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E30 BMW 3 Series at Tesla Supercharger Is Recycling in Style

Tired of only hearing about the newest Teslas and how they're faster than your favorite BMW? Not even the M3 is safe, while the classics seem positively outdated.
E30 BMW 3 Series at Tesla Supercharger Is Recycling in Style 3 photos
Photo: tesla_bimmer
E30 BMW 3 Series at Tesla Supercharger Is Recycling in StyleE30 BMW 3 Series at Tesla Supercharger Is Recycling in Style
However, a man by the name of Jon Volk with a "Built Not Bought" attitude decided to do something nobody tried before and shoehorned a Tesla powertrain into his 1992 BMW 3 Series Convertible. The E30 used to be one of the most popular German cars to modify, from custom exhausts to stance and even the odd drift special. However, we think a Tesla swap is pretty uncommon.

Using the handle @tesla_bimmer, Jon's Frankenstein creation has taken Instagram by storm. This particular photo of it "filling up" at the supercharger is particularly noteworthy because it's like catching the Queen dancing to synthwave or finding out deep-fried foods could somehow be good for your body. Shocking!

Back in 1992, this Bimmer left the factory as a 325i. We could tell you what engine that came with and how many cylinders it had, but it doesn't matter because it's been replaced with the guts of a Model S P85. A lot of custom fabrication happened under the hood, including a custom trey to hold the cells and a high-voltage control box and a charging port placed under the tiny kidney grille.

No, that's not a Tesla battery pack, since there's no space for that here. Instead, the two cells are made for the Chevy Volt and have a combined capacity of 32 kWh, which should be enough for 100 miles of driving.

We could pretend to understand how they mounted the massive Tesla motor inside the OEM suspension using 3D-modeled components. But we accept defeat gracefully and would like you guys to discover the car for yourselves. We're just happy the classic is still on the road and turning heads.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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