BMW i3

unkel

Challenge accepted. Hope there's no Ioniqs competing, then I will win 😂

handpref

Well wear !

Non ccs must be an early one.

Just passed 177,000km’s today, 161 64ah Rex , had only 7,000 when Phil imported it for me, those were the days.

Lifetime consumption 14.2kwh/100km

Still does the 100km commute on the battery.

No issues thus far.

unkel

Thanks!

Only 60k km on mine, feels like a car just a couple years old although it's a 142. You know where people say lots of DC fast charging is bad for a battery? Never believed much of that myself, unless the battery doesn't have conditioning, like a Nissan Leaf. In fact it might be the other way around, that an occassional fast charge actually keeps the battery in better shape.

My car only has 15.7kWh usable left out of 18.8kWh, that's 84%. Now you might say that's not bad after 9 years and it isn't. But most i3 are doing better than that for the age / mileage. And the car has never been fast charged in its life 😁

Mr.David

Of all the cars i have ever owned my favorite was the i3. Rare to have so much character in a modern car. It just feels clever and fun in a world of homogenous boring cars. Quite miss it actually! Hope you enjoy it

carbuncle

I also loved our i3. Pre facelift 2017 94ah with a good few extras. 40k kms and no degradation. And it would charge at near 50kW dc to 95%. I seen 240km range many times in the summer and not on the fast roads

was looking for a 120ah 2 years ago but nothing to be found with a decent spec and no point importing due to brexit.

ending up changing for a honda e after the wife got a spin in a demo model we had for a couple of days.

mots a nice wee thing and great to drive but lacking in many ways compared to an i3. It’s not had many fast charges in the 28k kms we have done but when it does I think I seen mid 40kw dc charging for a few minutes but usually by 50% charged it’s down below 30kw - very poor and it would be more than 45 mins from 10 to 80%, a third longer than the i3.

also no app in Ireland which is a pain re pre conditioning, I leave a different times and got very used to pre con on demand from the app.

Also a very prominent ‘charge stations’ button is displayed on most screens - cannot connect to server error due to no esim, just annoying as it’s there.

enjoy the i3, I plan on moving back depending on what happens to bik and if I can find a decent spec S model.

this wont affect your car unkel as it’s too old but the 2017 I bought in 2019 had a 3 year service pack. I checked every now and then on the app for updates and one day was offered a 2 year service extension for €21 inc vat in total so took that. So any owners of new models check that, you may get a bargain.

unkel

Thanks lads. Yes it's no looker but it's hard not to fall for its charm once you have driven it in a bit of anger. I've had several fast cars and sports cars but nothing ever as flickable as this 😁

I always knew it was good and ahead of its time. I've the app installed and there's a recall outstanding for "corrosion on the housing of the Convenience Charging Electronics (KLE)", so I've booked it into Frank Keane for that

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120667739#Comment_120667739

Told you you’d like it 😃

unkel

Bloody love this car. Whenever I go out, I take the i3 over the Tesla. Had a pretty epic drive all over country roads and lanes in North County Dublin last week 😁 I don't think I could have driven faster safely in any other car I have owned, including a few Porsches, many big engined BMWs, Tesla Performance, etc.

With the added benefit that the car has been charged 100% on solar PV since I bought it. Put up my MINI Cooper S for sale this evening as it doesn't even get a look in now.

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120779559#Comment_120779559

They are fun alright. I had a loaner for a few days back in about 2015 from a dealer but never went for it in the end. Maybe it was later than 2015, can't remember. Was a revelation at the time. So surprised bmw didn't lead the whole electrification of motoring after it. Wasn't there a change of ceo and a change of direction or something?

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120663244#Comment_120663244

There's a 2014 one for sale near me and I'm kind of tempted to get it for my mum — is there any way to know the usable battery capacity pre-purchase? Also what are you getting range wise out of it?

