- Thread starter
- #1
So as some of you may know, I purchased Jackie's A90 Supra after his on-track incident. I picked it up from Jackie in Michigan and brought it to Chicago where my brother and I are doing some initial work to get it running again before I take it down to Texas where it will live.
So, as with many BMWs, this car has a Battery Safety Terminal, or BST, that will use an explosive gas charge to disconnect the positive battery terminal from the starter and alternator in the event of a crash.
This car was stuck in Park and had the e-Brake engaged and the car refused to go into Neutral or release the brake in accessory mode. This is a common BMW theme and generally requires replacing or bridging the BST in order to start the car. I jumped the BST with jumper cables but the battery was too dead and it refused to start (it wouldn't even take a jump). So I went to plan B, manually engaging neutral from the transmission itself. I got underneath and pulled the panels off, but alas, no release screw like other ZF transmissions. So from there was Plan C, putting the rear on dollies and pulling the car up by hand (I didn't have a winch). It was a long and painful process, but we got there...
The assessed damage is as follows:
-Front Bumper
-L Headlight
-Cooler Duct
-L Front Lower Control Arm
-Hood/Clamshell
-L Fender
-L Door
-L Rocker
-L Rear Quarter Panel
No structural damage, no mechanical damage. The only wiring damage is a little bit of torn insulation on one of the light wires.
Overall, she looks to be in decent shape!
Tomorrow I will try to sort out the battery issue and the BST issue and try to get the car started. Maybe even tackle the suspension. Then get the car back to Texas on Sunday.
I'm be making videos for YouTube on the Albon YT Channel, but those probably won't be for a bit, so I'll keep the build thread updated first.
So, as with many BMWs, this car has a Battery Safety Terminal, or BST, that will use an explosive gas charge to disconnect the positive battery terminal from the starter and alternator in the event of a crash.
This car was stuck in Park and had the e-Brake engaged and the car refused to go into Neutral or release the brake in accessory mode. This is a common BMW theme and generally requires replacing or bridging the BST in order to start the car. I jumped the BST with jumper cables but the battery was too dead and it refused to start (it wouldn't even take a jump). So I went to plan B, manually engaging neutral from the transmission itself. I got underneath and pulled the panels off, but alas, no release screw like other ZF transmissions. So from there was Plan C, putting the rear on dollies and pulling the car up by hand (I didn't have a winch). It was a long and painful process, but we got there...
The assessed damage is as follows:
-Front Bumper
-L Headlight
-Cooler Duct
-L Front Lower Control Arm
-Hood/Clamshell
-L Fender
-L Door
-L Rocker
-L Rear Quarter Panel
No structural damage, no mechanical damage. The only wiring damage is a little bit of torn insulation on one of the light wires.
Overall, she looks to be in decent shape!
Tomorrow I will try to sort out the battery issue and the BST issue and try to get the car started. Maybe even tackle the suspension. Then get the car back to Texas on Sunday.
I'm be making videos for YouTube on the Albon YT Channel, but those probably won't be for a bit, so I'll keep the build thread updated first.
Last edited: