Guess what Mad_Lad got this time?

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

I'm booked in for my end of warranty check next week.

The UK i3 group has a list of issues to check, I asked the garage to check and they refused.

Not to worry, I have an email from them documenting all that I asked them to check, and their refusal to do anything other than a standard visual inspection so if any of those problems pop up, I'll still chase BMW them after the warranty period.

Can you share the list please ?

Don't be shy in naming the dealer, name and shame.

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Can you share the list please?

Some of these I think are specific to certain model years but this is the full list.

UK i3 owners group wrote:

- Dampers and damper gaiters - The front dampers have been known to fail or have knocking noises and the gaiters or boots are commonly split.

- Suspension Struts - as per gaiters above

- Rear Right Suspension - quality enhancement is to check the rear coil spring for paint damage. Due to the geometry of the rear suspension, one of the arms can sometimes contact the spring and wear the paint off, which then causes corrosion and that affects the strength of the spring

- Drive Shaft Gaiters - These can also be split

- Tie rods

- Door Catches - Check that the upper door catches on the rear doors are correctly latching. It's fairly common for these not to click home with a gentle close and may require adjusting.

- Rear camera delamination - Inside the camera lens there can be flaking that obscures the view. It is fairly obvious on close inspection but an expensive post warranty fix as the camera has to be coded to the control system.

- Rex - Check oil filter for rust, there have been a few examples where the position of the filter causes the rolled edge of the filter to rust. In extreme case this caused total loss of oil and Rex failure.

- Parking Sensors - Check paintwork for early signs of bubbling over the parking sensors: they don’t work when bubbled not covered by the extended warranty

- Motor Mount/Bolts - Confirm no wear on these.

DrPhilG

unkel wrote: »

Is that an official thing? As in scheduled as part of the normal inspection / servicing schedule? I must say I've never heard about it before.

Yes it's official. I was contacted by BMW to book in for it. Warranty ends mid October.

Front shock gaiters are gone on mine, tried to get Frank Keane to call me back twice to get the car in to fix it but they didn't call back.

I'm not impressed and I'll let them know that too.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Yes it's official. I was contacted by BMW to book in for it. Warranty ends mid October.

So it's an official list from BMW U.K but not Ireland so they won't accept that here ?

What dealer did you go to ?

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

So it's an official list from BMW U.K but not Ireland so they won't accept that here ?

What dealer did you go to ?

It's not an official BMW list. It's a list compiled by users and listed on the UK i3 owners Facebook page.

The "official thing" I mentioned to Unkel is the end of warranty check up. Not the specific list of stuff I want them to note.

I have noticed a few issues now.

Crunching when I turn the steering.

And door seals are worn which I would not expect , the rubber attached to the drivers side chassis has a big hole in it and the seal on the drivers door is hanging out, the rubber itself also looks worn.

The Rex fan seems to come on when I pull away or drive around 40 Km/r strange.

It's going in a few weeks , hopefully all will be fixed.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

Crunching when I turn the steering

Feel the crunch in the steering or coming from the wheels? If the former, did you check power steering fluid is topped up to the required level? Hopefully that would be it, you don't want to replace the steering rack. If the latter might be CV joints, not that expensive

Deleted User wrote: »

It's going in a few weeks , hopefully all will be fixed.

It's going, you selling it? Or you mean it's going in to the garage to get fixed? 2017 car presumably still under full BMW warranty?

mordeith

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I have noticed a few issues now.

Crunching when I turn the steering.

And door seals are worn which I would not expect , the rubber attached to the drivers side chassis has a big hole in it and the seal on the drivers door is hanging out, the rubber itself also looks

Any chance you could post a pic? Just so I know what to look out for.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Feel the crunch in the steering or coming from the wheels? If the former, did you check power steering fluid is topped up to the required level? Hopefully that would be it, you don't want to replace the steering rack. If the latter might be CV joints, not that expensive



It's going, you selling it? Or you mean it's going in to the garage to get fixed? 2017 car presumably still under full BMW warranty?

Sorry typo, I meant going into the dealer. Yes still under warranty.

Power steering fluid is fine. Seems to be coming from the wheels, I've never heard a bad CV when the car is stationery so has to be the steering.

Silent Running

Deleted User wrote: »

Sorry typo, I meant going into the dealer. Yes still under warranty.

