Used BMW i3 experiences

Effects

[Deleted User] wrote: »

from 60 Kph the i3 really pulls hard which is great for me because this is where I really want the power to come in for over taking on back roads.

What’s the handling like? Those skinny tyres look a bit scary to me. I like the 0-100km/h time, but I’m a bit worried about stuff like overtaking and cornering fast like I’m used to.

Heading over to the UK next weekend to test drive the one I might be buying.

Effects

Effects wrote: »

What’s the handling like? Those skinny tyres look a bit scary to me. I like the 0-100km/h time, but I’m a bit worried about stuff like overtaking and cornering fast like I’m used to.

Heading over to the UK next weekend to test drive the one I might be buying.

Skinny tyres are fine, the larger diameter tyres seemingly compensate for the width. I've no problem thrashing it about.

Handling is great but remember it's not a sports car, the S is supposed to handle better but has a stiff suspension and is a bit faster.

You won't be disappointed. It's a great car.

Gumbo

Effects wrote: »

What’s the handling like? Those skinny tyres look a bit scary to me. I like the 0-100km/h time, but I’m a bit worried about stuff like overtaking and cornering fast like I’m used to.

Heading over to the UK next weekend to test drive the one I might be buying.

Although skinnier, they have the same contact patch as a Mini Cooper s.
But I do notice that the car can tramline a bit more than my previous cars.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Although skinnier, they have the same contact patch as a Mini Cooper s.
But I do notice that the car can tramline a bit more than my previous cars.

Never really noticed, but perhaps could be because the steering is very sensitive ?

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

Never really noticed, but perhaps could be because the steering is very sensitive ?

I could also be mistaking the sensitive steering to tramlining.
I also have the 20” wheels.

It it does steer well. I got out and then into the F10 today and forgot how much you have to turn the wheel to make the same turns as the i3.

Also, you forget there’s no regen braking in the ICE

kceire

kceire wrote: »

I could also be mistaking the sensitive steering to tramlining.
I also have the 20” wheels.

It it does steer well. I got out and then into the F10 today and forgot how much you have to turn the wheel to make the same turns as the i3.

Also, you forget there’s no regen braking in the ICE

lol I got back into the Leaf 24 after about 400 odd km test drive in the i3 and nearly crashed into the roundabout at Frank Keane because I forgot how much you had to turn the steering lol.

The 20 inch will definitely feel the road more than the 19 , especially the poor quality surface we have to endure in Ireland.

The new surface on the M7 around Naas is much more common in Germany on all roads and is alien to us , it makes a massive difference.

ewj1978

Got back from Belfast last night.

Trip back we went to top up in Carlow but there was a Niro plugged in and no sign of anyone. After 10 minutes we said bugger this and headed to knocktopher.
179miles/288km distance.
Left Lisburn with 90% battery and used 7L of fuel to get to Knocktopher. 2.43L/100km or 116MpG
Charged to 90%, in 26 minutes, for the remaining 100km to home.

ewj1978

ewj1978 wrote: »

Got back from Belfast last night.

Trip back we went to top up in Carlow but there was a Niro plugged in and no sign of anyone. After 10 minutes we said bugger this and headed to knocktopher.
179miles/288km distance.
Left Lisburn with 90% battery and used 7L of fuel to get to Knocktopher. 2.43L/100km or 116MpG
Charged to 90%, in 26 minutes, for the remaining 100km to home.

Gotta love that Rex !

Best of all is it gave you the option whether you wanted to stop for 26 min charge or not or just fill up in 8 seconds.

We're going to Cork and Dingle at the weekend and no doubt I will be using the Rex a fair bit.

The Rex also means someone doesn't have to restrict their speed and can keep to the 120 limit on the motorway if they want.

The trip back from Dingle alone will be just over 300 Kms and I'll stop over in Cashel on the way back and perhaps might be just tempted to try out the new Ionity chargers but will most likely use the free ESB one as I may as well continue on the Rex at the cost of the ionity charger, 8 Euro's V 11 to fill up. I'll see when the time comes, if the ESB charger is in use I might just be tempted to the ionity charger.

ewj1978

I was tempted to come down the M8 for the ionnity but thought nah why bother.

