ActiveE to i3 transition

[bkkanu]

I am an ActiveE owner and my lease expires in March. I know there is some talk about extending the lease until i3 becomes available but I am not sure if someone has actually done it. May be folks who got their ActiveE early may have a better information.
In case they do extend the lease then paying for DMV fee (for California it would ~ $450 for a year) doesn't make sense if the new lease is 2 months or less.
Any ActiveE owners feedback on the lease return requirements for tire? I am close to needing a new sets. Any good alternatives other then Goodyear Efficient Grip which it came with?

 

[ultraturtle]

You should have gotten an email from BMW offering to extend the lease. See:

http://www.bmwblog.com/2013/11/19/bmw-activee-owners-get-ability-extend-lease-i3-arrives/

 

[bkkanu]

Thanks for the link. However my concerns are due to short extension period; less then two months still costing us the full DMV registration fee due at the same time lease will end. So effectively you are paying not only the lease payment but DMV registration almost same as one month lease.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Thanks for the link. However my concerns are due to short extension period; less then two months still costing us the full DMV registration fee due at the same time lease will end. So effectively you are paying not only the lease payment but DMV registration almost same as one month lease.

I'm going to be at the East Coast ActiveE private meeting next week at BMW HQ and will have the opportunity to ask anything.

Please post this on my blog in the comments so it's easy for me to make a list of what info people need and I promise I'll ask.

Also, if anyone else has any i3 questions, post them on my blog please and I'll list the answers here next week after the meeting:

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2013/12/test-drive-video-from-la-auto-show.html

 

[bkkanu]

Thanks Tom
I have added my comments on your linked blog page. I know you have driven your ActiveE a lot so you must have gone thru few sets of tires by now. I am close to 23K and my tires needs replacement. If I don't replace it BMW will charge me for it anyway when I returned the car. Any thoughts and replacement tires. I think it is better to shop around on my own then to pay Retail at BMW leasing office.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Thanks Tom
I have added my comments on your linked blog page. I know you have driven your ActiveE a lot so you must have gone thru few sets of tires by now. I am close to 23K and my tires needs replacement. If I don't replace it BMW will charge me for it anyway when I returned the car. Any thoughts and replacement tires. I think it is better to shop around on my own then to pay Retail at BMW leasing office.

I know a few ActiveE drivers that have bought used tires. You might want to take a look at that also.

 

[bkkanu]

I found Costco has Bridgestone Turanza in run flat. It is the same size, load and speed rating as Goodyear. When I called the BMW leasing they referred me to their lease return website which does not state the tire must be same brand but it must be run flat and of same rating. However local dealer think I ought replace with Goodyear. Any advice from ActiveE owners, who have gone through lease return or tire replacement?

 

[TomMoloughney]

I found Costco has Bridgestone Turanza in run flat. It is the same size, load and speed rating as Goodyear. When I called the BMW leasing they referred me to their lease return website which does not state the tire must be same brand but it must be run flat and of same rating. However local dealer think I ought replace with Goodyear. Any advice from ActiveE owners, who have gone through lease return or tire replacement?

Nobody has gone through lease return yet as none of the two year leases have expired. I really find it difficult to imagine the BMW will be very strict with this. Some of the cars may go temporally to DriveNow car sharing program but they won't even be using the ActiveE much longer, and it's possible that some others may be used for similar, yet smaller pilot programs in the East but the vast majority of the cars will simply be decommissioned. Personally I would get the least expensive run-flat tires I could, and I would definitely search for used ones also.

 

[bkkanu]

I pre ordered i3 today. The dealership is telling me they will know better by Feb 5th on the delivery. Still don't have details about lease options from BMW.

 

[Alexander99]

You might want to talk to your dealer about the lease.

The numbers are not what many were expecting. Some quotes are $800 a month for a loaded version due to low residual, standard money factors and BMW keeping some of the $7500 (not passing it all along to the consumer).

