Help!! BEV with missing inverter / Rex missing front end.

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3rigel

Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2024
Messages
23
So having bought a rear 3/4 of an i3. Runs and drives ish, the front end is missing and front subframe is damaged but powers up and drives. In my infinite wisdom I found an i3 that had a motor removed but full bodied. So though I'd just transplant either front end or motor and sell the rest to recoup some money. Only thing is that the full bodied i3 turns out to be a BEV so not sure of what is interchangeable. Both cars are 2014. Any input would be most appreciated.
 
TBH, if you have any option to back out of the second purchase, I would do that. There are lots of dependencies between the various modules in the car, and I would not expect that an attempt to mix&max the core modules would be successful. The problem is likely to be that nobody outside of BMW really knows in complete detail how the modules interact.

The simplistic approach is that you simply re-code the EME, KLE and related modules to no longer expect to be interacting with the control module for the REX (REME) but you should not expect that to be documented anywhere. It's not in BMW's interest to document how to do it, and I doubt anyone else has the time or will to do it.
 
TBH, if you have any option to back out of the second purchase, I would do that. There are lots of dependencies between the various modules in the car, and I would not expect that an attempt to mix&max the core modules would be successful. The problem is likely to be that nobody outside of BMW really knows in complete detail how the modules interact.

The simplistic approach is that you simply re-code the EME, KLE and related modules to no longer expect to be interacting with the control module for the REX (REME) but you should not expect that to be documented anywhere. It's not in BMW's interest to document how to do it, and I doubt anyone else has the time or will to do it.
Thanks for the response.

The Bev came with motor in the back seat. There's also the top module, I'm guessing this is the charger section, so the part missing as I see it is the inverter. The charger I thought may be different as it also takes power from the Rex. The motor as far as I understand is shared between the Bev and Rex. I was hoping maybe the inverter may be universal too? It obviously has to fit to the same motor.
 
As I understand it, you can't take the motor controller module (the EME) off one motor and fit it to another without additional work. As I recall, the motor is synchronised to the EME (via a numeric code that should be attached to the motor but may not be). The EME is (as far as I'm aware) the same on both BEV and REX, but it will be coded differently. Figuring out how to re-code one to suit the other application is something that you will not likely find documented anywhere (because it's not a procedure that BMW would ever expect to carry out).
 
My mistake, it's an additional module not the eme. It may be the KLE but I'm not sure where it came from on the bev. It was just in the back seat with the motor.

It sounds like the easiest option is to take the front sub frame and everything forward of it from the BEV and put it on the rex.
 
Run both vin numbers through Realoem.com and look at some of the parts lists. Compare part numbers of both models and see if they share the same equipment/part number. Not a perfect solution, but a start.
 
Thanks Ollie, this has been really useful. I've reassemble most of what was in the back seat now into the engine bay...sort of. I think there may be more missing than I first thought.
 

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The orange lead I have on the folded down rear seat needs to find a home. I believe it starts at the EME unit that I'm still yet to find but where does it end given that it's for a none Rex so a lot less info floating around.

Many thanks all!
 
Ah! I may have found it's place, looking at the realoem website kindly provided by Ollie seems to locate it going to the air con pump.
 
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