Official BMW i3 thread

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Interesting... BMW used to transport their new vehicles to dealers in enclosed transporters to reduce the incidence of road rash... Apparently economics and cost reductions have won out more recently...

Valdemar said:
This morning on SB 101 in Agoura Hills.
 
Valdemar said:
This morning on SB 101 in Agoura Hills.

IMG_20140513_105845.jpg

Just down the road in Camarillo (closest dealership to the port), I saw a customer drive away in his new i3 today.
 
Is the new BMW i3 electric car having charging problems? I read the article below and the writer said he could only charge it from 110 volts at home. His 220 Volt charger would not work on the car.

http://cars.uk.msn.com/reviews/bmw-i3-rex-range-extender-long-term-test-review-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
2048Megabytes said:
Is the new BMW i3 electric car having charging problems? I read the article below and the writer said he could only charge it from 110 volts at home. His 220 Volt charger would not work on the car.

http://cars.uk.msn.com/reviews/bmw-i3-rex-range-extender-long-term-test-review-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well, that's weird. The article is from the UK where they only have 230v so how could he charge it at 110v?

There is also no mention of 110v in the whole article. The article does mention that there were charging problems with the car because it was an early import into the UK but they were resolved with an update from BMW.
 
A us owner reported his Leviton evb32 (which he used for 2 years with his activeE) would not charge his new I3. His car is fine and charges at the dealer but not on his home unit.
he report clicks and pops but wouldnt charge. (contactors?)

He is now getting a clipper creek HCS40 as BMW reports its been tested and works

I just cant understand why with a standard (j1712) mfr cant get it right. BMW should have tested the cars with lots of docks before selling the car.

the other reports I have seen are all europe and I am not fmailiar with the evse types so not sure how relevant they are.
 
Fully read the article... it was an original i3... they updated after he got a new evse and it still wasn't working... so an ugly bit of finger pointing and now it all works and because it was attributed to an old original version of the car... hopefully wont affect the ones we get here in the americas.
 
After all these months - finally we had a test drive event in the Seattle area today.

Liked the drive in general - but again re-re-re-confirmed that coach-doors won't work with child seats in tight parking situations.

The one pedal drive and aggressive regen is nice - interestingly the car won't stop even in small inclines. Hmmm ... that removes 50% of roads here.

Seating is high - seems higher because the roof was very close to my head. The dash just stretches in front - seemingly meaningless. Not that awed by the apparent futuristic design there.

A larger 5 seat I car would be interesting - w/ Rex and more EV range.
 
With some interest from a potential i3 buyer in another thread, saw that the local Chicago area TV commercials added 'see your Chicagoland BMW dealer' at the end of the now so checked on auto trader and sure enough, the Motor Werks BMW dealer in Barrington, IL had a silver one in their remote lot ... must have just come in because it still had the shipping plastic, etc. on it. This was was pretty close to a base model ... still over $43K and no leather seats; although the wheels look like plastic wheel covers, they are alloys and 19" but REALLY skinny, like a motorcycle tire. All the interior shots had too much reflections (sunny day) so didn't post any ... does look better in person than the photos but something to get used to. The 'floating' information centers on the dash look interesting as well ... cheap looking material on the seats on this one though and $550 just for the silver paint ... come on!; $350 for heated seats well OK I guess; still would love to test drive one just to see how it is compared to our LEAF.

i3%20MW%20Barr%201.jpg


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i3%20MW%20Barr%206.jpg
 
Via insideevs.com, and Tom M's blog (Tom had previously written about his likes):

"BMW i3 – 2,000-Mile Real-World Review – The Dislikes"

http://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-2000-mile-real-world-review-dislikes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
GRA said:
Via insideevs.com, and Tom M's blog (Tom had previously written about his likes):

"BMW i3 – 2,000-Mile Real-World Review – The Dislikes"

http://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-2000-mile-real-world-review-dislikes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Excellent write-up ... you would think that mfg's would 'learn' from others who already have had EV's out there as to what customers like or dislike, especially with BMW's own approach with the MINI-E and Active-E trials. Others of course are entitled to their opinions but 'real life' comments on living with one of these is great. Here in IL it seems we're under a constant state of road repair so the narrow tires and the need to fight the wheel, etc. would actually be a bigger deal (LEAF has no noticeable issue with these); the other idiosyncrasies like the charge cover cap, etc. probably not as much. The i3 is indeed in the premium price range to start off with but does come with a lot of standard equipment, with it being so close (at base of course) to the MBZ B-class, as well as both coming from Germany I'm sure we'll see more head to head comparisons as well although the i3 is a ground up EV as compared to the 'converted to EV' approach that MBZ took with the B-class.

Would love to see more discussion on using the extender; noticing one of the comments posted on the 'likes' blog --- the i3 is NOT like the Volt where you could take it on a very long trip by filling it up every 300 miles or so but pushing the i3 to the limit I would wonder how much range in gas only would be realistic w/o putting too much strain on that tiny motorcycle-based engine.

If you always keep it in mind of the 'majority' of how you drive that helps but when/if you need to downsize due to retiring, etc. going to something as multiple purpose as possible lends itself to being your only car. I also forgot about the slightly elevated ride height which is a favorite of mine -- our trip car is a mid-size SUV and actually our little smart ICE rides a bit taller as well ... this is a definite plus with me for the i3 but will also probably prefer the MBZ B-class in the long run once that becomes more broadly available.
 