Power steering fluid is fine. Seems to be coming from the wheels, I've never heard a bad CV when the car is stationery so has to be the steering.

CV joints making grinding noises through the steering... on a rear wheel drive? :P

mordeith

mordeith wrote: »

Any chance you could post a pic? Just so I know what to look out for.

If you look at the rubber in this pic you can see it's work and there's a hole in it, quite large, might not be too visible in the pic, zoom in.

Silent Running

Silent Running wrote: »

CV joints making grinding noises through the steering... on a rear wheel drive? :P

No it sounds like it's coming from the rack itself. IF I pull on one of the wheels I can kinds make it out. If someone was sitting inside I'm sure it could be felt at the wheels.

unkel

Check PS fluid?

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Check PS fluid?

Fluid is grans.

kanuseeme

it seems there's plenty of fluid with jprboy for the both of you

krissovo

I am not surprised about the door seals, they look awkward and over engineered which always ring the alarm bells. I find the kids when hoping in and out the back catch the suicide door seal at the bottom.

ewj1978

what actually was the original warranty on the i3?
3 years on the car but more on the battery?

ewj1978

ewj1978 wrote: »

what actually was the original warranty on the i3?
3 years on the car but more on the battery?

Battery is 160,000 Kms or 8 years whichever comes first. Think that covers to 70% capacity.

ewj1978

Aye was thinking that. Obviously thats only the battery and not the Motor and High voltage equipment.

Soarer

Steering rack issues were one of the things I was told to look out for when researching the early i3.
Thought it was supposed to be fixed on the 94?

Soarer

Soarer wrote: »

Steering rack issues were one of the things I was told to look out for when researching the early i3.
Thought it was supposed to be fixed on the 94?

No Idea to be honest, I'll have to wait and see when I bring it in, they fobbed me off the last time saying it could be my tyres as they were slightly worn on the outsides, I asked them what do they think I am ?

This time it's clearly audible with new tyres !

unkel

Soarer wrote: »

Steering rack issues were one of the things I was told to look out for when researching the early i3.
Thought it was supposed to be fixed on the 94?

Yikes, that's new to me. On all models or just the REx?

Soarer

unkel wrote: »

Yikes, that's new to me. On all models or just the REx?

Twas the REx I was asking about, but I don't know if the issue was REx specific or early i3s?

The fact it's possibly happening to Mad_Lad's REx though...

KCross

Surely the REx would not be related to a steering rack issue? What would the connection to those two things be considering the REx is also in the back... isnt it?

unkel

Aye. I thought that too. Very likely an issue on both. I wasn't aware of any major issues with the early model BEV - several issues with the REx model, but I have no interest in buying one of them

Steering rack replacement outside of warranty could be seriously expensive.

KCross

unkel wrote: »

I wasn't aware of any major issues with the early model BEV - several issues with the REx model, but I have no interest in buying one of them

Soarers list...
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110652721&postcount=93

Lots of REx stuff but other non-REx issues too... AC condenser, shock absorbers, backlight bulb and the two issues Mad_Lad is complaining about.... door seals and steering rack!

Kramer

There is (or may be) a recall for some i3s too for the motor module that can spontaneously cut all power to the motor.

:eek:

Soarer

@Mad_Lad. So what sort of Battery/Petrol/Total range are you getting from your car at the minute?

ewj1978

my 94ah Rex is giving me 180km EV, 110km Petrol in the current wet and cold(4-6 C) temps with aircon set to 20.

Soarer

Soarer wrote: »

@Mad_Lad. So what sort of Battery/Petrol/Total range are you getting from your car at the minute?

From the 94 Rex I'm probably getting 140-160 but I don't drive economically most of the time. And usually drive at least 130 Km/h on the Motorway and more at times.

When off shift I also use the Auxiliary heating much more , the i3 of course as you i3 owners know, but for those that don't , the i3 has a very nifty feature that lets you keep the heating on when the car is off, so I can nip into shops and come back to a warm car, don't have to get the phone out and wait up to a minute for the command to send. It can also be activated by the key fob which is handy.

I drop off my Eldest Son to School for 8:50 , he's in Junior infants so has to be walked to the gate and picked up and when I drop him off I like to watch him play with the other Boys for 5-10 mins and keep the heat on, then drop the younger lad to Creche for 1pm and then pick the Older lad up at 1:40 and the younger lad up at 4 pm.

Then there is the initial pre-heating so that's a hell of a lot of heating taken from the battery.

Unlike an ICE that retains a lot of heat in the engine for some time, electrics cool off quickly and need longer to heat back up after a stop for a few mins.

The i3 has no heat pump but below about 5 deg C it's not much use anyway.

According to the app, from 100% charge this morning I end up with 72% charge after 33 Kms around 20 Kwh/100 kms don't know whether this includes the pre heating, keeping heating on etc. But I did a lot of preheating/keeping heat on today.

0lddog

Deleted User wrote: »

......The i3 has no heat pump but below about 5 deg C it's not much use anyway.......

As in : i3s that have a heat pump ?
or
As in : heat pumps in EVs generally ?

I have the idea that Ioniq comes with a heat pump with HGI defrost - anyone able to confirm / deny this ?

( If true it should be pretty good in sub zero temperatures )

0lddog

0lddog wrote: »

As in : i3s that have a heat pump ?
or
As in : heat pumps in EVs generally ?

I have the idea that Ioniq comes with a heat pump with HGI defrost - anyone able to confirm / deny this ?

( If true it should be pretty good in sub zero temperatures )

I don't know what HGI defrost is but a small heat pump in a car is not much use below 5 Deg C and practically useless below 3 Deg C.

Not sure if the i3S has a heat pump as standard, I know at one point it was not standard in the BEV, the Rex has no heat pump.

Putting the VIN number into a VIN decoder should tell whether the i3 has the heat pump.

0lddog

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know what HGI defrost is but a small heat pump in a car is not much use below 5 Deg C and practically useless below 3 Deg C.

Not sure if the i3S has a heat pump as standard, I know at one point it was not standard in the BEV, the Rex has no heat pump.

Putting the VIN number into a VIN decoder should tell whether the i3 has the heat pump.

HGI : Hot Gas Injection - A heat pump defrost method that is a good deal quicker than the more traditional method of defrost

a small heat pump in a car is not much use below 5 Deg C and practically useless below 3 Deg C. - Any experiences from owners of other EVs on this ?

( from a thermodynamic point of view there is no reason why they should not provide useful performance to below -10C )

0lddog

0lddog wrote: »

HGI : Hot Gas Injection - A heat pump defrost method that is a good deal quicker than the more traditional method of defrost

a small heat pump in a car is not much use below 5 Deg C and practically useless below 3 Deg C. - Any experiences from owners of other EVs on this ?

( from a thermodynamic point of view there is no reason why they should not provide useful performance to below -10C )

Car heat pumps are tiny by comparison to Home heat pumps which are much larger.

I saw much greater consumption below 5 deg C in the Leaf because it showed heater consumption, the i3 does not, not sure about the Ioniq or event eh 40 Kwh leaf.

The i3 is back with the dealer to carry out all the work they need to do, I won't have it back until at least Friday I'd say.

They gave me a 118i ffs, I was disgusted and disgusted at the fact I will have to pay for petrol until I get the i3 back.

What do I think of the 118i ? well it's nice inside, quiet and the engine noise doesn't intrude unless you put the boot down but it's very cramped inside compared to the i3 and the seats are not very good.

The stereo is shyte, not even a tweeter, same really with the basic i3.

BMW really don't give you much for 40 K , it actually makes the i3 44 Kwh seem very good value by comparison.

I actually like the higher driving position of the i3 , getting in and out is better, not sitting on the road, I know, I sound like an old man lol.

I have to say it's not a car I'd pay 40 odd K for, probably 55 K with a decent engine and seats.

Oh yeah, and it feels like a 1 litre compared to the i3 and it's a manual, how anyone drives ICE cars is beyond me lol

mordeith

Not related to your post above @Mad_Lad but I encountered an annoying problem this morning. The pre-condition cycle didn't start as programmed and it didn't start when I tried it via the app either (although the app reported it had carried out the instruction). Now the car wasn't plugged in but was fully charged from the previous night. Would the cold have anything to do with it?

unkel

At least the petrol engine in the 118i has 50% more cylinders than the one in your i3

mordeith

mordeith wrote: »

Not related to your post above @Mad_Lad but I encountered an annoying problem this morning. The pre-condition cycle didn't start as programmed and it didn't start when I tried it via the app either (although the app reported it had carried out the instruction). Now the car wasn't plugged in but was fully charged from the previous night. Would the cold have anything to do with it?