I'll be passing there at the weekend so might pop in on the way down or home just to check it out, I'd be stopping on the way back from Dingle anyway even for a rest.

Gumbo

Done my first motorway trip in the i3 today since buying in February and also my longest trip at 125km!

So door to door was 125km.
North Dublin to the Sheraton Hotel in Athlone.
Left house at 98.5% and cruise control set to 100kmh and arrived with 25% remaining.

Roads were empty except for the M50, which meant 90-100 due to traffic.

On the way home I toyed with a few different speeds set.

18.2km @ 100kmh used 10%
14.6km @ 110kmh used 10%
14.5km @ 120kmh used 10%

All done using cruise control.
Normal operation, so lights, radio and climate control on.
Mix of rain and dry speeds and all about 10 degrees out.

2016 i3 94Ah BEV.

No Doubt I'll be glad of the Rex the next couple of days on my Cork/Dingle trip considering the weather is to be crap, we picked a nice weekend to go away lol.

I registered with Ionity, might give them a go.

marketty

Guys I've gotten some great input on my thread about possibly going EV. Having read this thread and done a bit of research, I'm very tempted by an i3, 2014/15 60ah Rex model in the 17-20k euro range. With a daily commute of 110km total, I'd imagine I'd be running on the rex about 10-20km per day. Would you expect any issues in doing that? Is depleting the battery and using the rex everyday bad for the battery?

I'm pretty much decided that for my first EV I want a rex as I'd have some anxiety about battery degradation over the next 5 years or so that I plan to hold onto the car, which the rex would solve. Quite like the style, tech etc of the i3 which helps!

metricspaces

marketty wrote: »

Guys I've gotten some great input on my thread about possibly going EV. Having read this thread and done a bit of research, I'm very tempted by an i3, 2014/15 60ah Rex model in the 17-20k euro range. With a daily commute of 110km total, I'd imagine I'd be running on the rex about 10-20km per day. Would you expect any issues in doing that? Is depleting the battery and using the rex everyday bad for the battery?

I'm pretty much decided that for my first EV I want a rex as I'd have some anxiety about battery degradation over the next 5 years or so that I plan to hold onto the car, which the rex would solve. Quite like the style, tech etc of the i3 which helps!

In some countries (not Ireland) BMW let customers swap the 60ah for the 94ah battery, same size. Obviously for a fee. The new 120ah battery also fits in to the same area as I understand. So in theory, in a few years time they may let you put a 120ah battery into your car if you need it.

I'd be more worried about the 400+ km cars that have already hit the market (KIA and Hyundai). All the big players will come with same over next 3 years. In 3 years time there will be second hand 400+km EV's on the market, will anyone want to buy your 100km i3?

You will hear the argument against this as "look at the value of current second hand EV's, they are increasing in value". I don't buy this argument going forward as the game has changed. The 400+ km range is the game changer and we have reached that point, plus the number of EV's produced over next 3 years will be multiples of what we have seen so far.

unkel

You won't have to worry about the battery degradation. It will happen (it has already happened if you're buying a 5 year old car), but it should be fairly minimal. The battery in a 5 year old i3 is likely to be at least 90% state of health. So that on its own is no reason having to buy a REx

The i3 60Ah BEV will not make your 110km commute all year round. Unless you are particularly set on an i3, would you for similar money as your budget, buy an EV that can, like a Leaf 30kWh / Ioniq?

REx is also very expensive to maintain, you will pay more in fuel, more in motor tax, and it will cost you to import one as you will pay VRT. And you won't get the same tolls benefit as a BEV.

DrPhilG

I think there will always be a decent market for the REx cars, even the 60ah ones.

Lots of people have a commute that would suit an older EV but they don't have any wiggle room if they run short or if degradation drops you below your requirements after a year or so.

The REx gives you that wiggle room for years to come.

marketty

Yep I'd be thinking the same way metricspaces, looking at the new models coming out. A bit out of my price range unfortunately!

