Do they really honor the 8/100,000 mile battery warranty? In our case YES!!

[panamamike]

When I first got mine, I was worried that my Max Kappa was lower than anyone else's on this forum (under another post). I took it to the dealer here in the Phoenix area and they ran their own test. They said that the test showed that my battery still had 92% life (that was at 60k miles on my 2014). I didn't believe them, but loved the car and continued to drive it. Now, a year later, my GOM has registered 90 miles a few times because of my driving habits. Even though I drive it like I stole it on the highway, I drive it somewhat conservative on city streets. I haven't even looked at my Max Kappa since then and have lost all "range anxiety."

All that to say, BMW has their own battery test that they use to determine if the battery is bad or not. They didn't give me the detailed results of the test, so it could be BS. I just know that with my better driving habits, my battery will make it past the 100k mile mark with no problem.

What was your Max Kappa? Sounds like your starting value was fine. Some folks here are seeing Max Kappa in the 15 area. For some reason, some of the cars batteries are degrading at a different rate than others. So when the time nears, would be good to know the measuring stick they'll be using to determine battery replacement.

My Max Kappa was 12.5 for quite a while in the beginning. I haven't even checked it in a while because I'm not even concerned with battery life any longer. I'll check it at lunch and see what it is.

Interesting. My guess is dealers don't realize how they should properly care for the i3 while it sits on the lot. Bet they just let the battery drain.

 

[alohart]

Interesting. My guess is dealers don't realize how they should properly care for the i3 while it sits on the lot. Bet they just let the battery drain.

Only the 12 V battery drains while parked. The high-voltage battery pack can sit unused for many months without significant discharging.

 

[eNate]

Interesting. My guess is dealers don't realize how they should properly care for the i3 while it sits on the lot. Bet they just let the battery drain.

For what it's worth, my used i3 came with a very official looking color indexed BMW battery checklist for stored vehicles, tucked into the pouch, with the required inspection dates pre-printed. It seems BMW warranty mandates regular checks of parked inventory which would lead me to believe they train their dealers on this requirement.

My i3 originally sold right away so I can excuse my form having no entries; I don't know if the dealership kept the log in their own file as instructed to by the form, or if it went home with the first owner. I also don't know if the dealership is expected to maintain this log when a leased vehicle is returned, which would be difficult if returned to a different location. In any case, I purchased the vehicle about a month after it was returned, but I'd still expect to see an initial entry at around the date of return.

http://www.****oodog.net/images/i3/battery-log1.jpg

http://www.****oodog.net/images/i3/battery-log2.jpg

 

[panamamike]

Interesting. My guess is dealers don't realize how they should properly care for the i3 while it sits on the lot. Bet they just let the battery drain.

For what it's worth, my used i3 came with a very official looking color indexed BMW battery checklist for stored vehicles, tucked into the pouch, with the required inspection dates pre-printed. It seems BMW warranty mandates regular checks of parked inventory which would lead me to believe they train their dealers on this requirement.

My i3 originally sold right away so I can excuse my form having no entries; I don't know if the dealership kept the log in their own file as instructed to by the form, or if it went home with the first owner. I also don't know if the dealership is expected to maintain this log when a leased vehicle is returned, which would be difficult if returned to a different location. In any case, I purchased the vehicle about a month after it was returned, but I'd still expect to see an initial entry at around the date of return.

I was referring to non BMW dealers. Did they actually fill out that form, looks empty.

 

[alohart]

I was referring to non BMW dealers. Did they actually fill out that form, looks empty.

Those look like 2 different battery logs, one with a 4-week and the other with a 3-month monitoring frequency. I think that the 12 V battery in even a new i3 should be monitored more frequently than every 3 months, so maybe the 4-week battery log would be used with an i3.

The logs' focus is on the 12 V battery which does discharge while a car is parked. There is no column for EV battery packs, probably because they have a very low self-discharge rate and no vampire drain except for Tesla battery packs and thus needn't be monitored.

One log does have a "Voltage Hybrid" column. The possible values in this column are charge level (0, ¼, ½, ¾, F), not voltage. Li-ion hybrid battery packs have a very low self-discharge rate and don't have any vampire drains, so if a hybrid is parked with a charge level in the form's green range, ½ or greater, it should remain at that level for many weeks or months. That wasn't true for earlier hybrids whose battery packs contained NiMH cells that have a significant self-discharge rate. However, I don't think that any BMW hybrid has a NiMH battery pack.

Regardless of whether a dealer fills out a battery log, as long as an i3 is parked at a charge level that isn't too low, its battery pack wouldn't be damaged. Maybe the most likely situation that could cause damage would be if a REx were parked with its charge level so low that the REx engine was running when parked (i.e., charge level <7%). However, the early failure of many i3 12 V batteries could be due to their being allowed to discharge significantly while i3's were parked on dealer lots.

 

[eNate]

... Did they actually fill out that form, looks empty.

My i3 originally sold right away so I can excuse my form having no entries;

 

[bum55]

2014 bmw I3rex with 39,000 miles. In-service date is July 2015. Kappa reading has dropped to 13.1 which is 36% degradation. Still have 2+ years of the warranty left so I'l be requesting a battery check and warranty claim.

Reading was taken after fully charging and car is kept in semi-heated garage at 56 degrees minimum. We'll see how this goes as this should be a good check on their honoring of the battery warranty. I'm keeping an open mind on this but we'll see. My fully charged miles available is always reading in the low to mid 50s. I'll try to get a copy of whatever battery test results that they do.

 

[alohart]

Kappa reading has dropped to 13.1 which is 36% degradation.

The 30% capacity loss warranty limit is based on the new usable capacity of 18.8 kWh, so (18.8 kWh - 13.1 kWh) / 18.8 kWh = 30%. If you pay a BMW dealer to measure the current capacity of your battery pack now, it will almost certainly pass with your wallet being lighter as a result. Many who have had their battery pack capacities measured have discovered that their capacities increased enough after the measurement so that a warranty battery pack replacement wasn't justified.

I suggest waiting a bit longer before having your battery pack capacity measured. If your actual range and Batt. Kapa. max continue to decrease, then have the capacity measured.

 

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

I have a 2014 i3 BEV that is routinely giving me 25-40 miles on a full charge on comfort--with maybe 60 miles on eco pro--when I used to get 80 miles on comfort alone. I have until August 2022 to make the battery claim, so I'll probably wait until the end to maximize my chances of a new battery.

 

[rcyyan]

For everyone in CA, CT, ME, MD, MA, NJ ,NY,RI and VT....I'm guessing we have 10yrs and 150k mi. Or am I reading this incorrectly.

From the owners manual under the emissions warranty section:

Manufacturer’s Warranty Coverage
(California, Connecticut, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, or
Vermont ONLY):
– For 15 years or 150,000 miles, whichever
occurs first**:
**Except High-Voltage Battery (Traction Battery),
which is covered for 10 years, or 150,000 miles,
whichever occurs first.