DIY: Voltphreaks Lithium Battery installation into M3 E92

Hello, i'm from Barcelona (spain) and i decided to install a lightweight battery into my M3. That's why i contacted with Tony from VOLTPHREAKS (www.voltphreaks.com). I chose to install the VPH900 Lithium Battery.

I'm going to describe how i did the installation of this battery into my e92 M3 with a few pictures:



When i recived the battery with aluminium SAE terminals.



OEM Battery





Battery comparision: 26 kg against 3 kg



I did two small holes to install a plastic bridles



Velcro at the bottom of the battery to avoid sliding.



Velcro in the battery hole and also you can see the small holes.



Voltphreaks Battery, i installed a rope in one side that i tightened with a plastic bridles in the other side.



Rope detail



Plastic bridles detail



Tighten the rope with the bridles



Tightened bridles and the rope



Installation of positive and negative terminals.





Activation button accessivility.



Installation complete



Voltphreaks vynil

The battery is amazing and i haven't had any problems. The battery is very well fixed with this installation.

In voltphreaks website you can find all the battery characteristics.

Ahh one more thing i registered the battery like a 40ah_agm battery!!

I wish this thread can help someone.

Regards!!!

Nicely done. Great mod!

After 2 weeks i have to say that this battery is incredible. I think that this is the battery that our cars shoud be installed form factory.

Make sure you keep your stock battery just in case. I've never heard of this company and would only use a lightweight battery for track purposes. Hope it holds up for you.

THE TECH wrote

Make sure you keep your stock battery just in case. I've never heard of this company and would only use a lightweight battery for track purposes. Hope it holds up for you.

Can you elaborate on this?

I was contemplating switching my OEM one out in my e93 barge. ~40lbs savings is considerable.

///M3THOD wrote

Can you elaborate on this?

I was contemplating switching my OEM one out in my e93 barge. ~40lbs savings is considerable.

There is a thread on here where a guy used a lightweight battery by a known company and it doesn't last on a daily driver. This car is very electronic heavy so I would stick with OEM. Not worth chancing.

THE TECH wrote

There is a thread on here where a guy used a lightweight battery by a known company and it doesn't last on a daily driver. This car is very electronic heavy so I would stick with OEM. Not worth chancing.

Thanks for the reply. I do leave my car parked for periods of time as well when I travel for work w/o a trickle charger.

A battery could represent a serious weight savings opportunity though.

///M3THOD wrote

Thanks for the reply. I do leave my car parked for periods of time as well when I travel for work w/o a trickle charger.

A battery could represent a serious weight savings opportunity though.

Not worth the hassle unless it's a track only car. Otherwise, your car will dead without a trickle charger. If weight was a real concern, you wouldn't have purchased an E93.

THE TECH wrote

If weight was a real concern, you wouldn't have purchased an E93.

I totally agree with that. E93 weight hundreds of pounds more than E90 and E92. The electric top is also another power draw. While I would not go with a little 21 lb battery, I would consider the Mini battery that weighs about 35 lbs. I ran one of those little 21 lb batteries, a Deka ETX30L that is the same as the Braille 21 lb battery, in my 99M3 and it lasted only a year of all weather driving in NH. In the more power hungry E90M3, I would want something bigger for daily driving use.

Voltphreaks looks like it has some nice stuff, but it is expensive. There may also still be issues with Li batteries in extreme cold. We sometimes have zero degree weather in NH.

For skeptics, 0 issues with the battery. It's amazing.

If you haven't heard about this company is because you should have read more.

And the posting you are talking about is about lightweight agm batteries. Not Lithium batteries.

Regards from Barcelona City

Lightweight AGM != lightweight Lithium-ion. An AGM battery is still a lead-acid battery at heart. Li-ion is a big leap forward in capability at the expense of, well, expense

The battery OP installed is around $1,000-1100 for the equivalent battery. The best application for a street car from voltphreaks is their 9lb 45aH 1200CCA unit at ~$1700. At 52lbs of weight savings, that's not such a bad cost/lb ration compared to the other stuff people do to lose weight, but still nutty expensive unless you're competing with the car or just doing it for fun

Richbot wrote

Lightweight AGM != lightweight Lithium-ion. An AGM battery is still a lead-acid battery at heart. Li-ion is a big leap forward in capability at the expense of, well, expense

The battery OP installed is around $1,000-1100 for the equivalent battery. The best application for a street car from voltphreaks is their 9lb 45aH 1200CCA unit at ~$1700. At 52lbs of weight savings, that's not such a bad cost/lb ration compared to the other stuff people do to lose weight, but still nutty expensive unless you're competing with the car or just doing it for fun

Definitely expensive and it is actually 590CCA (1200CA) / 45AH which is not that much capacity in a car with the electrical demands of the E90 chassis. The OEM Battery is 800 CCA and 80AH.