What I've been doing to sort of justify this purchase to myself is, looking at my current cost to run the car I have, versus running costs plus loan to buy the i3 I've described. It's pretty much break even, and I'm working on the assumption that when I've paid off the i3 in 5 years it may be worth 0. Ideally, there'd still be life left in it for my requirements (thanks to the rex!) and I'd be up money every month from there until its end of life.

Hoping to get a reality check from those in the know!

unkel

marketty wrote: »

that when I've paid off the i3 in 5 years it may be worth 0

At 10 years old it will still be worth many thousands, €5k is probably a conservative estimate.

marketty

unkel wrote:

The i3 60Ah BEV will not make your 110km commute all year round. Unless you are particularly set on an i3, would you for similar money as your budget, buy an EV that can, like a Leaf 30kWh / Ioniq?

My mind is still open to the leaf/ioniq, just anxious about the battery degradation over the 5 years!

unkel wrote:

REx is also very expensive to maintain, you will pay more in fuel, more in motor tax, and it will cost you to import one as you will pay VRT. And you won't get the same tolls benefit as a BEV.

Is it very expensive? I would have thought just the 24 month oil changes?
Fuel is a fair point, I suppose I'd have to budget 15-20 quid a week. All adds up! Not looking at importing for now, so VRT not a direct factor. Don't use the M50 so no toll benefit anyway.

DrPhilG wrote:

Lots of people have a commute that would suit an older EV but they don't have any wiggle room if they run short or if degradation drops you below your requirements after a year or so.

This is my fear!

marketty

110 Kms should be possible in warmer weather at slower speeds.

If you could stretch to a 2016 33 Kwh ?

There are electrics that will cover greater distance, 30 Kwh Leaf for instance but it all comes back to what the Rex is intended for and that's to avoid a disgraceful public charging infrastructure , yes it will improve but we're now over 4 years behind, no sign of the big ESB upgrade we've heard about for months now. So it will be at least 4-5 years before it's good enough to rely on, that is, be able to take a long trip and not worry about waiting 1 -2 hrs and more to charge because this is exactly what you could face unless you have another car to take.

The 18 Kwh i3 can probably meet 80-90% of your driving needs and avoid queuing at chargers and days where you want to put the boot down you can and not fear running out of power.

Whether you got 300 Km or 110 Km range the issues remain the same, disastrous public charging network is not up to the job when you need it.

Rex will cost a little more in motor tax and it's 400 Euro's every 2 years for service regardless of Kms. big deal !

metricspaces

Deleted User wrote: »

400 Euro's every 2 years for service regardless of Kms. big deal !

What do you get for 400e apart from oil change, oil filter and fuel filter?

Guessing you could get an independent to do it for around 100 to 150.

Gumbo

metricspaces wrote: »

What do you get for 400e apart from oil change, oil filter and fuel filter?

Guessing you could get an independent to do it for around 100 to 150.

Basically it’s an oil change, oil filter, air filter, cabin filter on the REX and the general check of the EV side of things. Then your paying for the bmw receipt.

Nissan was 130 for the leaf every year so 260 over 2 years for the EV portion alone. Now imagine Nissan had a Rex and charged you 70 a year to service that. You’d end up at 400 every 2 years too.

So in reality, it’s not really that expensive in fairness.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

no sign of the big ESB upgrade we've heard about for months now. So it will be at least 4-5 years before it's good enough to rely on

I spoke to the ESB spokeswoman recently and she said it will be tendered in September so realistically by this time next year there should be several multi point chargers in place. And also 9 multi point Ionity chargers

So you're being a tad pessimistic there

Agree though I wouldn't recommend a car that can't do the commute in winter. That's the 60Ah BEV i3 out. But several other BEV cars within budget or almost within budget can do it. In order of price: Leaf 30kWh, Zoe41, Ioniq, Leaf 40kWh, eGolf 36kWh, 94Ah BEV i3

REx won't hold value as well as a BEV, and the difference between the values of the two is going to increase over the years

unkel

You can have this 2017 94Ah BEV from a BMW main dealer landed for about €20.5k if you use the likes of Revolut for paying and find a good price for ferry and flight. That's good value for money!