The app has failed numerous times alright, in that case I just use the keyfob to turn on heat or AC, you can program it to turn on climate control or lights.

Preconditioning only failed when I forgot to select precondition either in the car or app.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

At least the petrol engine in the 118i has 50% more cylinders than the one in your i3

At least the i3 moves when I put the foot down lol.

Anyone know the power of the 118i , if I was to guess I'd say about 120 Hp max ?

mordeith

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The app has failed numerous times alright, in that case I just use the keyfob to turn on heat or AC, you can program it to turn on climate control or lights.

Preconditioning only failed when I forgot to select precondition either in the car or app.

Thanks. I forgot about the programmable button. Definitely changing that to ac control

BMW 118i, 0-100 8.5 seconds according to the BMW site, it feels much, much slower.

unkel

Modern BMW 3 and 4 cylinder petrol turbo cars feel extremely slow when you come from an EV. They are almost as bad as the diesels. Engine too small, almost zero torque at idle and it takes forever for the turbo lag to disappear. That 118i would eventually overtake your i3 at about 110km/h though.

Also it might have been the case that you didn't have it in the fastest setting. Happened to me in my mate's 120i. Yet when I did cop on to that it still felt lethargic compared to my Ioniq even though it's a 0-100km/h in 7s car

We're just so used to our instant torque! The exact same reason I used to drive cars with large normally breathing V8 petrol engines, it was the only way (before EVs) to have lots of torque at idle.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Modern BMW 3 and 4 cylinder petrol turbo cars feel extremely slow when you come from an EV. They are almost as bad as the diesels. Engine too small, almost zero torque at idle and it takes forever for the turbo lag to disappear. That 118i would eventually overtake your i3 at about 110km/h though.

Also it might have been the case that you didn't have it in the fastest setting. Happened to me in my mate's 120i. Yet when I did cop on to that it still felt lethargic compared to my Ioniq even though it's a 0-100km/h in 7s car

We're just so used to our instant torque! The exact same reason I used to drive cars with large normally breathing V8 petrol engines, it was the only way (before EVs) to have lots of torque at idle.

I suppose the other issue is the quoted 0-100 is the best possible figure based on a professional driver.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

I suppose the other issue is the quoted 0-100 is the best possible figure based on a professional driver.

With a manual gearbox, yes. But his car was auto, so just plant down the foot, like in our EVs

Oh Yeah I must check for eco modes and all that.

Haha, the 118i is a 3 cylinder turbo !

unkel

Drive it like you drive your i3 and it will cost you a fair whack in petrol in that 118i. My previous car was a Jaguar S-type and every time I floored it, it would cost me €1 in petrol

Deleted User wrote: »

Haha, the 118i is a 3 cylinder turbo !

Yeah, like I said, 50% more cylinders than your moped engine My mate has a BMW motorbike with a proper engine: straight 6 and normally breathing! Still only a bit more torque than a beefy eBike motor. It's no surprise we all want EVs now

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Drive it like you drive your i3 and it will cost you a fair whack in petrol in that 118i. My previous car was a Jaguar S-type and every time I floored it, it would cost me €1 in petrol



Yeah, like I said, 50% more cylinders than your moped engine My mate has a BMW motorbike with a proper engine: straight 6 and normally breathing! Still only a bit more torque than a beefy eBike motor. It's no surprise we all want EVs now

It's amazing how that little Rex can keep powering the i3 at full power, granted it keeps a buffer in the battery but I never observed any loss of power.

It's a pity BMW didn't build more cars like it.

I just hope Frank Keane fix all the issues with my i3. I miss it already..... The warranty is up in February, probably end of, I'm humming and hawing whether to extend the warranty lol and also whether to keep it next November.

I'll drive the 118i home and see what I think of it compared to the i3.

KCross

Deleted User wrote: »

The warranty is up in February, probably end of, I'm humming and hawing whether to extend the warranty lol and also whether to keep it next November.

How much to extend the warranty?

Might be worth extending it anyway. It will certainly make the next owner feel more comfortable buying it off you if there is at least a few months warranty left on it, considering the REx has known issues that are costly to fix.

Then again you are on PCP so I presume you'd just hand back the keys and let it be the dealers problem?