MG5 battery upgrades

PVperson

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I know this forum is more people using their MG's, rather than taking them apart/rebuilding them, but here goes.
I bought what was possibly at the time the cheapest whole MG5 cat N (damaged, non-structural) in Oct 2023, for £5400, and paid £500 for (almost) all the parts to repair the front end, e.g. bumper, 1 wing, crash beam, both rads, bonnet, 1 light (we'll come to that later!) top panel, motor cover and stiffener (which I left out)
As it was a 52.5kWh, I also bought the battery (from the same breaker in Essex) for £2500, which was cheap at the time.
The main problem with the battery is moving it around/storing it, as it weighs ~350kg and you need at least a pallet truck, and fork lift to get it out of a van! :(
It was sitting on my friends' driveway for a few months, until he needed to repaint the front of the house, so I decided to dive into it. I had previously spoken t a Lithuanian chap in Salford who upgrades/changes the batteries, who gave me some advice. Due to CAN issues, addressing etc., you need to change the 6 modules and their local BMS boxes, rather than a straight swap.
So, armed with a 7mm socket on a battery drill, I removed the 70+ bolts, the black steel lid lifted off fairly easily, and you see this:-

Battery top off.JPG


Then, removing the orange terminal covers, you can unbolt all the busbars, and then the 16s modules themselves (6x16s = 96s, 350.4V) Lithium-ion/NMC are usually nom. 3.65V/cell, charging to 4.20V or 4.15V/cell. Once removed, the modules can be moved by an able-bodied man (or 2!) as they weigh 50kg, the aluminium box ~35kg, lid, busbars and bolts another ~15kg. If you have the "donor battery" you can now swap the modules and 6 BMS black boxes, the main BMS will then "learn" the new capacity of the battery, as it charges and discharges. You've now increased your range ~80km!
FYI: the 52.56kWh battery uses 150Ah cells, the 61.1 uses 174Ah, So, if in the future CATL bring out a fff 200Ah module, it'll mean a 70kWh MG5 with a range approaching 300miles/480km!!"

[ Moderator: Inserted the image where referenced. ]
 
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I've moved this to the MG5 forum because I think you have a better chance of getting help here.

ETA. I now realise you're not in any need of help, this is high-powered stuff (literally), and holy wow. But anyway, you're in the right place.
 
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Does this mean you've upgraded your SR to LR? No real problems encountered and it's running fine?

If so, well done for being a pioneer...
The pioneer was the Lithuanian, Kaspars, in Salford, who told me how to do it. I'm looking forward to 200Ah modules, which will give a range to rival Teslas...
Or someone who manages to fit 2 BPCs, giving maybe 500mi/800km range!
 
Due to CAN issues, addressing etc., you need to change the 6 modules and their local BMS boxes, rather than a straight swap.
Do you mean the main BMS is VIN coded? Would it therefore not have been sufficient just to swap it over into the donor pack?
 
Not that I know. I haven't done it yet, but I'm told that you just need to swap the local BMS modules (6 in an MG5) with the battery modules.
According to James from Cleevely, it's just plug and play, you install the long range battery in a standard range car and it just works without anything else needed.
 
Yes,
I understand that there is no coding needed to swap a LR pack into the SR vehicle.
Yes, just need the swap the black boxes (see picture) with the battery modules, as these are specific to the higher capacity (174Ah) modules. the SR has 150Ah, and I would guess the ER MG4 (different modules) has 200Ah.
 
Yes,

Yes, just need the swap the black boxes (see picture) with the battery modules, as these are specific to the higher capacity (174Ah) modules. the SR has 150Ah, and I would guess the ER MG4 (different modules) has 200Ah.
According to James, there is no swapping of anything, you just bolt in the larger battery as is and it works!
 
The pioneer was the Lithuanian, Kaspars, in Salford, who told me how to do it. I'm looking forward to 200Ah modules, which will give a range to rival Teslas...
Or someone who manages to fit 2 BPCs, giving maybe 500mi/800km range!
Do you have a YouTube, blog covering this ?
I am very interested to follow.
 
According to James, there is no swapping of anything, you just bolt in the larger battery as is and it works!
Probably true for PFL where both packs were NMC, however that may not be as simple when you change from LFP chemistry to NMC for FL models?
 
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