I'm Neil Prasad, an engineer living out of Palo Alto, California where I work for Tesla as a Mechanical Design Engineer. As with engineering, my love for everything automotive and motorsports knows no bounds. I am proud that I have applied the practical fabrication and problem solving knowledge I've gained from my car builds and hands-on projects, to my engineering career. My personal projects are below, my professional work can be found on LinkedIn.

My CAR Projects

BMW E46: One of the first automatic to manual transmission swaps, variable valve timing rebuild, ZCS engine management coding, interior conversion, subframe fabrication, projector retrofit, and more.

My first car was a BMW E46, which I acquired in 2007. Over the years, I've done quite a bit of things to it ranging from one of the first automatic to manual transmission swaps (quite the wiring and coding adventure) and an interior project where I stripped the entire interior to sheet metal and replaced it with a custom black/cinnamon interior. In 2016, I sold the e46 to focus my efforts on my 1989 e30.

BMW E30: Complete restoration from $400 rolling chassis. Paint and body work, motor swap, fuel system, cooling system, complete interior swap, suspension fabrication, and more.

As a college student, I bought my first e30 in 2010. It was a junkyard 1990 325i that was destined to be a project car, the "Chalkboard e30". From it, I learned how to build a car from the ground up. I'd like to think that I gave that car a second chance at life. In 2012, I drove the e30 from OKC to California for Bimmerfest, the largest BMW event in the U.S. Out of 2,500 cars, the reception this project car and its little chalk bucket received was truly humbling. In 2013, I sold the chalkboard e30 to start a new adventure.

BMW E30: Engine build, retrofit 1998 M3 S52 motor/transmission, engine harness wiring, E36 driveline retrofit, exhaust/shift linkage/suspension/subframe fabrication, Z3 steering retrofit, and more.

Purchased in 2013, this e30 is my current project. From rebuilding an S52 engine from a 1998 M3 and swapping it into the e30 (yes, that is an engine sitting on my garage floor), to wiring the entire engine electrical harness by hand. I have retrofitted suspension from an e30 m3, steering from a Z3, and the driveline from a 98 M3. As of 2016, the e30 has become my only car and daily driver. I mean, how many well-maintained 80's era classics do you see driving around on a regular basis?