Unsolved ZIP breaks my mod

Mod works fine when placed straight into the game files

-vehicles
-- pessima
--- *mod files*

But as soon as i zip it in the following format, it instantly breaks.

-mods
--zip
--- vehicles
---- pessima
----- *mod files*

I've also tried just zipping the files straight in the game files, doesn't work..
I've tried zipping with best quality compression
I've tried zip and rar
i am 100% sure i use the same files in both examples

What's goin on here?

 

"What's going on" is probably this bit "I've tried zipping with best quality compression / I've tried zip and rar". This game, like most things in life, does not support RAR. It also doesn't support many of the more modern compression algorithms.

Move your files from wherever you've got them (where exactly do you have them again???) to here:
Documents\BeamNG.drive\mods\unpacked\your_mod_name\vehicles\pessima\

If that works then simply use the in-game mod manager to produce a zip.

If you're intent on manually zipping your mod you may use these settings in 7-zip: