Used BMW i3 experiences

Patser

My 2022 future self thanks you too


Edit: why are you posting in Used BMW i3 thread, is there not a brand spanking new thread

Gumbo

dloob wrote: »

I know it's the used thread but someone has to take to depreciation hit for ye.


Pretty impressed with the charge rate on rapid chargers, really high 40s like 48kw+ up to 85% and still remains pretty fast for another few percent.
Goes at about 2% a minute below 85%.

I can confirm BMWs version of CarPlay is wireless but it's still a 200 euro optional extra in 2019!

New LCI ones are lovely, I love the redesigned 20" wheels.

80sDiesel

Very nice. Did you get the plus package?

dloob

80sDiesel wrote: »

Very nice. Did you get the plus package?

No the plus package has black alloys which I’m not a fan of.

Waitin4thebus

Ha...lurking when i get a chance..work hectic last while. V. Close to a decision and tempted by the 120ah battery tho

Gumbo

Waitin4thebus wrote: »

Ha...lurking when i get a chance..work hectic last while. V. Close to a decision and tempted by the 120ah battery tho

Mad Lad gave a good review of the 120ah recently.
Also, the guy I bought my 94ah from in London, just collected his 120ah S version..

dloob

The cold weather is a real range killer.
I left the Shannon rapid charger yesterday with the temperature around 1 degree and a heavy rain snow mix with 90% battery and a gom of only 172km.
80 km later in Galway there was low 60s left. But that was with the heating at 22c (23 for a while) and 120kph on the motorway.

Try to focus more on battery % not Gom and kwh/100 Km.

for instance if you get 80 Kms on the first 50% you could expect another 80 for the remaining 50% if conditions, driving style, terrain etc are roughly the same except that you would probably want to be very close to a charger for the remaining 20% so that has to be factored in too.

dloob

Another decent length run in cold (3c) and very wet condition this evening.
Started with 81.5%, finished with 27% after 97.9km driving in normal mode.
Consumption was 20.8kwh/100km.
Looks like at 100% in those conditions the 120Ah i3s is good for 180km.

unkel

120km/h GPS speed?

dloob

unkel wrote: »

120km/h GPS speed?

No just national roads, so max 100kph indicated and a 80kph section too, probably a 1/3 at least for the 80kph. Didn't check the gps speeds.
I think it's the puddles that are a killer for range in those really wet conditions.
I didn't check the % so closely on the way down in the dry but consumption was 17kwh/100km on that trip which is big difference from almost 21.
I need to do a proper dry range test in decent temps. I'll try to do one soon and I will update here.

It's been pretty blustery the last few days , wind will have a big impact on range in Ireland in electric cars a lot more than Cold but add Wind + cold together and it's worse but , wind alone will have a much greater impact.

I got 24 Kwh/100 Km coming home today at 110 km/h N7 - "well above 60 Km/h M7 Naas roadworks -120 km/h M9 to Carlow , the wind had a big impact and you can feel it.

DrPhilG

I arrived home from work yesterday with 18% and only 13 miles on the GOM.

That's storm Gareth for ye!

Wind is tough on any EV in Ireland + wet roads and 3rd would be cold.

mordeith

Quick question. I'm lucky in hardly ever needing to use public charge points. Happened to be at one today and plugged into the CCS. Readout showed it was supplying at 4.7kw. Should that not be a lot more. I went from 50% to 63% in ten minutes.

jhegarty

mordeith wrote: »

Quick question. I'm lucky in hardly ever needing to use public charge points. Happened to be at one today and plugged into the CCS. Readout showed it was supplying at 4.7kw. Should that not be a lot more. I went from 50% to 63% in ten minutes.

It should be 10 times that.

Are you sure you the CCS and not the "Fast" AC

mordeith

jhegarty wrote: »

It should be 10 times that.

Are you sure you the CCS and not the "Fast" AC

Yeah definitely CCS. I have the AC charge rate set to Max as well. Maybe the charger was a bit dodgy. I'll check with the ev owners group in the area

dloob

mordeith wrote: »

Yeah definitely CCS. I have the AC charge rate set to Max as well. Maybe the charger was a bit dodgy. I'll check with the ev owners group in the area

Dodgy meter maybe, even with the 60Ah i3
you wouldn’t get 13% in 10 minutes on just 4kw

handpref

82,000km (7,000km when imported) on 161 60ah rex
Issues so far- paint blisters x3 fixed under warranty.
Check engine light fault - known fix by dealer, replace suspect injector and coil. Rex worked ok but just had fault light- fixed under warranty.

Car came with 20” wheels which won’t take winter tyres- got wheel and tyre combo from Germany for €690 delivered. Car really benefited from these with low road temps and wet roads- 19’s far less skittish in the wet than 20”s. Spare wheel fits in the boot. Generally get 40,000+km’s out of tyres.

Apart from that no issues, commute of 100km done everyday without the Rex throughout winter if preconditioned. 60km motorway -40km mixed regional roads.

Rear doors work great for kids in car seats- not so good for people with restricted movement.

Had a 24kw Leaf prior to this, changed due to the poor state of the charging network- As a general rule I do not use public charge points. The i3 is a serious step up and is fun to drive - I do miss the led lights of the tekna though.

Spent a few weeks there with a niro phev, great car, 55km range but the lane assist and emergency breaking function is something that I would want in the i3, having experienced it avoiding a potential accident I wouldn’t buy my next car without that as standard. It’s probably a 2k bmw extra.

Friend of mine had a written i3 come by, crack in the front carbon fibre frame and windscreen from possibly colliding with a motorbike or pedestrian. They bought in a new carbon fibre frame and swoped everything over in a couple of days. Seeing this showed that they are not as complex as one might think.

€400 for the two year service with bmw, oil, filter & brake fluid, car given back with no battery charge on last visit. Now out of warranty so will get the rex oil changed locally.

There's a video I must locate of an i3s adaptive crash protection failing to stop on the Highway, freeway or whatever they call them and the driver moved to the left lane and got hit by a truck. Impressive crash protection to say the least.

The i3 has a camera based adaptive cruise which I believe is the issue, they don't react as quickly so be warned if this is the system you have. Radar systems are the best.

Effects

kceire wrote: »

I’m more annoyed with having to put discs in the front windscreen. The UK system is great. Clear window.

Use spraymount and you at least don't need to use a disc holder.
https://www.easons.com/scotch-spray-mount-adhesive-400ml-2730073

Gumbo

https://www.donedeal.ie/view/21348710

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the 94Ah version only come out in 2016?

I thought a 14 model would have been a 60Ah version? If so then someone fecked up picking the correct car at vrt time.

unkel

You're not wrong and that ad is all over the shop. The VLC is wrong. Stick the VIN into any known BMW VIN decoder and you get the truth for yourself. I like the colour though, according to the VIN decoder it's:

LAURUSGRAU MET. M.AKZENT BMW I BLAU (B79)

stesaurus

kceire wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/view/21348710

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the 94Ah version only come out in 2016?

I thought a 14 model would have been a 60Ah version? If so then someone fecked up picking the correct car at vrt time.

Couldn't even be an upgraded battery as that's not possible on a ReX.

Soarer

Register in September and sell in March?

Gumbo

stesaurus wrote: »

Couldn't even be an upgraded battery as that's not possible on a ReX.

The 94Ah did come with a Rex in fairness. Just not in 2014

Gumbo

Soarer wrote: »

Register in September and sell in March?

94Ah didn’t appear until July 2016.

stesaurus

kceire wrote: »

94Ah didn’t appear until July 2016.

