Relocating battery to boot on a touring model

Discuss general engine, turbo and supercharger conversions in this section

Moderator: martauto

old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:41 pm

For those of you looking to do M50 conversions on a touring model, you may be considering relocating the battery to the boot. I did this on my own car and used the parts for the relocation from a 2 door model.

The only real problem I had was the internal boot door wouldn't close because the top of the battery hit it, so I had to cut some support metalwork (the bit that would normally hold the battery tray up) out of the boot compartment floor and drop the plastic battery tray lower to compensate for this. This also meant modifying the plastic battery tray to make it shorter. All in all it doubled the length of time the job took and was a PITA.

Mods required to boot floor to take battery tray in my touring:


Image


So imagine my surprise whilst closely examining my new 325iX touring today 8) when I noticed the battery was already in the boot! How did BMW do this I asked myself? On closer inspection, they used the same 2 door battery tray but they made a different boot 'door' with a larger bulge in it to accommodate the battery!


Part number 8 in the diagram:


Image


The door part number for a normal touring is 51471947874, the part number for the iX's boot door is 51471972454. I hope this useless bit of info saves a lot of time for someone!

**Note: The battery cable on the iX model leaves the battery vertically and goes up over the wheelarch to avoid the boot carpet, although the 2 door cabling can be used if required, like I did. If you are buying new battery cable then I would suggest the iX specific one. That would save even more work. Good old BMW think of everything.
DanThe
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 28647
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Staffs

Post Sat Nov 10, 2007 8:51 pm

Nice find :D
beardymat
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1979
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: sheffield, city of steel, and rust apparently

Post Sat Nov 10, 2007 8:57 pm

nice find with the battery door but its left me wondering what the plans for the ix are???????
No longer self employed but still available for welding duties.
BadDave
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 6012
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Nr Aberdeen.Scotland(Gods country)

Post Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:22 pm

I fitted a battery in the rear of my tourer to power my amplifiers
All i did was make a little slot in part 5 in the above diagram and the battery fitted snugly and i still had room to make a cover to go over the top of it to avoid any possibility of anything i put in there touching the teminals

Saves having to find a trim panel from a reasonably rare IX Touring

HTH

Dave
Alpina B10 3.2L #187 (1 of 64 brought into the UK)
2.8L turbo build thread(work in progress)
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 27#1268227
oze30
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sydney

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 3:08 pm

i fitted mine in the boot, but don't have a door yet. I just ran the wires up over the hump as close to the arch as poss. Still have enough slack. Not sure if I will if I do the old skool mod. It's pretty tight around the top section. might have to ask Zimmer how much the door costs!!
Cloggy Saint
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 8027
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: zummerzet

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 3:31 pm

I have the bulging door in my touring, but the battery is in the front.
Image

E30 zone - promoting adult illiteracy since 2004
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 3:40 pm

datourer wrote:I have the bulging door in my touring, but the battery is in the front.
Maybe you have one retrofitted from a breaker or dealer? Much more chance of this as you are in a LHD environment. The 324td had the same boot door too.

Who knows if it is still available?! Have to wait until tomorrow to ask Paul.
User avatar
Brianmoooore
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 49359
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:07 pm

oze30 wrote:. might have to ask Zimmer how much the door costs!!
68 euros, according to the online ETK
Cloggy Saint
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 8027
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: zummerzet

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:11 pm

I can keep an eye out over here if you want, or we could swap winkeye
Image

E30 zone - promoting adult illiteracy since 2004
oze30
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sydney

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:46 pm

sounds good datourer!!! winkeye
benjy
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 662
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: English Riviera

Post Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:41 pm

Ive relocated the battery in my touring (m50 conv.) and used the 2dr cabling but ran along the boot floor as it didnt seem long enough to go over the arch :? Now ive got to redo it :cry: PITA x2 :roll: Cos i aint that happy about were it is :( Cheers for the info tho!
Gaffa tape is like "the force" - it has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
There's nothing that shouts "Poor Workmanship" more than wrinkles in the Gaffer tap
oze30
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sydney

Post Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:11 pm

Hmm.. paul quoted 60 plus vat!
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:11 pm

^ I think Pauls price includes VAT and post Colin.

Not a bad price if you want an OEM look job IMO. Otherwise you'll be getting the welder out like me.
User avatar
ste
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 1173
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: West Sussex

Post Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:11 am

Good info Dameon, many thanks. 8)

On my 'to-do' list. Should save me all kinds of headaches.
oze30
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sydney

Post Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:19 pm

old_skool_2002 wrote:^ I think Pauls price includes VAT and post Colin.

Not a bad price if you want an OEM look job IMO. Otherwise you'll be getting the welder out like me.
In that case.. Its not that bad.. either way.. I need something done as I have no battery door!
ShepsEvo3
Master of go faster
Posts: 1881
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol/Wiltshire

Post Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:49 pm

I've seen Damiens Battery conversion and it looks like it was there from new... as does his engine conversion too. Top quality! :D 8)
E30 M3 Unichip Alpha N style conversions, this is the ultimate for extracting the best out of your S14 M power car.
Also, Live mapping of your Standard Motronic ECU for optimising all your modifications.
www.sabre-tuning.co.uk