BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive • Hacker News Board

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#271

Post by lnsru » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:14 AM UTC

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #168

CraigJPerry wrote: post #124

€4000 euros plus tax to replace the module that contains the fuse. Insane. The ford transit custom PHEV costs £4500 to replace the timing belt. Access issues mean dropping the hybrid battery and parts of the sub frame. Compare with the mk8 transit, i've done the wet belt myself on that and it requires no special tools (well, i bought a specific crank pulley puller for £20) and can be done in a day on the driveway. I…

>Tesla is remarkably well done. Simplicity is under rated. https://electrek.co/2025/12/03/tesla-model-y-named-worst-car... >So much so i bought one with the intention to keep for a looooong time. Good luck with that.

I am no Tesla fanboy. But let’s face the truth. Teslas leave factory with end of line check. Then they are driven more than average cars for 3 years without any maintenance. Then go for check. And surprise surprise, the first model Ys were not well made. I bet with 1000-1500€ maintenance cost over these 3 years the TUV result would be dramatically different.

Btw, my petrol car had ugly rusty rear brakes. No way to pass the check. The car had manual handbrake and I used in every highway exit to slow down and removed rust.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#272

Post by jinzo » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:16 AM UTC

close04 wrote: post #229

gmueckl wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be ignoring the fact that the battery pack status after a crash is essentially unknown. It should go through a thorough and competently conducted safety inspection or it may kill someone in the future. Of course, this doesn't excuse extra red tape tacked into the procedure, but the core idea of an inspection is just unavoidable.

> Of course, this doesn't excuse extra red tape tacked into the procedure That's exactly it. I understand the importance of safety but reading the list of complaints I just cannot believe that safety is the key driver for the design decisions. > ISTA’s official iBMUCP replacement procedure is so risky that if you miss one single step — poorly explained within ISTA — the system triggers ANTITHEFT LOCK. > Meaning: even…

I won't go into details about 'training access for ISTA usage' - cause I don't know what exactly Vanja means by this - but generally speaking in EU BMW provides the easiest access from all OEMs for aftermarket repair. Everyone has to provide it by law, but BMW has the most straightforward way of registering/paying/using it. For sure not ideal, but far from really being problematic IMHO.

But other than that I mostly agree, I don't think that the over-engineering is greed driven - but the EU Manufacturers (but honestly, even other ones) have a really hard time with anything software based. Be it in car or outside of it. But BMW is far from the worst on that front.

P.S: VW ODIS original diagnostic is based on Eclipse :D

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#273

Post by torginus » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:21 AM UTC

jinzo wrote: post #169

marssaxman wrote: post #15

> BMW has over-engineered the They have over-engineered the everything , because that is what BMW does. That is what they have been about for the last thirty years.

I won't argue with non EV engineering, but high voltage stuff in an EV is a lot harder problem to make safe in event of a crash and subsequent repair. I come out as a BMW apologist, but Vanja (evclinic Head boss) likes to be overly dramatic. BMW (and almost all other brands) are very afraid that someone will die when repairing/driving/rescuing someone from an EV and they go to great (and expensive) lengths to make su…

Thanks for pointing that out - at first I thought this was an act designed to turn cheap repairs impossible to drive new car sales, and force people into BMWs hugely expensive service network, but after learning this is for my own good, I'm relieved and happy to learn BMW is looking out for me.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#274

Post by jinzo » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:22 AM UTC

nixass wrote: post #225

jinzo wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't argue with non EV engineering, but high voltage stuff in an EV is a lot harder problem to make safe in event of a crash and subsequent repair. I come out as a BMW apologist, but Vanja (evclinic Head boss) likes to be overly dramatic. BMW (and almost all other brands) are very afraid that someone will die when repairing/driving/rescuing someone from an EV and they go to great (and expensive) lengths to make su…

evclinic overly relies on drama for their content

I worked with Vanja before EVs were mass produced, he is very driven and smart, but also eccentric. With his previous experience with Mercedes Electric repair he figured out that, sooner or later repair/knowledge/tools will get commoditized, so push at the start and try to get a big foothold/mindshare before this happens. Very few people actually have the knowledge to judge your work early on, so you can get very far if you are intentionally promoting yourself and behaving very confident.

His Tesla Battery cell repair stuff, anyone that was near a open battery knows it's fucking dangerous thing that has VERY low chance of actually working in medium term - but it gets him a lot of respect by clueless people. But he also does good stuff, but his image and reality are VERY different things.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#275

Post by jinzo » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:24 AM UTC

sgt wrote: post #219

cjrp wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly I’ve seen YouTubers replace the fuse in a Tesla for about £40 and a few hours of labour (it’s under the rear seats). Maybe something they’re doing right.

Tesla is the DIY's EV enthusiast car for a reason.

Yes mostly propaganda and being first/having a big driving base. They are notoriously closed/locked down from the diagnostic/reprogramming perspective.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#276

Post by ansgri » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:25 AM UTC

rswail wrote: post #221

GMoromisato wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true. EVs are much simpler than ICE, and PHEV basically have all the complexity of EV+ICE.