Yup, I bought a 152 and there wasn't even talk of the 94ah at that point. A 2014, zero chance

handpref

unkel wrote: »

You're not wrong and that ad is all over the shop. The VLC is wrong. Stick the VIN into any known BMW VIN decoder and you get the truth for yourself. I like the colour though, according to the VIN decoder it's:

LAURUSGRAU MET. M.AKZENT BMW I BLAU (B79)

That one came up a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t add up then and doesn’t add up now, also no bi-xenon option only led to the best of my knowledge.

Not sure how they are getting the full beams to stay on without the dip beam...

Gumbo

handpref wrote: »

That one came up a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t add up then and doesn’t add up now, also no bi-xenon option only led to the best of my knowledge.

Not sure how they are getting the full beams to stay on without the dip beam...

No xenon option.
Led mains and then full beams are in the housing in the bumper.

I wouldn’t mind but it’s a nice car. I’d say someone just clicked the first option they seen when in the VRT centre.

handpref

kceire wrote: »

No xenon option.
Led mains and full beams are in the housing in the bumper.

I wouldn’t mind but it’s a nice car. I’d say someone just clicked the first option they seen when in the VRT centre.

LED headlights were a €1200 optional extra that come in the main headlight assembly with the drl lights.

The lights made into the bumper are the high beams and there was no option for a LED output there. Only the face lifted version gave the led option for high and low beam because the bug eyes in the bumper were removed.

People have fitted aftermarket led high beams into the halogen assembly with varying degrees of expense and success.

Gumbo

handpref wrote: »

LED headlights were a €1200 optional extra that come in the main headlight assembly with the drl lights.

The lights made into the bumper are the high beams and there was no option for a LED output there. Only the face lifted version gave the led option for high and low beam because the bug eyes in the bumper were removed.

People have fitted aftermarket led high beams into the halogen assembly with varying degrees of expense and success.

Yes aware of all of that

My Original Post you quoted should have contained a coma after LED Mains

I have the LED option from factory. It was 2,200 sterling and came as part of the Sports Package (20" Wheels, Sun Protection Glass, LED Headlights and Harmon Kardon HiFi Surround Sound System).

metricspaces

What kind of deterioration are people seeing in their i3 battery?

When a battery deteriorates, is it just the amount of charge it can hold reduces or does it also "lose charge" quicker? (possibly a dumb question, I'm guessing it doesn't lose charge quicker, unless the charge is being lost due to heat, energy has to go somewhere...)

In some countries BMW had a scheme for upgrading to 94ah battery on older models. Any news on this in UK or Ireland?

I read that the new 120ah will have same size battery as 94ah, so theoretically it will be possible to upgrade to it in the future (if BMW offer).

handpref

kceire wrote: »

Yes aware of all of that

My Original Post you quoted should have contained a coma after LED Mains

I have the LED option from factory. It was 2,200 sterling and came as part of the Sports Package (20" Wheels, Sun Protection Glass, LED Headlights and Harmon Kardon HiFi Surround Sound System).

I have the LED option from factory. It was 2,200 sterling and came as part of the Sports Package (20" Wheels, Sun Protection Glass, LED Headlights and Harmon Kardon HiFi Surround Sound System).[/quote]
Good for you 😊 nice extras package for £2200

metricspaces

metricspaces wrote: »

What kind of deterioration are people seeing in their i3 battery?

When a battery deteriorates, is it just the amount of charge it can hold reduces or does it also "lose charge" quicker? (possibly a dumb question, I'm guessing it doesn't lose charge quicker, unless the charge is being lost due to heat, energy has to go somewhere...)

In some countries BMW had a scheme for upgrading to 94ah battery on older models. Any news on this in UK or Ireland?

I read that the new 120ah will have same size battery as 94ah, so theoretically it will be possible to upgrade to it in the future (if BMW offer).

My i3 is 2 years old 51,000 odd Kms battery shows 100% capacity or 29.5 Kwh same as when I got it at 9 months old and 9,500 kms.

Capacity will drop over time how fast is anyone's guess but early indications are quite positive.