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784176#Comment_120784176

Yes there is. It's in the hidden menu. I'll dig it up for you now. With a very light foot I reckon I can get 150km out of it on a good day. EPA range when new was 130km

unkel

There you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUjlVHn5MFQ

They had 22kWh gross, 18.8kWh available when new, mine has 15.7kWh left now

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784093#Comment_120784093

The whole i group was bullied away by imbecile diesel loving CEO Harald Krüger. History will not be kind on him. At some point I was afraid that BMW were going down because of him. But the board eventually saw sense and booted him out, replacing him with a much more EV orientated successor. Who promptly got on with making EVs. BMW is doing ok now, but could have been market domineering, in many ways ahead of Tesla if they had continued from the successes of 2011-2014

Pity the i8 isn't all electric. I would sell all my earthly possessions including my Tesla and buy one 😎

McGiver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120663244#Comment_120663244

The capacity you see in the hidden meny is only an estimate (not a measurement of it). You can tell by the fact that if you look at the hidden menu at different days, spaced apart, which have significantly different temperature, the numbers vary significantly - higher ambient temps for several days will give you a higher kWh reading and lower ambient temps for several days will give you a lower kWh reading. Your car's capacity could be higher, who knows.

The batteries in the i3 are NCM111 batteries, they degrade mostly by age (and cycling) rather than by significant DC charging. Roughly 2% per year in some tests. So 84% capacity is more or less in line with that.

It's the most loveable car I've owed. It's just fun. Apart from competent (sub)uraban runaround it's also great to drive along the many roads of coastal Ireland, the steering is so precise and it just sticks to the road so well.

The only thing that I don't like about the car is driving in a stormy windy weather at/close to a motorway speed. The car is literally swerving because it's so light.

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784240#Comment_120784240

Too flashy for me the i8. I will have a Taycan or etron GT in next 5 years though I'd say, once this market pricing correction hurries up!

Oscar_Madison

This thread really gets me buzzing on i3s- will likely take the plunge in 2024 in the second hand market - could I ask what should I be considering and what to avoid?

I’ll need at least 120km range winter - no ifs or buts about that but I’d “love” a good 200lm -250km range summer if possible - but the 120km winter is my must have - price range definitely under 15k - likely Q2 2024 -

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364039#Comment_121364039

Even the 120Ah won't have a good 250km range if you drive at motorway speeds and €15k won't be anyhwere near buying one of them, I'm afraid!

unkel

A regular here sold his 162 94Ah for €14k recently. That's about as good as it gets for one of those at the moment, but obviously a bit less again come next year.

Oscar_Madison

Thanks and thanks again unkel - so looks like the 94ah is my target car for my price range (15k) - good to know - I’ll do my research -

vicM

been looking to change the Mrs i3 as well. looking for an i3s as well. Hers is the Solar Orange which contrasted to the black 2-tone really gives it a great look. Im just afraid the spec out there can be quite poor and have been looking a while

joe1303l

Excellent degradation results on a 2019 BMW i3 here; https://youtu.be/udCrCL3gP8U?si=RwUMhek2JoBBPXd1

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121439228#Comment_121439228

Battery has a very good rep, looks like it is justly so.

These really were amazingly forward cars when launched over 10 years ago

handpref

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121439228#Comment_121439228

Just passed 185,000km’s yesterday - no noticeable degradation- car still does the 100km commute within the same % parameters.

Spipov

I hadnt realised you had an i3 unkel.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121469317#Comment_121469317

Oh aye, got it in May I think. Just back in the door from sitting in it for a bit. Had an airbag light come up and service due, reset the service indicators, which cleared the airbag light too, funny enough. Also did a bit of coding with bimmercode

Great cars these, very far ahead of their time when launched over 10 years ago. Of the cars you are thinking of buying, surely it would have to be an i3. But don't trust me on it, go test drive all the cars you were thinking off and make your own mind up!

When I have the choice of driving the Tesla Model S or the BMW i3, then for short trips, I nearly always pick the BMW...

Spipov

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121469337#Comment_121469337

Doing 50km on the n11/m50 daily. I wonder if itll be good for that. (25 x 2)

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121469479#Comment_121469479

I drove my i3 Dublin to Athlone no issues. Got a charge there though.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121469479#Comment_121469479

That's grand even in the toughest circumstances, even in the smallest battery version (60Ah, which only had 18.8kWh available when new), even with some battery degradation in a now nearly 10 year old car

unkel

BTW when researching my airbag light issue, I came across some US owners who had the same. Apparently, in the USA there is a technical bulletin about it and they increased the warranty on this issue to 10 years. So if it happens to any of you and you don't want to mess with the settings yourself, contact BMW and pressurise them into looking into the issue and sorting it free of charge under warranty (even though your car might be years out of warranty, like mine)

Spipov

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121470572#Comment_121470572

thanks. what im hoping is to at least get 2-3 days worth of travel before charging, as the Y needs to be charged at home (i said free at work, but ive seen the machines out of order, and im wondering if they are going to sneak in charges now)