PHEVs mean that half the time your using your battery to drag around an ICE, the other half the ICE is dragging around a battery. A very temporary phenomenon in the evolution from ICE to EV.

Probably the one type of PHEV that should survive is basically a BEV with builtin backup generator. One that's not necessarily powerful enough to drive you directly at full speed, but enough to basically eliminate range limitation of a (cheaper and smaller) battery by continuously charging it when needed. Maybe this 'backup generator' can even be made as a removable option.

I'm thinking of a semi-rural use case, when your typical daily trip is 20-50 km, but the charging infrastructure is poor and occasionally you do need to drive 200-300 km in winter.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#277

Post by VBprogrammer » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:27 AM UTC

devmor wrote: post #216

VBprogrammer wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I occasionally like to see what the highest mileage Toyota Prius I can find for sale is. They are obviously used as taxis and it's common to find one for sale with half a million miles. Usually at that point someone puts in a new hybrid battery and sells it to someone else starting out driving Ubers.

Oh yes, the Prius gets even better lifetime because the hardest strain on the engine components is completely negated by the electric motor. If I ever ditch the little mini sports car, I will most likely replace it with another Prius.

In fairness most cars get taken for scrap with an engine which starts and runs. Even when they are running a bit rough it's more often fueling and ignition components than a mechanical problem with the engine components.

That said, the synergy drive is by design a very robust mechanical system. It has no dog gears, clutch or torque converter. I'm sure this contributes a lot to their long life.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#278

Post by jinzo » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:28 AM UTC

cjrp wrote: post #198

chakintosh wrote: post #179

Not just BMW. I've been watching (and enjoying) Mat Armstrong's youtube videos where he restores crash damaged luxury cars, one of them was a Lamborghini Revuelo. The car's battery was completely intact, but the safety fuse blew up in the BMS and despite replacing the entire module, the car wouldn't talk to the battery and wouldn't even start. Eventually he had to buy an entire 30K battery, and even then, the car wou…

Interestingly I’ve seen YouTubers replace the fuse in a Tesla for about £40 and a few hours of labour (it’s under the rear seats). Maybe something they’re doing right.

You can replace the fuse (not that easly) but for approximately the same price in a BMW. You do have to put in more work but the problem is with re-certifying the battery. Tesla does not care if the battery was damaged in the crash, they will (more or less) happily re-enable it. BMW decided that the only safe way is to re-certify the whole battery. I'm not saying it's the right decision, I think they over did it and VW does it better - but I do understand WHY they chose to do it so, and the WHY is not nearly as outrageous as a lot of people here think.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#279

Post by torginus » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:32 AM UTC

merger3 wrote: post #164

marssaxman wrote: post #15

> BMW has over-engineered the They have over-engineered the everything , because that is what BMW does. That is what they have been about for the last thirty years.

Exactly, these are intentional decisions for German cars. They’re gorgeous, over-engineered, cutting edge pieces of machinery and the expense of being practical or repairable. The common understanding for decades has been if you’re buying a German luxury car as a daily driver and repair costs are something you even have to consider, you’re buying the wrong car.

Old BMW is nothing like new BMW - I know a few older folks who drive 20+year old BMWs and Audis with 500k+ km they drove off the salon parking lot - not because they can't afford a new one, but they like the current ones.

These old cars were engineered to a high standard, and designed to be maintained - while maintenance isn't cheap, with proper servicing and car, they could last forever.

This is entirely different - in the past few years BMW has become infamous for using low quality plastic fasteners that become brittle and break eventually, and all around penny-pinching everywhere.

It seems they even took the logical next step and installed draconian repair and service prevention measures.

They took the stance that once the car is out of the warranty period and isn't brough to an official service center, they stand to make no profit on it, so it should end up in the scrapyard in the shortest time possible.

This proves to me they don't understand their own market - people who buy expensive (70k+ish EUR) BMWs are all financial wizards who lease their cars, tax optimize them to the gills through legally grey methods and other schemes, and then resell them at the end of the lease.

This means they're able to drive them for like 300-400 euro a month cost - but only because of resale value. If they kill resale, then people won't buy them.

The amount of people who will put down 70k+ in cash at the salon is exceedingly small.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#280

Post by kotaKat » Fri, Dec 05, 2025, 11:32 AM UTC

OvbiousError wrote: post #223

richx wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am affacted by this as well: the rear knuckle uniball bearing was broken after 3 years (Achsschenkel). Many MY here in Europe have this issue, due to bad parts or too hard suspension. But there are two other things that make it a bit unfair for Tesla in comparison to other brands: Often the cars fail official inspections because of rotten breaks - this happens when your drive carefully and the Tesla is using regene…

> that all the other brands have a mandatory inspection from the manufacturer before the cars will be tested by the independent check. I'm in Europe. Never heard of mandatory inspection before independent checks. How would that even work, or be enforced.

Service intervals. Other OEMs will prompt a service interval at X thousand miles/km to go pop in and have it looked at by a dealer, probably swap out your cabin air filter, upsell you on some new wiper blades, etc.

ICE vehicles would normally catch these issues sooner because you'd be pulling in a lot more often for oil changes (and a quick mechanical inspection is typically a courtesy at that time).