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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

#521

Post by seec »

jacquesm wrote: post #206
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…

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…

Well, he buys them for the same reason people buy Apple products: very performant, look good, and carry a lot of social status.

Otherwise, they make some very questionable engineering decisions for sure. On their motorbikes, you often have to disassemble half the bodywork just to change the battery; that's just beyond stupid. But like Apple, their products are kind of unique, so people deal with it.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#522

Post by petre »

dotancohen wrote: post #481
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get them with a manual transmission, or a dual-clutch automatic, or CVT. AFAIK, the manuals are all decent, although the 6 speed manual on the 4WD models has quite low ratios (no transfer case) so it doesn't have great fuel economy at highway speeds.

Makes sense. In their home market, Romania, highway speed hardly ever exceeds 90 kph.

Not true unless you equate a normal road (one or two lanes per direction, rarely separated from the other direction) with a highway, which is something else (comtrolled access, separated lanes, safety lane). Top highway speed is 130 kph, express road speed is 110 kph and normal roads it's 90 kph.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#523

Post by jacquesm »

quickthrowman wrote: post #517
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.

It’d be a massive waste of electrical conductors to use 48V batteries due to ampacity. Higher voltage means lower ampacity and smaller conductors. You’d need to use silver plated copper buss bar as conductors, 150kW @ 48VDC is 3125 Amps . I’m not familiar with DC ampacity tables, but you’d need (9) 3” conduits each containing (3) #500 MCM conductors for a three-phase 3125A alternating current circuit. One foot of #50…

And if you do ever open up a car battery pack the first order of battle is to split it in half.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#524

Post by jacquesm »

jandrese wrote: post #436
jacquesm wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastics. Those are the hard to source bits. Plastic doesn't stay plastic for ever and NOS can be dried out just as much as the bits that are in the car. Most other things are easy to source, and anything made of steel can be fixed (zero rust, so far).

1997 car with no rust? I'm guessing you don't live in an area that knows snow.

NL, not a lot of snow but they do put salt on the roads here and it hasn't affected the body at all as far as I can see. My son drives a similar vintage E320 station and it too is still mostly rust free, the only part that seems to suffer on his car is the rear hatch.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#525

Post by dzhiurgis »

Beijinger wrote: post #515
dzhiurgis wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hyundai, reliable?

Rankings: Hyundai is often highly ranked by automotive experts. For example, RepairPal ranks Hyundai 4th out of 32 car brands for reliability. J.D. Power studies also consistently place Hyundai among the top brands for initial quality and long-term dependability.

#12 according to CR

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-s...

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#526

Post by dotancohen »

petre wrote: post #522
dotancohen wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes sense. In their home market, Romania, highway speed hardly ever exceeds 90 kph.

Not true unless you equate a normal road (one or two lanes per direction, rarely separated from the other direction) with a highway , which is something else (comtrolled access, separated lanes, safety lane). Top highway speed is 130 kph, express road speed is 110 kph and normal roads it's 90 kph.

At least the last time I was there, 2010, all the intercity highways look like they hadn't been maintained since Ceausescu fell. No matter what the legal limit was, there were very few places where one could drive 90 kph safely. Maybe this has changed - I certainly hope so

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#527

Post by petre »

dotancohen wrote: post #526
petre wrote: post #522

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true unless you equate a normal road (one or two lanes per direction, rarely separated from the other direction) with a highway , which is something else (comtrolled access, separated lanes, safety lane). Top highway speed is 130 kph, express road speed is 110 kph and normal roads it's 90 kph.

At least the last time I was there, 2010, all the intercity highways look like they hadn't been maintained since Ceausescu fell. No matter what the legal limit was, there were very few places where one could drive 90 kph safely. Maybe this has changed - I certainly hope so

Well, it's quite different now after being in the EU for nearly two decades. What you recall is regular roads, that cannot be called highways, but those got fixed as well. The highway infra is still not countinous, but it exists. And Romanian drivers do >90 kph on normal roads as well. Romania and Bulgaria have the highest road fatalities per capita in the EU.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#528

Post by chihuahua »

close04 wrote: post #156
chihuahua wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People get upset when a BMW is expensive to repair, but they're misunderstanding the sophisticated German engineering. You're not supposed to repair it. You're supposed to throw it away and buy a new one.

The sophisticated engineering works (or worked?) mostly fine if the piece of machinery is operated in the extremely narrow "just right" operating ranges the sophisticated engineer defined. To much dust in the air? One too many potholes? Not the premium brand oil? There goes your sophisticated machinery. Times have changed and now the fuse replacement is not just a mater of over engineering, something someone put toge…

Quite fitting, from the company that invented "heated seats as a subscription service"

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#529

Post by tengwar2 »

seec wrote: post #521
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…

Well, he buys them for the same reason people buy Apple products: very performant, look good, and carry a lot of social status. Otherwise, they make some very questionable engineering decisions for sure. On their motorbikes, you often have to disassemble half the bodywork just to change the battery; that's just beyond stupid. But like Apple, their products are kind of unique, so people deal with it.

BMW bikes have improved. It used to be with the last of the dry clutch flat twins that when the clutch failed (and it would fail), you had to remove the back half of the bike. Literally. As in not figuratively, to avoid doubt. The front half would be left standing, like some bisected cow artwork. Apparently it was a two day job.

Re: BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive

#530

Post by dotancohen »

petre wrote: post #527
dotancohen wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least the last time I was there, 2010, all the intercity highways look like they hadn't been maintained since Ceausescu fell. No matter what the legal limit was, there were very few places where one could drive 90 kph safely. Maybe this has changed - I certainly hope so

Well, it's quite different now after being in the EU for nearly two decades. What you recall is regular roads, that cannot be called highways, but those got fixed as well. The highway infra is still not countinous, but it exists. And Romanian drivers do >90 kph on normal roads as well. Romania and Bulgaria have the highest road fatalities per capita in the EU.

  > Romanian drivers do >90 kph on normal roads as well. Romania and Bulgaria have the highest road fatalities per capita in the EU.
It sounds like you are confirming my memories of the country. I did mention that exceeding 90 could not be done safely.
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