You may get away with that battery if the car was driven every day, but for a car that is not driven often a trickle charger would "probably" be a must with only 45AH Capacity. Also, In a cold climate I don't "think" (I don't know either) it would be up to the challenge of cold starts. Lithium Ion batteries are pretty amazing though and they do behave differently than regular lead acid batteries so it would be nice to see someone test one of these in a cold climate or on a car that sits for a few weeks/months on end to see how it would hold up under real world usage!?

One of the reasons lead acid batteries are sized the way they are is to provide longevity in situations like you described. A li-ion battery behaves differently so it can be sized (when i say sized i mean cca and ah, not physical size) accordingly.

I have to ise a trickle charger with a brand new OEM battery in the car it still won't hold a good enough charge for more than a week. Sure it is good enough after sitting for weeks to start the car and run things, but not good enough to rule out a low voltage freakout from the various electronics, which is annoying and trickle chargers are easy. No way I would run any kind of downsized battery without a trickle charger for times when it's parked more than a couple days. It'll be a few years before I need another battery but when I do maybe I will have a moment of what the hell and buy one of these. It's only money

Just be careful the FAA doesn't ground you...

Amazing battery! 0 issues since the installation!!!! And i have had the car stopped more than a week.

0 issues the battery is working perfectly!!!!!

Glad to hear a positive update on this. Do you drive your car daily? Have you the opportunity to allow the car to sit a few days or week or two at a time?

Sorry for the delay. Yes in augoust i spent out for a week my summer holidays and the car started perfectly!!!!

Also you have to know that i have an amplifier and a power pulley in my car.

100 % super lightweight battery recomendation.

Amazing!!!

Regards from spain!

Richbot wrote

The battery OP installed is around $1,000-1100 for the equivalent battery. The best application for a street car from voltphreaks is their 9lb 45aH 1200CCA unit at ~$1700. At 52lbs of weight savings, that's not such a bad cost/lb ration compared to the other stuff people do to lose weight, but still nutty expensive unless you're competing with the car or just doing it for fun

I just looked this up and its the VPR-S40. At $1,660 its not bad for the weight you are losing, when compared to high priced cat back exhaust systems, which shed much less weight for the money.


Item Specifications
Model Number: VPR-S40
Nominal voltage: 12.8 volts
Cranking Amps (CA): 1270 amps
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA): 780 amps
Capacity: 49 Ah
Reserve Capacity (RC): 63 minutes
terminal type: SAE post (requires adapter), M6 male, M6 female
working temperature: -22°F to 140°F (max 170°F)
dimensions: 9.75x3.75x7.75" (not including terminals)
weight: 9.5 pounds

I should also add, these batteries carry a 2 year warranty. If its not up to snuff, one could always argue with Voltphreaks about a replacement.

0 issues. keep thinking that is the best lightweight battery for our cars!!!!

golfotron if your happy with it then all good don't worry about the arm chair experts.

I just bought a Braille GU1R for my E36 track car, weighs 6.6lbs PCA 947 LAH 48 hours.

Shouldn't have any issues as I disconnect it between different race meets.

Cost $1000 AU from batteriesdirect.com.au

I've had a LithiumPros batt that I had in my GT-R & now my Evo for several years w/ only occasional charging issues--due to non-usage of the cars.

I keep the Evo on a trickle charger now & experience no issues when doing so.

Both cars were/are used for competition, but seeing that my M3 is my daily & occasional HPDE ride, I'm thinking abt a lithium LW batt for it--especially now that prices seem to be coming down...

Thanks to the OP & Forza Alonso!!!

So I just bought the VPH-900 as well, Tony at voltphreaks was nice enough to include the SAE connectors and jr. tender in for free. Battery should be here in a few weeks, then it will get installed along with the other goodies I have planned for this summer.

Stock battery 60lb, VPH 900 >10lb. This along with the CF roof I have planned should shave a good 100lb off the car (have moonroof unfortunately).

Tony and actually Braille as well said the car can sit for up to two weeks and have no problems. What sold me on the voltphreaks unit was the automatic shutoff it has built in and the ability to turn the battery off I plan not to drive the car for a while. No need to disconnect the negative terminal.