Benjamin M. Monroe Blog: BMW 330Ci EV Conversion Has M3 LSD and an Asking Price of $8,000

Thursday, March 29, 2018

BMW 330Ci EV Conversion Has M3 LSD and an Asking Price of $8,000

Electric vehicles are definitely considered the future by the vast majority of people involved in the auto industry. Yet many car lovers around the world are not all that excited about the prospect of racing in buzzing cars, listening just to the electrons transferring from the battery packs to the electric motors. However, some enthusiasts love the instant torque delivered by such contraptions, like the man who built the BMW 330Ci in the videos below.

According to this Craigslist ad, the car we’re looking at is quite the Frankenstein monster of our days. Starting life as a good ol’ E46 330Ci, the car was transformed into an electric vehicle with a couple of carefully picked parts taken from cars made by different manufacturers. The drivetrain has apparently been taken off a Lexus GS450h and it is claimed to have 300 HP, but that’s surprising considering the Lexus used to come with 340 HP thanks partly to its 3.5-liter V6.

The seller claims that “the entire transmission from the Lexus hybrid was used, bolted in where the stock BMW transmission used to be, and this serves as the motor and transmission for this car. There are actually two motors inside the transmission, one of which has a 2-speed gear reduction which you can activate by moving the gear-shifter to Sport mode. This is done by using the stock BMW tiptronic gear selector.” Furthermore, it seems like the car will be doing burnouts rather easily thanks to the limited slip differential installed from an E46 M3 donor car.

The batteries come from Chevy Volt models and yes, it’s plural. There are two of them installed in the car, one in the engine bay and one replacing the rear seats for a total capacity of 28 kWh. As for the range, the seller claims he did 60 miles on one charge a number of times but wouldn’t venture further off. There’s still some work to be done and he won’t sell it unless you prove you have experience with hazardous voltage and some electronics skills. All said and done, this thing looks like it is rapid in a straight line, judging by the video below and it’s definitely a steal at $8,000.