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BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

evclinic.eu

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Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#341

Post by prepend »

lazide wrote: post #228
jacquesm wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it is insane. It's a fuse. They must have some stats on how often those things need replacing and it should have been accessible. The customer has - when they buy the car - absolutely no way of knowing what kind of surprises like this there are hidden in the vehicle and besides, it kills the second hand market so you can only trade your vehicle to a BMW dealership where they can absorb those costs for a fraction…

Fuses are not items that should be replaced normally - they are self-destroying emergency protections for the electrical system. If it is protecting that end users can plug arbitrary loads into, that is one thing - but this doesn’t sound like that? Why did that fuse blow? Because if that is not addressed, it’s likely to just blow again.

The article gave examples for why the fuse blows - it falsely thinks the vehicle was in an accident and trips. Hitting a pothole or a rabbit.

It is unlikely to blow again under normal use.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#342

Post by torginus »

richx wrote: post #183
ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 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…

I think the break rusting issue can be fixed in software.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#343

Post by lifty »

hnarn wrote: post #224
lifty wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait another year. CATL is destroying the battery market with their new LFP and sodium batteries. Prices are collapsing.

Doesn't sound like a market being "destroyed" to me, it sounds like a market being a market.

Maybe that would have been a better way to phrase it. I meant it in a positive way.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#344

Post by jinzo »

potato3732842 wrote: post #294
jinzo wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it insane? I'm working in this field, and I know how quickly you can come up with such a number if you are BMW and you are deathly afraid that someone will get electrocuted while working on your car, driving it or rescuing someone in a crash. It's a safety and liability issue, where they go to great lengths to actually re-certify a battery after crash. The whole thing is setup so, that even the dummy electricians…

You, you are the problem. It's not excusable to do this to the product because of some hand wavey napkin math about liability. Understand how people will interact with your product and then use that information to avoid doing things like routing power where firefighters want to cut and you'll accomplish the same thing without a stupid expensive hair trigger fuse.

I am a problem, but on the other spectrum - OEMs ain't getting the repair €€€ because people like me repair stuff (but a different approach than Vanja).

Then, almost no manufacturer that sells in the EU knows how to do this (Renault is almost the only one that doesen't have pyrofuses in the battery, almost everyone else has). The catch is, the routed power is not problematic, the problem is when something gets squished and redirects that routed power to somewhere else. Which tends to happen in a metal tincan.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#345

Post by potato3732842 »

prepend wrote: post #336

It’s funny how I extrapolate car design sessions in my head based on software design sessions. I sold my bmw after 15 years of multiple bmws because their design is so poor for maintenance. I had cooling system problems that required hours of labor to get to just to replace a plastic part that cost $5 where an aluminum one would cost $7. It seems to me that bmw was designing for best case scenarios where everything g…

What you're describing is the stereotype for "rich west europe" engineering culture.

Every now and then you see it leak out into some other environment, like Toyota and their pull-apart ball joints that "aren't an issue" because "the user will just service it on schedule" where it reliably causes problems in all sorts of dumb ways (because like anything else, designing stuff to within an inch of it's life takes practice).

Now, don't get me wrong, this European approach creates a lot of cool highly performant products, but it's stuff that tends to fall on it's face real good if you violate any of the assumptions made when designing it and the approach is naturally suited to some products more than others.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#346

Post by jinzo »

RealityVoid wrote: post #337
jinzo wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, from my experience, a simple fender-bender does not cause this.

Yeah, that's OP's point then, that a fender bender causing this is an overreaction from BMW

We don't have the full picture. Like I mentioned too many times in this thread, I know EV Clinic head boss Vanja likes to overreact and twists stuff to fit into his narrative. Not saying this one was not a fender bender, but I take all his stuff with a grain of salt. Mostly because I worked with him AND work on the same stuff he does - and it usually doesen't match up to what I'm seeing to the degree he 'dramaticizes'.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#347

Post by amelius »

Kirby64 wrote: post #322
amelius wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yikes, that sounds dangerous. I'd personally prefer e.g. 48V even if that meant some more losses and/or thicker cables.

Running an EV off 48V would lead to a heavily, heavily compromised vehicle. There just aren’t components that can handle 5-10kA of current with a reasonable size.

What parts of the car need that amount of current?

Are you talking about the charging circuitry?

What are the requirements for the motor(s)?

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#348

Post by eptcyka »

prepend wrote: post #336

It’s funny how I extrapolate car design sessions in my head based on software design sessions. I sold my bmw after 15 years of multiple bmws because their design is so poor for maintenance. I had cooling system problems that required hours of labor to get to just to replace a plastic part that cost $5 where an aluminum one would cost $7. It seems to me that bmw was designing for best case scenarios where everything g…

> 9 things have to happen in sequence

This is literally how all software works. Except it is thousands of instructions. Further, it is very often that programs don’t handle anything besides the happy path.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#349

Post by Workaccount2 »

I don't know how "German engineering" became a badge of honor. Probably from the people who continually roll new leases every 2 years.

Even 25 years ago working on German vehicles compared to the Japanese counter-parts was a harrowing endeavor.

Germans are excellent at making cool flashy features...that rely on 16 moving parts that cost $700 each, and need to remove the engine exhaust manifold to access one screw to release part #15.

They get a 10 for "Wow!" factor, a 0 for "well thought out", and a 10 for "extremely over complicated". Unsurprisingly this mindset has carried over into EVs now too.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#350

Post by archi42 »

lan321 wrote: post #185
tw04 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moment you have any issue at all with it, the car will be considered totaled. Huh? The taycan has an 8-year/100k mile battery warranty. How many 100k+ mile carreras do you see for sale on eBay?

It's like the S60, VW W12, old V12 Continentals, etc. If it's expensive to maintain no one wants to buy it off you so you get hit with massive depreciation costs. You can get a 20y/o 'no issues' 500+hp V12 Continental for 10k where I'm at. They've had a brutal cost/year and cost/mile.

Huh? S60? Can you clarify?

I've driven a 2003 Volvo S60 (plain 5 cylinder, no turbo), which matches your 20 years - and most diy repairs were quite straightforward. I suppose you're talking about some Mercedes or other brand I'm less familiar with?

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