Electric pop out window opener - Any Interest?

[Clark]

I dig it.

[e30strokr]

I dig it.

will they pop out automatically at 85 MPH?!?!!? lol very nice....

[nrubenstein]

Honestly, it needs to look cleaner than that to be interesting. It's a very not-stock look.

[roznic]

I love the idea but also agree with "nrubenstein"
maybe some sort of cover?!

[kloucks]

Yeah i muddled on a cover for a long time to make it look more "stock", but in the end nothing will look stock, ever. So then once i realized that, I figured I'd just make it look as bad ass as possible.

Are you not liking the exposed linkage? or is it the motor cover?

[stonea]

I think a motor cover and black linkage would make it look a whole lot better.

[nrubenstein]

Yeah i muddled on a cover for a long time to make it look more "stock", but in the end nothing will look stock, ever. So then once i realized that, I figured I'd just make it look as bad ass as possible.

Are you not liking the exposed linkage? or is it the motor cover?

The motor is much worse for me than the linkage, but I don't like either.

[fakeplstctrees]

Looks great, I've got 4 e30s thats would love this.

Too bad none of them have pop out windows in the rear

You have E30 coupes, without pop out rear windows? I wasn't aware that they were optional. Both my previous and current coupes have them.

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[rturbo 930]

90+ E30 coupes don't have pop outs.

[kloucks]

90+ E30 coupes don't have pop outs.

This is also not helping my corner case market...

I found this particular prototype cover, I think it could have a few interested buyers.


Here are a few close ups of the motors with thier current cases. Just for the record, they are covered, its not just bare motor sticking out. i would never have that. I think they look pretty good.




But that said i do think I will go with black anodizing next time, for an even more finished look.

[DrJosh]

Honestly, it needs to look cleaner than that to be interesting. It's a very not-stock look.

I agree. I have always wanted my pop outs to be motorized, but this is too raw for my taste.

[george graves]

George Graves sells his electric gizmos like hot cakes, but that's because his price point is usually well below 50 dollars a pop.

Since I've been summoned ;) I'll put in my 2 cents. Here's my take on things....

I have a 3 page list of possible e30 products. Some of them I've already made, some would require 20k investment upfront. All of them are cool in their own right. But some you just can't make for the price that would tickle people's interest. It's just how things work. Not everything can be made for $50-$300. Design takes a butt load of time, money and skills. So do tools. Stocking parts/inventory dealing with suppliers, and advertising, instructions.

This stuff isn't easy to do right. Case in point is Steroinstaller, his parts/supplies were readable available at any homedepo/lowes - add in some wood glue, and 40 years of box building experience, and even a one-size-box-fits-all-and-ignore-subwoofer-specs sort of thing....failed despite his best efforts.

Another example.... I'm working on a project that I want for my e30, and I know I'll never be able to sell it. If someone asked me to make one for them, it would be at least $2k more like $3k all said and done. That's never going to happen, and I honestly don't want to. So I might sell some of the custom parts that are needed if you want to do it on your own, and then give away the instructions as a build diary. That might work well for the OP, or maybe not. I don't blame him for wanting +$200 for this. But, I would expect him to sell 3-4 if he can it look more factory.

Good on you OP - keep at it!

[Javier h]

It's price right

$275 for a custom mechanism sounds right.

What I find amusing is folks paying $300 for mud flaps on E36 m3 because they are NLA.

or even $300 for used e30 factory mats.

or $500 for a 370mm oem e30 steering wheel.

To each is own.

[kloucks]

Thanks for the experienced low down George. You are a great example of the direction that I would like to take some of my ideas. I too have a long list of possible custom modifications to the e30 base that I would like to pursue someday.

The ideal recipe for a low volume product like this to be affordable in a small market is to use the most off the shelf components as possible. With electronics, this is perfect, that is unless you have to make any boards, which you most likely do for some of your products. But then even those can be had for cheap. The problem with this project is that there are at the least four parts per side that are custom machined parts, which never come cheap at low quantities. Not to mention a very expensive miniature gearmotor at the heart of the design.

The real reason why I made this little contraption is because that is what I like to do, not to get rich. I put a little more effort into this one in making it a bit more cosmetic/robust/manufacturable because i was thinking there could be a few other people out there who would be into it. I also have access to a full machine shop and anytime i can jump on a free CNC mill, its puts a big ol' grin on my face.

I also dig the raw mechanical look, just my preference :D. I was thinking of making some covers for it, but they would just end up being crazy expensive (injection molded, carbon fiber) or look hacked (thermoformed plastic, sheet metal). Here are a few more angles that might show that i did make sooooome effort to make it have eye appeal. See the slight angle on the main base plate ;), and the heim joint linkage matches the rugged linkage in your suspension setup....

[imjusthere]

I dig it. I'd buy one in the future. I always pop my sunroof up for a breeze. Having the windows down is to loud and drowns out the tunes. I bet this combined with the sunroof tilt would be perfect on hot days.

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