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BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

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Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#401

Post by uticus »

rconti wrote: post #72
aetherspawn wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teslas are dead simple, to the point where people are putting Tesla anything in virtually anything you can think of - classic cars, random sedans, you name it. There’s also that guy on YouTube who updated the electricals in his original Model S with electricals from a 10 years later Model 3 Highland just by buying spare parts, and it was pretty doable with fairly basic and limited tools/public information. So the com…

As they point out, the Tesla pyro fuse (at least on a Model S) is a cheap part. However, in some model years it's on top of the pack, which means you have to drop the pack to get to it. And, from memory, it's a 10 year lifespan part. However, on other Model S cars, it's easily accessible from the bottom. I wonder how we can make automakers make more repairable cars. Obviously, right-to-repair and allowing access to d…

> I wonder how we can make automakers make more repairable cars...Maybe mandating...

No, mandating / regulations are not the answer, unless you're looking to artificially enforce something that the consumer doesn't want.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#402

Post by SoftTalker »

justin66 wrote: post #393
jlarocco wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just BMW, it's basically all car manufacturers. There are several car maintenance YouTubers who complain about it for many brands. For example "The Car Care Nut" complains about Toyotas being badly designed for maintenance, questionable material choices, etc.. The problem is that $2 here and there adds up, and at the level of the whole car it can add hundreds, or thousands of dollars of extra cost for reliab…

I watch "The Car Care Nut" sometimes, as I've got a Toyota. Nothing I've ever seen there would lead me to put Toyota into the same maintenance cost/difficulty category as BMW or Mercedes. Consumer Reports puts them at almost opposite ends of the spectrum, as well. https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-maintenance/the-cos...

I've owned a few Mercedes and didn't find them really more difficult to work on than other cars of similar age I've owned. I haven't owned any that are really new, so that may have changed. I haven't owned any BMWs but their reputation for being difficult to work on and overengineered goes back decades.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#403

Post by noncoml »

jlarocco wrote: post #355
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…

It's not just BMW, it's basically all car manufacturers. There are several car maintenance YouTubers who complain about it for many brands. For example "The Car Care Nut" complains about Toyotas being badly designed for maintenance, questionable material choices, etc.. The problem is that $2 here and there adds up, and at the level of the whole car it can add hundreds, or thousands of dollars of extra cost for reliab…

To be fair the "The Car Care Nut" while clearly very knowledgeable and extremely good at his job, all he does is complain in his videos.

Edit: but at the end of the day all his own cars are Toyota/Lexus

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#404

Post by tim333 »

Maxion wrote: post #149
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…

> So far my favourite brand to work on has been Mazda, the engineering is very thoughtfully done with consideration for repairs I've heard this from mechanics already 15+ years ago. Mazda seem to still have this reputation. I wish there were more repairability scores for cars.

I traded from Mazda to Merc. There's definitely big difference in cost to repair and probably difficulty.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#405

Post by Workaccount2 »

nsoqm wrote: post #385
torginus wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germans are also famous for how hard they work, working a grueling 1350 hours per year, compared to freeloading lazy Greeks, who merely work 2000.

It’s about productivity, not about the raw amount of hours.

Germany has a stagnant economy, on the edge of shrinking. It's projected to only have 0.2% growth this year.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#406

Post by Joker_vD »

harrall wrote: post #377
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…

Ask a car guy and they’ll tell you that German car makers have been known to be be maintenance money sinks for 40 years. But German car makers are really quick to add new technology. They were quick to add ABS, fuel injection, complex suspensions, etc. But have you ever tried to make something you built to easy to maintain? You have to reroute everything, redesign your layout, add access ports, switch fittings… my go…

> But have you ever tried to make something you built to easy to maintain?

There is still a difference between e.g. Lada 2104 which, while admittedly having some strange fastening designs, was relatively straight-forward do (partially) disassemble and reassemble, and e.g. modern Fords where you can't to take the lights off of your trunk door without fully disassembling it first. Even better, the exact jigsaw puzzle of the design varies from one modification/year to another even for what is supposedly the same car model.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#407

Post by Tostino »

jinzo wrote: post #335
Glawen wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you realise how difficult it is to get "electrocuted" in a battery powered vehicle ? I suggest you document yourself on the matter. The only real issue in reality is thermal runaway

What are you talking about? Yes I know how quickly I can get electrocuted when the battery pack is open. I just need to touch two exposed busbars ~30cm apart. Or my tool needs to touch them.

I disagree with your other takes in this thread, but you are 100% right here. This is dangerous stuff that needs to be treated with respect.

I don't think it should be locked away to just the MFG, but it does need to be respected.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#408

Post by PeterStuer »

buserror wrote: post #399
PeterStuer wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last 4 cars were BMW. I love the way they drive, but ... I think they are optimized for the EU leasing market. 4 years, 120.000km. If you buy one for long ownership and want more out of them (they can most certainly do 400=500k km reliably), you have to take care of them from day 1. You change the maitainance schedule (which by default is set to lowering fleet lease costs and who cares beyond that), learn about an…

Thats why they've been increasing the service interval to silly numbers. 3 years ago, 10k miles, now... 18k miles for the same model of car for the first service! Absolutely insane.

Yep, and remember, "lifetime" in BMW speak is 120k.km/4y, not "forever".

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#409

Post by Rastonbury »

ishtanbul wrote: post #47
hnburnsy wrote: post #27

If you love cars or Top Gear, watch Mat Armstrong on YouTube. Mat restores crash damaged cars. The BS he has to go through because car manufacturers either won't sell him parts, won't sell him repair manuals, and unnecessarily cryptographically lock parts to the VIN is sometime heartbreaking. He has run across this pyro fuse issue many times. Sometimes he has even has to buy two cars just to repair one because of thi…

Bumping this. Mat went through the exact same crazy process with the Revuelto. Audi/Lamborghini overengineers the heck out of these cars its really absurd. https://youtu.be/m37tN54FdQE?si=zXCnQTCOou13l10O

To be fair it's a lambo, not the pinnacle of maintainability or self repairable

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#410

Post by BobaFloutist »

Gravityloss wrote: post #378
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…

Porsche had a research program about a very reliable car in the 70s. It has some odd technical choices from today's perspective. https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/when-porsch... One would assume taxi companies etc would be willing to pay for cars that have high uptime and reliability. But I think they drive mostly the same stuff as regular people. At least one would assume they could get beefier suspen…

I don't think it's a coincidence that an enormous number of rideshare/delivery drivers drive priuses though. Reliable, not too expensive, low maintenance, and high mpg is kind of exactly what you'd expect them to look for.
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