Any reports of damage due to exposure to high temperatures and intense UV?

[Gyro-Bri]

Hi All - first time poster from the UK here. I own a 2020 i3 (120Ah) with the split sunroof. We absolutely love the the car - so much so that we are hoping to take it with us when we emigrate to Cyprus later in the year. My question is this.... the colour scheme for the car is red / black with the roof being black. It gets really, really hot in Cyprus during the summer with the temperature reaching into the high 30's / low 40's (deg C) and the sun can be very intense. I am concerned that the black roof might get so hot in direct sunlight as to start to delaminate, or at the very least, start to blister. Does anyone have any experience of i3's in a hot climate? Does the 2020 version with the split sunroof have a CFRP rood or is it aluminium?
Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks!

 

[dlewis325]

It's not CFRP you don't need to worry about it .

 

[alohart]

It's not CFRP you don't need to worry about it .

Correct, it's painted aluminum.

With my experience in a warm climate with intense sunlight, painting your roof a light, reflective color would make the cabin more comfortable. Wrapping the roof with a light-colored vinyl film would be an alternative, but vinyl film on a horizontal surface degrades in sunlight and becomes difficult to remove.

I've avoided buying an i3 with a moonroof because of the heat it allows into the cabin. Consider having a dark or reflective vinyl film installed on the glass panels.

 

[turns2stone]

Correct, it's painted aluminum.

With my experience in a warm climate with intense sunlight, painting your roof a light, reflective color would make the cabin more comfortable. Wrapping the roof with a light-colored vinyl film would be an alternative, but vinyl film on a horizontal surface degrades in sunlight and becomes difficult to remove.

I've avoided buying an i3 with a moonroof because of the heat it allows into the cabin. Consider having a dark or reflective vinyl film installed on the glass panels.

I live in Texas (much hotter than Hawaii ) so I’ve got lots of experience with having my cars outside.

I’m going to go against convention wisdom here and say that the moonroof option is actually a better long-term option, even considering heat rejection.

I’m getting my i3S tinted right now, and getting 30% on the two moonroof panels (I could go much darker like 5%). The moonroof already has sliding cloth covers, and is already tinted. As such, you can basically ‘black out’ the glass for both light and heat/UV, plus you have the cloth sliders. Any amount that ends up coming in, would be minimal compared to what already gets into the car via other windows.

The real advantage of the moonroof being that it’s glass and won’t have any cosmetic issues that either paint, wrap or original carbon fiber.