Heater Not Working

[anthonymperry]

My heater in 2017 BEV BMW i3 is not working. It only works if I pre-heat before departure, then not always working. I put scanner on it and error code 801 380 ELECTRIC AUXILAR HEATER (High voltage): internal Fault detected. see image attached. Any ideas what I need to fix it?

 

[Stewart]

Hi my car goes into garage tomorrow for the same reason so will let you know what fault code will be

 

[Stewart]

Hopefully the small tank under the bonnet this is the cheapest fix I understand

 

[SSi3]

This is what happened to mine:
Help no heat

 

[anthonymperry]

Any idea why it works (heats cabin) when do pre-heat(automatic climate control for departure) from app. But no heat if just put on without pre-heat.

 

[McDuff]

Arthur Kaminski tells us on the i3 FB page that it's a common fault and the aux heater needs replacing. It's not cheap, it appears . . .

 

[Roryc]

My heater in 2017 BEV BMW i3 is not working. It only works if I pre-heat before departure, then not always working. I put scanner on it and error code 801 380 ELECTRIC AUXILAR HEATER (High voltage): internal Fault detected. see image attached. Any ideas what I need to fix it?

I have a 2015 i3. My heater stopped working . The fault I have finally resolved ! Was the HV heater had leaked water internally into the HV cable connection on the side . This in turn blew the £15 fuse in the EME in the boot. It took my back street garage mechanic 12 hrs to change the fuse and had to alter a few spanners to change the fuse . BMW garages will seek to replace the HV heater ,all associated HV cables ,the EME and also the EKK. This will cost about £11,500 !!!! . I got mine fixed for £2100 . Hope this helps . Fingers crossed your cars have warranty .

 

[Darlouis]

Had heating problems yesterday but just before returning home it started working again. Working fine today too. Only thing different is I used the cabin preheat yesterday morning. The heater didn't work when I started the car to return home with no preheat either. Today I just got in it and drove off and voila it was still working after it started working yesterday evening.
Maybe start of an intermittent fault although I'm wondering if the 12v battery might have been getting low which might have caused it? I don't use the car a lot and I don't often fully charge either - usually to 85-90% from around 40% so can be a few weeks between charges.
Car is a 2020 build and only covered a little over 6000 miles so won't be too happy/impressed if the aux heater is going out.

 

[JohnKelly]

Were you by any chance in eco pro plus mode?

 

[Darlouis]

Nope. When the problem first occurred it was noticed as soon as I got in the car after pre-heating the cabin via the app departure timer. On leaving to return home when the issue was still apparent I had just set off without preheating, and still in comfort mode. Then only just as I returned home some heat started coming out.
Used the car a few days since and it's still working fine. Next test will be to try the pre-heating of the cabin again to see if can reproduce it that way, I haven't tried that again yet.

 

[Darlouis]

As a follow-up to my previous post, it's booked into be investigated further but not until the end of Feb.
If I charge the car before using it, so far at least, that's worked to give me heat for a few local trips that day.
Hopefully the local dealer know what they're doing. I have suggested it's probably the auxiliary flow heater. Being a 2020 car (mid-year) I'd have thought it had the new improved heater which if I remember correctly was used from 2019.

 

[SSi3]

My 2019 flow heater failed at 20,000kms

 

[MikeyS]

Us a cheap OBDII reader and share the codes.. You'll help people with the info/results and people can better help you if they know more about the specifics.

 

[Darlouis]

I have a reader but only use it with Electrified. Tried the free version of Bimmerlink but wouldn't reveal details of the errors without paying £31.

Anyway, dealer has had a look and it's the heater as expected (aux heater or kettle heater as they called it). Total would have been around £1200 but as the car has covered very low milage and I bought the car from the dealer and service it with them, they're contributing towards it. Hopefully should get the car back early next week.

 

[Paul4A]

How common is this heater failing as it’s not one I’ve read on the other forum I look at - only recently found this forum. Also not on It and especially the repair costs might put me off purchasing an i3, something I’ve been considering for a little while, looking at 2020 cars.

 

[alohart]

How common is this heater failing as it’s not one I’ve read on the other forum I look at - only recently found this forum. Also not on It and especially the repair costs might put me off purchasing an i3, something I’ve been considering for a little while, looking at 2020 cars.

We've owned a new 2014 U.S. i3 BEV and a used 2019 U.S. i3 BEV for over 9 years total with no unexpected repairs whatsoever, so both have been very reliable.

The electric resistance cabin heater has failed in a few i3's. If you buy a 2020 U.S. BEV, it could have the heat pump option which would provide heat above -10 ºC/14 ºF with the electric resistance cabin heater providing heat at lower temperatures. The heat pump has been very reliable. However, a heat pump isn't an option in a REx, so all cabin heat would be provided by the electric resistance cabin heater.

 

[eNate]

How common is this heater failing

In my case my 2017 with heat pump intermittently failed to heat. BMW "fixed" it with a software update (it occurred once more at some random time). I never knew if it was a heat pump-specific issue, but whatever it was, no new hardware was installed to address it. I had that car up until about 50,000 miles.

My 2021, also with a heat pump, has been rock solid and is still a bit short of 30,000 miles.

 

[Paul4A]

Thanks for the replies. Please note that I’m in the UK and as far as I have noted, there's not many cars here with the heat pump ( auxiliary cabin heater). To add, Wiseley Automotive, a UK expert on the cars don’t seem to mention the cabin heater. They have a playlist of helpful videos.


Have any UK cars had this cabin heater problem?

 

[MikeyS]

I have a 2017 Rex (40k miles) and lost cabin heat. I have been trying to learn of a solution for 6 months without success. I do not want to take to a dealership who will charge for a visit and then guess at a $3,5k repair

 

[tobster]

I have a 2017 Rex (40k miles) and lost cabin heat. I have been trying to learn of a solution for 6 months without success. I do not want to take to a dealership who will charge for a visit and then guess at a $3,5k repair

Thanks for the replies. Please note that I’m in the UK and as far as I have noted, there's not many cars here with the heat pump ( auxiliary cabin heater). To add, Wiseley Automotive, a UK expert on the cars don’t seem to mention the cabin heater. They have a playlist of helpful videos.


Have any UK cars had this cabin heater problem?

We had the heater fail in our 2017 BEV in the winter of 2021. BMW main dealer replaced some electrical which fixed it for about £1000.