Enough Wire for 2 Round Trips to Munich...

We get tons of calls from customers telling us how complicated their existing wiring is in their cars: tangles of wire, dozens of relays, mystery splices and tons of unknowns.  A big chunk of our customers are starting with a clean slate when they install ISIS into their cars.  Another group is using ISIS to replace the existing harness in their car. 

Over here at ISIS Power, we all came from the automotive world: engineering, manufacturing and selling products for the tier 1's, ultimately serving the OEMs.  I have seen manufacturing plants for practically all of the OEM's and they are amazing things.  One plant that stands out is the original BMW assembly plant in Munich.  The building where they originally assembled airplane engines is now their center for the 3-Series.  I recently found this video highlighting their assembly plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  It is amazing to watch but there are some startling statistics on the wiring harnesses for their cars.  Check it out here. 

Passenger cars are a complex web of electrical systems.  Everything from engine management, safety systems, lighting, climate control and infotainment has to be interconnected.  The harnesses for most passenger cars come into the process in large duffel bags.  These can weigh several hundred pounds.  You can see how they do this in the car in the BMW video. 

There were two starting facts that I learned when I watched this.  First, they actually heat up the harness assembly to make it easier to route through the chassis.  This makes a lot of sense but I don't recommend this to the folks at home.  The second fact is that there is 16,000 miles (yes, miles) of wire in the X5, roughly enough wire to stretch from our offices in Chicago to BMW's headquarters in Munich and back, twice.  That is a staggering amount of wire. 

Now, most of our customers' cars are far simpler than the X5, but with a traditional wiring harness it can feel like there is 16,000 miles of wire in the car.  Click here to learn more about how the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System can make wiring your car a simple process.