DIY: Voltphreaks Lithium Battery installation into M3 E92

tlrid3r wrote

I can share the CAD drawing I made but I can't make extras. I used my works tools. With the drawings any 3D printer shop or machine shop can make them for you.

That design is pretty legit. Well done. Estimated cost for a decent machine shop to make it?

Also, how does it secure on the side opposite the OE tab you replicated?

Hujan wrote

tlrid3r wrote

I can share the CAD drawing I made but I can't make extras. I used my works tools. With the drawings any 3D printer shop or machine shop can make them for you.

That design is pretty legit. Well done. Estimated cost for a decent machine shop to make it?

Also, how does it secure on the side opposite the OE tab you replicated?

I say a shop can machine out delrin or aluminum for about $150-200.

It completely mounts like a oem battery the base mimics the oem battery.

Await results on the Anti Gravity. The nice mount would be all for nothing if battery ends up not playing well with the car

eternallx wrote

Await results on the Anti Gravity. The nice mount would be all for nothing if battery ends up not playing well with the car

I have an update on the battery install, I wont thread jack, since this is about Voltsphreaks.

I'll start another thread you can follow the progress there.

Hujan wrote

That design is pretty legit. Well done. Estimated cost for a decent machine shop to make it?

Also, how does it secure on the side opposite the OE tab you replicated?

if he sends you the CAD file, you could send it to a company like parts badger and they'll cut it and send it to you.
i haven't used them, but another member got some wing uprights made by them with good results.
http://parts-badger.com/custom-cnc-machining-milling-services/

This battery has officially outlasted the first OEM battery installed in the car (to be fair, the car sat on a dealer's lot for 18 months before I bought it and only picked up 280 miles' worth of test-drive/demo time, so that first battery was doomed)

I was just out of town and didn't start the car for 10 days. Fired up like nothing happened this morning. Even a fresh new OEM battery felt a little flatter after sitting that long.

Richbot wrote

This battery has officially outlasted the first OEM battery installed in the car (to be fair, the car sat on a dealer's lot for 18 months before I bought it and only picked up 280 miles' worth of test-drive/demo time, so that first battery was doomed)

I was just out of town and didn't start the car for 10 days. Fired up like nothing happened this morning. Even a fresh new OEM battery felt a little flatter after sitting that long.

Thank you for your continued feedback on this battery. I'll be going this route shortly based upon your experience. Can't wait to strip some more weight!

Sat without a tender, btw. For some reason sitting for 10 days without a tender and still firing up like normal is relatively remarkable on an old BMW, heh

Here is the new thread:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23285457#post23285457

After installing and registering the VPH1200, I got an EDC error (the two EDC indicators stuck in ON positiion and the shock absorber sign appears on LCD screen on instrument panel upon shutting engine off). Further, and apparently related, the turn signal would not disengage after a turn but rather continue blinking forever until manually turned off. Pulling error codes showed an 005FF7 error.

005FF7: EDC CAN message (steering angle) from SZL (Note: So this seems to cause the EDC to malfunction. Not sure how its related. Saw on an M5 forum that EDC needs steering angle input to function.)

This lasted for two weeks then just suddenly disappeared (for four days now).

I'm thinking the sudden, quite significant weight reduction in the right rear corner, "rebounded" the right rear shock absorber up so high that it altered the steering angle and thus the 5FF7 code and thus the EDC fail.

Anyone else see this?

The car has ~600 lb-in springs in back, with a .5:1 ish motion ratio. Even if you just take it 1:1, 50lb of weight loss = 1/12th of an inch more ride height, or 2mm. Unless your car is freaking out every time you put something in or take something out of the trunk, that's not it.

It sounds like the SZL signal just got freaked out and after driving it is working within range and the computer decided it's not actually broken

Richbot wrote

The car has ~600 lb-in springs in back, with a .5:1 ish motion ratio. Even if you just take it 1:1, 50lb of weight loss = 1/12th of an inch more ride height, or 2mm. Unless your car is freaking out every time you put something in or take something out of the trunk, that's not it.

It sounds like the SZL signal just got freaked out and after driving it is working within range and the computer decided it's not actually broken

Interesting, because the 2mm you reference is almost what I measured the difference to be in ride height, on right side, with and without the 60lbs stock batt in the trunk. I agree it would seem a little odd the EDC would flip out about this.

no issues whatsoever with mine.

cmichaelo wrote

Interesting, because the 2mm you reference is almost what I measured the difference to be in ride height, on right side, with and without the 60lbs stock batt in the trunk. I agree it would seem a little odd the EDC would flip out about this.

I have not had any electronic issues with VPH battery either. I did have the car coded for the battery - changing the setting to AGM (I can't recall exactly but changed the battery type designation). Did you do that step?

I run the VPR-P6 with no issues, no coding yet.

Car just sat for two weeks without a tender on its 3 year old VPH900 and fired up as if nothing happened. That’s a yuuuuuge improvement over stock. Even a brand new oem battery felt a bit flat after 2 weeks. 55 degree garage

steering angle fault frequently occurs when disconnecting the battery. its good practice to calibrate steering angle sensor after registering the battery replacement

Officially been running 3 years and about 40,000 miles on this battery. Zero issues. I don’t even think about it anymore.

cmichaelo wrote

Interesting, because the 2mm you reference is almost what I measured the difference to be in ride height, on right side, with and without the 60lbs stock batt in the trunk. I agree it would seem a little odd the EDC would flip out about this.

This is just an update:

I've had this battery in the car for more than a year now. It's been 99% trouble free except for the minor issue I'll mention below. Over the winter the car started up every time no problem (not garaged). The car often sits for two weeks without driving, especially over winter. I make sure, however, to run the car for 5min idle every two weeks as I noticed during the early days with this battery that it sometimes goes into the safety mode a little "too quickly" for my taste. But when that happens, I just press the reset button, which I've routed to pop out behind the right backseat headrest.

And the folks at Voltphreaks are super to communicated with.

how did you do the remote power button?

roastbeef wrote

how did you do the remote power button?

I can't really take a picture of how I did this. The wiring is hidden behind all the felt lining inside the trunk except for the excess wiring (since it's so long) which I hung up on a velcro tie in the upper right corner behind the rear seat. I just carefully pulled the supplied wiring through various openings and felt lining, using small ropes and flexible hooks and tried to follow other BMW wiring paths wherever I could.

Not sure if you're asking what it is, technically speaking, but if so it's all here -> Remote pushbutton harness option

cmichaelo wrote

I can't really take a picture of how I did this. The wiring is hidden behind all the felt lining inside the trunk except for the excess wiring (since it's so long) which I hung up on a velcro tie in the upper right corner behind the rear seat. I just carefully pulled the supplied wiring through various openings and felt lining, using small ropes and flexible hooks and tried to follow other BMW wiring paths wherever I could.

Not sure if you're asking what it is, technically speaking, but if so it's all here -> Remote pushbutton harness option

nice! i wasn't aware of this option, thanks for mentioning it. my car sometimes sits for almost a month at a time and my LCI car doesn't have a trunk keyhole. i'm not worried about it because i don't have a rear seat, but crawling back there to pull the kidnap cord sucks.