I thought someone posted about the engima of i3 US sales (some folks are still waiting for theirs while there are units in stock at dealers). Anyhow, the numbers are at http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/permalink/676896399050891/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; by a member states that Stevens Creek BMW (in Nor Cal) has 14 on the lot: 8 base models (?) and 3 REx versions.

Personally, I suspect those 8 aren't base models but just EV-only versions, not "stripper" units.

I wonder if this will eventually turn into a US sales fail for BMW.
 
I saw my first one in the wild yesterday night. I don't mind the design overall, but I have to admit it looks ugly from behind with the taillights on.
 
I've yet to see a single i3 on the road in the Bay Area.

The only ones I've seen are at auto shows, i3 driving events (e.g. test drive event at CES in January 2014 (I test drove 2x)) and when I went to meet two folks (one of whom is here on MNL) who bought/leased their i3's. I guess I'm not too surprised given their low sales numbers and relatively wide distribution (vs. say CA compliance cars).

OT, I just noticed your capacity bar situation... not sure if you'd opted out of the class action settlement, but if you haven't, If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking to park my Leaf over in Phoenix outside for the summer so that it loses it's 4th capacity bar before hitting 60K miles... Looks like temps are pretty toasty there. According to the Yahoo Weather app, the high temps for the next 10 days range from 104 to 111 F. Lows range from 82 to 91, w/most being in the upper 80s to 91.
 
The CB situation is not a happy one as I didn't opt out. Yes, the idea to send my Leaf to a summer desert vacation did cross my mind, but it would probably cost me 3k if not more to do this. As of a month or so ago I had 215 gids, so it can take a while to lose 2 bars, and in the end there is always a risk to get a used battery as the replacement. The car should work for my needs for 2-3 more years, so I'd rather push it as long as I can and then think what to do next, with the most likely option being a replacement pack from a junkyard, and the second likely is to give it to my wife, even 40 mile range should be ok for her commute.
 
I've posted previously why an only ~25 kW range extending generator that the driver cannot select until the battery is near depletion would not provide satisfactory (or even safe) performance in mountainous areas.

At first I thought the I-3 forum post below was probably exaggerating a bit, as highway 17, with only ~1,800 ft. of ascent, is not even very much of a climb, in comparison to many other California highways:

I picked up my BMW i3 REX yesterday. I live in the SF Bay Area (North-east corner). I frequently travel to the beach near Santa Cruz, CA via Highway 17 (for those who may be familiar with the area). I feared that this could be a challenge for the i3 as the base of the hill over to the beach is about 60 miles away from home (meaning battery could run out before climbing the hill).

Let me start by saying I knew that REX mode has some power limitations, and I don't expect to use the REX in daily commuting. But this is a trip I make every couple of weeks. I saw no definitive info from BMW on the nature of the REX limitations, but had read online that you could cruise at 75MPH on flat ground and that it would maintain 45-50MPH on grades. The speed limit on Highway 17 is 50 MPH, so I felt like even the worst case would be tolerable. I was wrong.

After the ICE kicked on, the car maintained speed for maybe 5 minutes, then began to feel very weak. On the next uphill section, my speed fell quickly from 50MPH down to 25MPH and was falling (this while at WOT). Cars backed up behind me and I needed to put on the hazard blinkers and crawl to the next turn out.

I waited on side of road while the engine continued to run (but seemingly not at full load). I did not know how long to wait. After 3-5 minutes, I attempted to merge back into traffic (I was still on an uphill section). The car initially had good power, accelerated to ~40MPH, then crapped out and fell back to 25MPH. I crawled to next turnout and waited 10 mins. That was enough to get me over the next hill and get me on my way.

This wasn't just annoying. It was dangerous...

http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1366" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But one of the replies to his post (if correct) may help explain his unfortunate experience:

...In the BMW University W20 Engine document there is a graph on page 56 illustrating engine RPM as a function of speed. For noise reasons the engine only operates at high RPM at higher speed. It reduces the REX engine RPM at lower speeds even for a depleted battery. According to the graph at 0.7% battery the REX maximum speed of 4300 RPM is reduced below 70 km/h down to an idle of 2400 RPM at about 18 km/h.

It seems to me that this could lead to a negative feedback situation. If the hill was steep enough the the REX at 4400 RPM couldn't sustain a speed of 70 km/h (43.5 mph) it would have to slow down at some point. Once the i3 started slowing below 70 km/h the REX would reduce in RPM to avoid excessive noise at low speeds. Less RPM means less power generated which means even less speed so the RPM is reduced even further.

Then according to the chart when you are stopped the REX will at best idle at 2400 RPM and I think it shuts down when the SOC reaches 3.5%...

http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1366&start=10" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Wow. And it would all be solved if you could just turn the damn engine on yourself. That chap with the mountain to climb could just turn on the generator 10 miles from his house and the whole trip would have been a non event. I still think a tiny engine generator is a great idea, but only with an on button and a large tank.
 
All this crap and they didn't get a white sticker anyway! Just make it like a Volt (or even the EU i3) - albeit with much less performance - and be done with it!

pkulak said:
Wow. And it would all be solved if you could just turn the damn engine on yourself. That chap with the mountain to climb could just turn on the generator 10 miles from his house and the whole trip would have been a non event. I still think a tiny engine generator is a great idea, but only with an on button and a large tank.
 
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