The specs on the Samsung cells are really remarkable and if to be believed "might" see the i3 94 Ah to 500,000 Kms and still have 80% capacity, this is going by cycle life alone but other factors effect battery life such as temperature and time itself but temperature shouldn't be an issue with the i3 as it's cooled by the AC and it can be fast charged all day and night and it will never over heat or throttle battery current when charging.

Mind you the cycle life quotes from Samsung are for full cycles which the i3 an most electric cars will never see especially as battery capacity gets larger.

When fast charging and driving the i3 hard you can actually see the temp rise and fall as the AC kicks in to cool it this wouldn't happen on a Leaf , it would keep rising and rising even when stopped.

The Ioniq and Zoe have fan cooling which is better than the Leaf but they have their limitations but for the majority of times they should be sufficient.

zoom_cool

I now have 84000km on my i3 and the battery capacity is at 29.7kw so I don't think I will have a problem with battery degradation. My problem is after next year I will have 160000 kms what do I change too.

metricspaces

Don't BMW under advertise the battery capacity i.e. 29.5Kwh is not the full capacity it is just what the software shows you. The actual capacity is greater than 29.5Kwh.

This way BMW don't get bad press about battery deteriorating in early years and less chance of a warranty claim?

Gumbo

metricspaces wrote: »

Don't BMW under advertise the battery capacity i.e. 29.5Kwh is not the full capacity it is just what the software shows you. The actual capacity is greater than 29.5Kwh.

This way BMW don't get bad press about battery deteriorating in early years and less chance of a warranty claim?

Never heard that before

metricspaces

http://www.mybmwi3.com/ quite a bit on this forum about batteries and degradation. Definitely you cannot use 100% of actual battery capacity.

Some owners in the states see large degradation of battery on older models. They could just be unlucky or the high temperatures killing the battery.

unkel

That's the same for all EVs, metricspaces. In fact it's the same for anything with a lithium battery. If you would charge it up to 100% and discharge it to 0% it would die very quickly. On the other hand, if you charge it up to 75% and discharge it to 25% it will last 100 years

Batteries are too expensive to only use half of them, and they don't need to last for 100 years in a car that won't last 20 years, so in reality they are used between 5% and 90% or so typically. The BMS (battery management system) controls this.

Gumbo

metricspaces wrote: »

http://www.mybmwi3.com/ quite a bit on this forum about batteries and degradation. Definitely you cannot use 100% of actual battery capacity.

Some owners in the states see large degradation of battery on older models. They could just be unlucky or the high temperatures killing the battery.

Is that degradation or simply the useable portion of the battery though?
All batteries have built in buffers so you never really hit a true 100% or a true 0%.

metricspaces

https://insideevs.com/lets-look-at-the-specs-of-the-samsung-sdi-94-ah-battery/amp/ they expect up to 843,000 km on the 94ah before it degrades to 80% capacity. Interesting!

Is there any analysis out there on i3 batteries in Europe?

metricspaces

kceire wrote: »

Is that degradation or simply the useable portion of the battery though?
All batteries have built in buffers so you never really hit a true 100% or a true 0%.

Yes they have built in buffers.

There are people on that forum in the States who have seen capacity go below 80% after a short period of time. They seem to hint at temperature, as we don't have high temperature climate possibly we won't see such issues here.

I remember seeing analysis of EV battery performance over several years, it covered several makes and models. I think it was US based though. Would be good to see EU based study.

metricspaces

This is the range I was getting in 181 i3 REX when full. I was in the most economical mode.

rodneytrotter15

Hi all, I've been thinking about changing my wife's car (2014 C Max ) for quite sometime. My commute is 42 kms each way all motorway with the option of charging for free at work. Hoping to punt the C Max privately for about €12k and was planning to pickup a Leaf for similar money. Ideally one that would also cover a summer drive of 90kms to our summer place. Anyway long story short I ended up test driving a new i3 by accident and am smitten. I'm conscious it is only a 4 seater and we have a 6 & 3 year old with a new one on the way. However the car would really just be used for my commute to work. Any weekend spins with all of us could easily be in my car.

