2023 Mini Cooper SE Live Journal & Review

Do you have a plan for a battery upgrade?

I've also thought about an AWD conversion (wanted to do 4 motor with an AEM vcu) but just a RWD conversion with the current parts would be fun and pretty simple once my warranty is up.

The car feels grip limited until above 30-40mph so it could be a decent bit faster with RWD

 

Hmmm. Quick enough to replace, but I got a “reverse lamp malfunction” notification and no lights. Polarity? Or coding?

 

Oh! Mine just swapped right in, no issues. No coding either. Try rotating them 180 deg?

 

I don’t think Philips LEDs are polarity sensitive. Coding didn’t fix it, so I guess I’ll take notes and play polarity roulette (though two lamps is certainly not complicated).

 

Nope. Putting one halogen in then cycling the start toggle cleared the error, and gave me a reverse light on the halogen side. After singing the Philips LED praises… wtf? I can’t imagine they need a resistor, as coding for LED should tell the system not to look for that kind of draw.

ETA: just tried a different Philips P21W (1156) LED that worked fine for the reverse lamp on the smart without coding or a resistor, and it doesn’t work either. So the new bulbs are going back to Amazon, and I guess I’ll order what you guys did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Funny thing is that the only place I read about turning the bulb 180 deg was on the Philips website!

 

Ad BMW I 3 motor to rear used one from EBay you be able to use a lot of components as they the same as SE and you have 4wheel drive and pack batteries behind front sits LeaveExisting HV battery at the same place and 94 amph behind a sits for rear motor. You can make a rocket with 360 HP.I3 motor in rear in bmw I 3 is very simplistic to install you use the same axle hub rotor brakes inverter make two chargers outlets separate for two HV batteries to simplify a project .

 

SE trunk could look like that with rear motor and 4 wheel drive

 

Making an SE as heavy as a Model 3?

 

I was never able to spin a rear wheels in my 2014 BMW I 3 and I was not able disconnect traction bc was no button there and like you said rear give you better traction to take of .I weight my i3 on commercial scale and with 60Ah battery was2650 lbs.Driving I 3 for 6 years and SE for 7 month I know for sure I 3 was faster but not as solid on road with speeds above 60m/h like SE but nobody believe me to bad but I know what I know.Bc I 3 is there since 2014 is many parts on market and to build SE with rear drive for knowable mechanic should be no issue .I can put build like that together mechanically but I’m completely 0 with H voltage batteries computer programming and all electric work involved with build like this.I’m sure somebody is going to do it soon just for fun.

 

Tesla 3 single motor 3582 lbs.dual 4250 lbs.BMW i4 4680 lbs . Tesla M X 5390 lbs .MINI SE 3150 lbs.When you add BMW motor and battery could be 3800 lbs. which is not bad but what’s a fun in Minis body like someone said don’t care about range and additional 20 K just for fun .Just do it don’t wait for warranty expiration what this have to do to go ahead with a build and $7500 make this car a cheapest on market.My I 3 after 7 1/2 year never required dealer visits .

 

The LEDs? Or the “project” up above?? ​

 

You reaching a moon is no room in Mini to achieve what you looking for batteries never going to support a Teslas motors bc they will be to small old ACE platform is not aloud to put batteries between a wheels and this is end of your imagination which I really admire you try to reach .I’m going to follow your progress .

 

I can only hope you'll document your progress as well as you did with the charge port LED!

Without some special tools and pretty advanced CAN knowledge, I think even the RWD conversion would be rather difficult on a modern car. Based on the MINIs reaction to a Dyno, it would probably have a stroke during a rear wheel burnout without some major reprogramming of the nannies.

It would probably be cheaper to go full aftermarket with the drivetrain control and just try to send the correct CAN messages to the dash to keep it functioning. But things progress fast so who knows what'll be available (aftermarket or new cars) once my warranty is up

 

BMW I 3 is here since 2014 is 8 years on a market so far reading all and everywhere nobody so far try to upgrade in USA I 3 batteries from 60 Ah through 94 Ah through 120 Ah they did in U K but DIY by 2 people and specifically with SE as T configuration you can replace batteries with a car when battery survives only with same they will be no batteries with existing configuration with higher range .BMW offers replacement with the same batteries 60Ah to oldest models for $16000 as I’m assuming the same 94ah and 120 Ah I don’t know a price .what is good about it after 7 years not big milage 21000 miles my battery hold a charge a

8 years after bmw I 3 is nothing there to improve i3 and this is idea of bmw

 

I know I bore everybody with smart fortwo stuff, but do you remember all the “smartuki” projects and kits (swapping 200+ hp Hayabusa drivetrains into nominally 60 hp, 1600 lb smarts)? Where there’s a will (and a Platinum Card), there’s a way.