BMW made a mistake with the design of the E65 7 Series, a model nobody really seems to love, even today. That’s why you probably won’t care about this 745i whose V8 was ripped out to be replaced by a Lexus GS450h transmission (complete with built-in electric motor).
Now you might think that sounds like a pretty dumb idea, given that electric motors that are integrated into gearboxes aren’t all that powerful in many cases. But the one in the GS450h actually has a peak rating of 197 horsepower and 275 Nm of torque - not mind-boggling numbers, but still more than you expect.
And the GS450h transmission is of the continuously-variable type, which essentially means it can make the most of what torque and power gets sent through it. The complete system, which mates this transmission to a 3.5-liter V6 engine, makes a total of 335 horsepower combined, enough to send the GS to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 6 seconds.
But you can easily cruise in the 450h around town, with decent acceleration, under electric power alone, and you can even get it up to highway speeds if you don’t press the throttle too much.
This brings us to why putting this transmission in the 7 Series makes sense as a DIY electric conversion: you can easily pick one up used for not a lot of money, it packs enough power to move the car at a decent pace and since it’s a Toyota part, it should prove quite reliable over time. Fitting it to a car that was never designed to take it is not easy, hence the many warning lights adorning the BMW’s instrument cluster in the videos below, but it can be done.
Fully integrating it with the car’s factory systems is undeniably difficult, but it should be feasible to get at least some of them working. What’s really important in a conversion such as this is the controller for the electric motor, and the guy doing the conversion, Damien Maguire from Ireland, uses an open source one which he can program and customize the inner workings of himself.
There’s a lot of (useful) information to take in from Damien’s videos, especially for those looking to attempt such a conversion on their own. And just the fact that he was able to do it and get the car to move under its own power is impressive enough and it adds more credibility to the idea that you don’t necessarily have to buy a new electric car in order to enjoy the benefits of this type of powertrain - with knowledge, you can convert a gasoline or diesel car to run on electricity, even an ugly and complicated one like the E65.
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