Linky


I'd nearly go get that myself, make a couple grand profit.

marketty

unkel wrote:

You can have this 2017 94Ah BEV from a BMW main dealer landed for about €20.5k if you use the likes of Revolut for paying and find a good price for ferry and flight. That's good value for money!

Great find!

unkel

Buy it quick or I will

I'm only half joking. I've been looking up lower end 60Ah early BEVs and their prices have held more than steady over the past year or so. Probably gone up in value a bit.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

I spoke to the ESB spokeswoman recently and she said it will be tendered in September so realistically by this time next year there should be several multi point chargers in place. And also 9 multi point Ionity chargers

So you're being a tad pessimistic there

Agree though I wouldn't recommend a car that can't do the commute in winter. That's the 60Ah BEV i3 out. But several other BEV cars within budget or almost within budget can do it. In order of price: Leaf 30kWh, Zoe41, Ioniq, Leaf 40kWh, eGolf 36kWh, 94Ah BEV i3

REx won't hold value as well as a BEV, and the difference between the values of the two is going to increase over the years

The ESB made lots of promises since 2011. I'll believe it when I see it.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Basically it’s an oil change, oil filter, air filter, cabin filter on the REX and the general check of the EV side of things. Then your paying for the bmw receipt.

Nissan was 130 for the leaf every year so 260 over 2 years for the EV portion alone. Now imagine Nissan had a Rex and charged you 70 a year to service that. You’d end up at 400 every 2 years too.

So in reality, it’s not really that expensive in fairness.

Brake fluid is every 3 years as opposed to every 2 years with Nissan.

Brake fluid is ever 2 years on the i3.

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

Brake fluid is ever 2 years on the i3.

I should have copped that with the 2 year service intervals.
Just seen someone posting about their 3 year brake fluid change on the UK FB group.

Soarer

unkel wrote: »

You can have this 2017 94Ah BEV from a BMW main dealer landed for about €20.5k if you use the likes of Revolut for paying and find a good price for ferry and flight. That's good value for money!

Linky


I'd nearly go get that myself, make a couple grand profit.

What's the range on the 94ah?

DrPhilG

Soarer wrote: »

What's the range on the 94ah?

How heavy is your boot?

Mine is heavy and I go from 145km in winter to 180km in summer. Plus 100-120km on the REx.

Soarer

I'd be fairly light. I'm normally between 12-13kWh per 100km in the Leaf.

Edit: That said, most of my driving is in 50-80km/h zones.

Gumbo

Soarer wrote: »

What's the range on the 94ah?

To give a rough idea :

kceire wrote: »

Done my first motorway trip in the i3 today since buying in February and also my longest trip at 125km!

So door to door was 125km.
North Dublin to the Sheraton Hotel in Athlone.
Left house at 98.5% and cruise control set to 100kmh and arrived with 25% remaining.

Roads were empty except for the M50, which meant 90-100 due to traffic.

On the way home I toyed with a few different speeds set.

18.2km @ 100kmh used 10%
14.6km @ 110kmh used 10%
14.5km @ 120kmh used 10%

All done using cruise control.
Normal operation, so lights, radio and climate control on.
Mix of rain and dry speeds and all about 10 degrees out.

2016 i3 94Ah BEV.

The highest i've seen my GOM was 240km.
I'm going to try do an everyday test to see what my everyday range should be.

unkel

Soarer wrote: »

I'd be fairly light. I'm normally between 12-13kWh per 100km in the Leaf.

Edit: That said, most of my driving is in 50-80km/h zones.

That's a very light foot and a perfect speed for an EV. You'll do about 10-11kWh/100km in the BEV 94Ah. Range well over 200km

I get from 140 Kms hard driving on the Motorway to about 230 Kms is the most I got and still had about 11% in fine weather 60-80-90 Km local roads non motorway.

Gumbo

So today I left the office at 100% SOC.
Drove from City Center to Clongriffin through town, so a mixture of 30kmh, 50kmh and 60kmh.
A few traffic light grand prix bursts but generally your normal every day driving.

