2019 i3 'Mains Power Too Low' Error Message

[drtimpjones]

Vehicle: 2019, i3, 35,000 miles

Monday evening I went to plug the vehicle into charge as I usually do - the charging light flashed red and the dashboard showed an error message stating 'mains power too low'.

I tried both the Type 2 connector attached to my wallbox and the Type 2 attached to the 3-pin plug charger supplied with the vehicle - both displayed exactly the same error message.

I then decided to try a Type 2 public charger - same issue.

I was pretty sure at this point (having looked around on the internet) that it was a KLE issue and a replacement part was needed.

I then decided to try a CCS public charger and to my amazement the vehicle started charging with no problem and no error messages. This was good as I only had enough charge to get home and not my local dealership so I charged the vehicle and drove to the dealership.

This is where it gets stranger - having spent £350 having the vehicle 'diagnosed', BMW are not sure what could be wrong and are awaiting technical support from BMW UK.

My question; does anyone with more knowledge than me (and perhaps BMW!!!) have any ideas? I don't know much about these things but I would have thought if a KLE was defunct then the vehicle wouldn't charge at all? Has anyone else experienced this?

Any ideas gratefully received and thanks!

 

[EvanstonI3]

"Mains Power too Low" is not the car, it is referring to the power being supplied to it.
You need to check the voltage at home and see if it is too low for some reason. Power supply fluctuations can happen and when they do, this is possibly one symptom.

 

[alohart]

"Mains Power too Low" is not the car, it is referring to the power being supplied to it.
You need to check the voltage at home and see if it is too low for some reason. Power supply fluctuations can happen and when they do, this is possibly one symptom.

If drtimpjones had tried to charge only at home, I would agree with you. However, he also tried at a Type 2 public charging station with the same result. I suppose it's possible that the voltage of the entire local electrical network was too low, but that seems unlikely.

Charging successfully at a CCS DC charger doesn't involve the AC to DC converters which I think are in the KLE and the EME, so this suggests a problem with the KLE or EME. I know that a bad KLE can result in the charging power being cut in half, but charging can still occur in some cases. However, there might be some KLE failure modes that would prevent AC charging. Maybe the same is true with a bad EME.

There must be some diagnostic trouble codes (DTC's) stored as a result. However, the BMW dealer doesn't seem to be able figure it out. Hopefully, BMW UK will do better.

 

[frictioncircle]

Another thing that comes to mind...

All US i3s were delivered with dual KLEs (Convenience Charging Electronics) as standard. Outside of the US I believe i3s were delivered with a single KLE module as standard which provided 3.6KW L2 wall charging.

An (optional) second KLE provided 7.2KW L2 wall charging.

BMW NA (North America) did have a recall which (if I remember correctly) installed updated KLEs.

This forum thread below is (wow!) almost ten years old...
https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2062

 

[PsyBean]

Vehicle: 2019, i3, 35,000 miles

Monday evening I went to plug the vehicle into charge as I usually do - the charging light flashed red and the dashboard showed an error message stating 'mains power too low'.

I tried both the Type 2 connector attached to my wallbox and the Type 2 attached to the 3-pin plug charger supplied with the vehicle - both displayed exactly the same error message.

I then decided to try a Type 2 public charger - same issue.

I was pretty sure at this point (having looked around on the internet) that it was a KLE issue and a replacement part was needed.

I then decided to try a CCS public charger and to my amazement the vehicle started charging with no problem and no error messages. This was good as I only had enough charge to get home and not my local dealership so I charged the vehicle and drove to the dealership.

This is where it gets stranger - having spent £350 having the vehicle 'diagnosed', BMW are not sure what could be wrong and are awaiting technical support from BMW UK.

My question; does anyone with more knowledge than me (and perhaps BMW!!!) have any ideas? I don't know much about these things but I would have thought if a KLE was defunct then the vehicle wouldn't charge at all? Has anyone else experienced this?

Any ideas gratefully received and thanks!

Hi,
I am experiencing exactly the same symptoms with a 2019 i3s. It started by tripping the RCD supplying the EV charger (Hypervolt) but that stopped happening, instead I now get the "Mains power too low" message (most of the time - sometimes just stops charging). It happens with my 7kw home charger, the 13A domestic plug-in charger and several public type 2 chargers that I've tried. Plug into a 50kw CCS charger and it charges fine.
Hypervolt are looking into their charger but logic says it's a vehicle issue.
Did you get to the bottom of this?
Regards