 

[dennis]

I pre ordered i3 today. The dealership is telling me they will know better by Feb 5th on the delivery. Still don't have details about lease options from BMW.

bkkanu,

You might want to read the following from insideevs.com. I checked with my Sales Advisor and he confirmed the information on the article.

As for lease returns... The first set of folks would be soon...

 

[mabooker76]

My sales person thought that BMW is looking to provide some relief for the California DMV fees if you have to go past your lease date. Since even Electronauts probably are not going to get i3's until April/May at the earliest (according to him), seems we all will need extensions.

 

[TomMoloughney]

My sales person thought that BMW is looking to provide some relief for the California DMV fees if you have to go past your lease date. Since even Electronauts probably are not going to get i3's until April/May at the earliest (according to him), seems we all will need extensions.

BMW will refund $300 of the $400 registration fee for California ActiveE drivers that have to renew their registration to keep the car while they wait for their i3. The $300 refund will be applied to their ActiveE lease payment.

 

[bkkanu]

I just got confirmation that my car will be on the manufacturing line starting March 10th. So, I should see it at the dealership by end of March or early April. Can't wait.

 

[TomMoloughney]

I just got confirmation that my car will be on the manufacturing line starting March 10th. So, I should see it at the dealership by end of March or early April. Can't wait.

Our Electronaut Edition i3's will be released from the port on April 28th. So I assume the East Coast will get them pretty shortly after that. The California Electronauts will likely start getting them the first or second week of May.

 

[dennis]

I just got confirmation that my car will be on the manufacturing line starting March 10th. So, I should see it at the dealership by end of March or early April. Can't wait.

Our Electronaut Edition i3's will be released from the port on April 28th. So I assume the East Coast will get them pretty shortly after that. The California Electronauts will likely start getting them the first or second week of May.

I wonder if that's enough time to get the a Green CA stickers for the i3 REX.

 

[bkkanu]

I am in Northern California and ordered my BEV i3 the same week I received the code. I still don't have a confirm date from local BMW dealer when I will be getting my Car. I see that on east cost they even started selling REX (congratulation to Tom who was the first one) which suppose to be legging the production to BEV. So I don't understand the delays on the west cost to get BEV by now. I know as an Active E owner I was allowed to configure my car which may not be the standard production configuration. Just checking how many folks in Bay area have gotten their i3 by now.

 

[TomMoloughney]

I am in Northern California and ordered my BEV i3 the same week I received the code. I still don't have a confirm date from local BMW dealer when I will be getting my Car. I see that on east cost they even started selling REX (congratulation to Tom who was the first one) which suppose to be legging the production to BEV. So I don't understand the delays on the west cost to get BEV by now. I know as an Active E owner I was allowed to configure my car which may not be the standard production configuration. Just checking how many folks in Bay area have gotten their i3 by now.

Thank you. A lot of the timing had to do when your client adviser entered your order into the system and what options and interior you ordered. Did you by chance order it with the Tera World interior because there is a significant backlog for Tera World leather. Sorry about you delay. Have you been tracking your order at all?

 

[bkkanu]

Yes, I did ordered Tera. The car has arrived in US (April 29th) but don't know from the ShipDock to Dealership time. I did see one on the road (same color as I have ordered) but it was from nearby dealership. I hope BMW is more transparent about i3 then what they shared about ActiveE. As you know we came to know some of the common issues and fixes from the forum and members like you.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Yes, I did ordered Tera. The car has arrived in US (April 29th) but don't know from the ShipDock to Dealership time. I did see one on the road (same color as I have ordered) but it was from nearby dealership. I hope BMW is more transparent about i3 then what they shared about ActiveE. As you know we came to know some of the common issues and fixes from the forum and members like you.

I agree, there hasn't been any reasonable conduit for communication, and that's something I have continued to lobby BMW for :|
With that arrival date, I would expect the car should will be at your dealer very soon. Let us know when you get it!