No Climate on as the weather is fab, but the sun roof was fully open.

10% got me 26.1km. So a theoretical range for every day driving of about 261km.
But we don't drive to 0%, so even allowing for a recharge at 5%, I should get about 248km in good weather.

In that, there's plenty of room for improvement, no mad acceleration, try anticipate red lights etc but in reality, I don't drive like that.

DrPhilG

My problem is that on the 9-14km trip to or from work (depending which route I take) there are lots of long stretches to tempt me up to high speed.

Gumbo

DrPhilG wrote: »

My problem is that on the 9-14km trip to or from work (depending which route I take) there are lots of long stretches to tempt me up to high speed.

It is certainly a lot easier to drive the i3 at speed than the Leaf, that's one thing i've noticed also

ewj1978

Drove the 72km to work today.
Used 37%.
95% of the journey is at 100kmh or greater..
last 5% is windy up + down backroad. Mainly up.

unkel

Hail the nice weather

My 3.8kwp PV array going through my 3.6kW inverter was showing me an output of 3.7kW today whenever the clouds were gone. Sweet.

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

Hail the nice weather

My 3.8kwp PV array going through my 3.6kW inverter was showing me an output of 3.7kW today whenever the clouds were gone. Sweet.

Same here, 3.3kw peak production.
Generated 12.9kwh.
Full hot water tank again.

Still waiting on my contact to sort out SEAI procedure for battery only supply and fit.

Pretty much constant generation since 5am and still generating power now, albeit only 400w!

metricspaces

kceire wrote: »

Still waiting on my contact to sort out SEAI procedure for battery only supply and fit.

How much is the grant to get a battery if you already have solar PV?

Gumbo

metricspaces wrote: »

How much is the grant to get a battery if you already have solar PV?

Its supposed to be €1000.

Effects

So took a look the at the i3 in the UK I’ve had my eye on.
It’s a 2015, 33000 on the clock, 17.2 kWh max capacity.
How do those figures seem for a 4 year old i3?
Am I right to presume this is the 60Ah version?
It looks like it has the connection for CCS charging based on the charge port.

I do a 200km trip about once a month. Will I get away with a charge halfway or will I need to charge twice?

Being the 60Ah version I guess it’ll be cheaper that the longer range models.

Gumbo

Yes deffo a 60Ah version.
Will be cheaper than a 94Ah of course.

100km should be doable from it. I’d say you may have to charge 3 times but you’d make it home with spare.

jhegarty

Effects wrote: »

So took a look the at the i3 in the UK I’ve had my eye on.
It’s a 2015, 33000 on the clock, 17.2 kWh max capacity.
How do those figures seem for a 4 year old i3?
Am I right to presume this is the 60Ah version?
It looks like it has the connection for CCS charging based on the charge port.

I do a 200km trip about once a month. Will I get away with a charge halfway or will I need to charge twice?

Being the 60Ah version I guess it’ll be cheaper that the longer range models.

That will be a 60ah. I don't see any issue with everything you posted.

Make sure it has CCS as this was an option and there was very few CCS stations in the UK when this car was new.

Will be able to do 100km in all but the worst weather (unless you floor it). Forget it on a sub zero day.

How much are they looking for it ?

unkel

This one?

Linky

CentsPerLitre

What’s the economy like of an electric car as regards your electric bill?

unkel

CentsPerLitre wrote: »

What’s the economy like of an electric car as regards your electric bill?

It costs about one tenth per km in electricity compared to a diesel

Or in other words, if you currently spend €30 per week on diesel, your electricity bill will go up by €3 per week

This is charging your car at home on the night rate. All public charging in Ireland is still free and there are more and more private chargepoints like at shopping malls and more and more work charging. This is generally also free. And if you have a decent solar PV system at home you can charge for free from the sun

jhegarty

unkel wrote: »

This one?

Linky

If it's that one I see:

pros:
Leather seats
good sat nav

cons:
no heated seats (more important than on an ice because it users very little power)
no parking package (front parking sensors , rear camera , self park)


I also don't see a picture of the charge port , so would be worried about the ccs.