I'm thinking of heading to the UK to purchase an i3. Ideally without the Rex as from what I read here they are not VRT exempt. Hoping for some help on what exact model I should be looking for to cover the above commuting needs. In short something that would definitely cover at least 100 kms in all seasons would work perfect for me, appreciate if may mean paying more than the money we would get for the C Max.

Appreciate any input....

Gumbo

rodneytrotter15 wrote: »

Hi all, I've been thinking about changing my wife's car (2014 C Max ) for quite sometime. My commute is 42 kms each way all motorway with the option of charging for free at work. Hoping to punt the C Max privately for about €12k and was planning to pickup a Leaf for similar money. Ideally one that would also cover a summer drive of 90kms to our summer place. Anyway long story short I ended up test driving a new i3 by accident and am smitten. I'm conscious it is only a 4 seater and we have a 6 & 3 year old with a new one on the way. However the car would really just be used for my commute to work. Any weekend spins with all of us could easily be in my car.

I'm thinking of heading to the UK to purchase an i3. Ideally without the Rex as from what I read here they are not VRT exempt. Hoping for some help on what exact model I should be looking for to cover the above commuting needs. In short something that would definitely cover at least 100 kms in all seasons would work perfect for me, appreciate if may mean paying more than the money we would get for the C Max.

Appreciate any input....

If going fully Electric, try aim for the 94Ah version.
The 60Ah may cover you but nice to have that bit of buffer just incase.

Mid 2016 onwards.
What's your total budget and you wont get an i3 for 12k.

rodneytrotter15

Was originally planning on only spending €12-€14k but looks like I may have to go closer to €20k at least.

Patser

Definitely get the 94ah one, I've a 60ah and yes can do 100km each day easily, but it'll be a bit tight if something else comes up. Having the charger at work though, if guaranteed available every day will get rid of that concern though.

Remember if you go BEV only, and you're importing there'll be no VRT so you don't need to factor that in to your maths.

As for what bells and whistles to get, that's up to you. Reversing camera is nice, parking assist is never used and gimmicky. Bigger middle screen is nice, especially if you use nav a lit but if you don't get it, you wont miss it with smaller screen. I like my wooden trim dash, and lots of passengers comment on it to - again if you don't get, you'll never miss it. DC charging v handy to have, not always on i3 but again you'll only use it rarely (on big trip, or just if its handy) especially if you've other car for long trips. I love my sunroof, others on here have said they don't really want/need/use theirs.

Soarer

rodneytrotter15 wrote: »

Hi all, I've been thinking about changing my wife's car (2014 C Max ) for quite sometime. My commute is 42 kms each way all motorway with the option of charging for free at work. Hoping to punt the C Max privately for about €12k and was planning to pickup a Leaf for similar money. Ideally one that would also cover a summer drive of 90kms to our summer place. Anyway long story short I ended up test driving a new i3 by accident and am smitten. I'm conscious it is only a 4 seater and we have a 6 & 3 year old with a new one on the way. However the car would really just be used for my commute to work. Any weekend spins with all of us could easily be in my car.

I'm thinking of heading to the UK to purchase an i3. Ideally without the Rex as from what I read here they are not VRT exempt. Hoping for some help on what exact model I should be looking for to cover the above commuting needs. In short something that would definitely cover at least 100 kms in all seasons would work perfect for me, appreciate if may mean paying more than the money we would get for the C Max.

Appreciate any input....

If I were you, I'd go for the REx, even though you have to pay a little bit of VRT.
With the REx, you'll not have to worry about your range, nor about getting the charger in work. Plus you wouldn't have to push your budget to the 94ah battery or DC charging (the 60ah battery with REx will cover you for everything).

DrPhilG

The REx will hold its value too.

New EVs hitting the market will have bigger batteries, but none will have the REx which wipes out range anxiety and network reliance.