suspension. Scott Drive Installation. 8/10/2019
Click image to see the Video
Major Upgrade. Chevy Bolt Battery Modules 10/18/2020
Click image to see the Blog entry
Upgrades. New Paint, Winter Tires and Wheels 11/15/2020
Click the image to see the Blog Entry
Cars and Coffee by the Mystic 11/14/2021
Attended a Cars and Coffee car show at the Mystic River BMW Dealer. Click image to see Blog entry
BMS Development 7/03/2023
Developed a BMS system for the Bolt Battery Module. Click the image to see the Blog entry
BMS Deployment 10/18/2023
Built up BMS units to deploy in Vehicle. Click image to see Blog entry
BMS Reader Prototype 2/2/2024
Development of a reader for all the BMS modules Click the image to see the Blog entry
BMS Reader Deployment 3/1/2024
Deployment of a reader for all the BMS modules Click the image to see the Blog entry
Instrument Cluster 5/20/2024
Upgraded the instrument cluster with 120mph speedometer. Click the image to see the Blog entry
BMS Reader Redesign with Arduino Nano ESP32 10/6/2024
Found the program size for the BMS Reader exceeded memory limit. Need a new processor and PCB. Click the image to see the Blog entry
BMS Reader Redesign with Arduino Nano 33 IOT 12/8/2024
Found the ESP32 was not compatible with my BMS Reader components. Made a new PCA with logic-level Shifter. Click the image to see the Blog entry
BMS Reader Redesign with I2C Line Drivers 1/3/2025
Found Logic-Level Shifter does not work with wire connections. Click the image to see the Blog entry
New PCA Redesign with I2C Line Drivers 2/3/2025
New PCA works to solve the problem with the wire connections on the I2C bus.
BMS Deployment in Car 4/8/2025
Machined all the mounting hardware to mount BMS modules in the car. Click image to see Blog entry
Update to Instrument Cluster 5/14/2025
Updated the Real Time Clock (RTC) in the instrument Cluster to make the time reading more reliable, Click image to see Blog entry

Welcome to The ElectricBMW320E site

This site shows my exploits of converting a 1983 BMW 320i automobile into an electric drive vehicle. The slideshow above shows the progress. Click the links below to see the details of the conversion. The Video Gallery has a more complete chronology of the build.

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