Hi everyone

[user 10055]

Hi all,

I am Peter from the UK, and I've just bought my first electric car, a 2019 BMW i3. It's the standard version with a 42.2 kWh battery. Parking sensors front and back, parking camera but not the extra package for adaptive cruise control and self-parking.

It is dark blue and black which, like so many design aspects of the i3, turns out unexpectedly to be exactly right. It looks and feels great despite its high mileage, and drives - literally - like a dream; you know, the kind where you have remembered how to fly. After Christmas I drove150 miles home through a major storm, cold Atlantic rain lashing the windscreen, strong side-winds, the car loaded with suitcases - in short, most of the items from the list of things to avoid in an older EV. I arrived back feeling as fresh and relaxed as if I'd just gone three miles to the shops.

I'm a bit cross with the people I bought from as there's a nearside plastic cover missing from under the hood/bonnet, which I didn't realize existed before seeing photos online. I'll try to get them to supply one, and there's always eBay.

The only other slight gripe is there's no low-speed pedestrian warning sound. I know some people don't like this anyway, but I felt the lack of it in a dark rainy crowded Christmas car park. As I said elsewhere in the forum, I've followed an online tip of a Tesla owner and installed a cheap door-chime at front and back for use when moving off with families around.

So Hi again, and very pleased to have found and joined this forum.

Peter

 

[eNate]

Welcome Peter.

There have been strong opinions shared on both sides of the pedestrian audible warning (PAS/AVAS/"noise maker"). Having spent two years without in a 2017 model, and now two year with in a 2021 model, I certainly don't miss the early days driving along my narrow residential street behind dog walkers and podcast listeners who had zero idea a deadly silent car was pacing them. I also distinctly remember walking with my son one morning and chatting with some utility workers behind their large truck blocking up our road, and then having a bit of a jump scare when a noiseless Tesla crept through the narrow gap, just two feet from me, and I had the instant sensation of "wow, I totally could have just stepped in front of that car."

There are instances where I do miss the silence of the 2017, but it's more than made up for and happily traded for the all the benefits of people (and animals) nearby knowing I'm there.

 

[user 10055]

Welcome Peter.

There have been strong opinions shared on both sides of the pedestrian audible warning (PAS/AVAS/"noise maker"). Having spent two years without in a 2017 model, and now two year with in a 2021 model, I certainly don't miss the early days driving along my narrow residential street behind dog walkers and podcast listeners who had zero idea a deadly silent car was pacing them. I also distinctly remember walking with my son one morning and chatting with some utility workers behind their large truck blocking up our road, and then having a bit of a jump scare when a noiseless Tesla crept through the narrow gap, just two feet from me, and I had the instant sensation of "wow, I totally could have just stepped in front of that car."

There are instances where I do miss the silence of the 2017, but it's more than made up for and happily traded for the all the benefits of people (and animals) nearby knowing I'm there.

Thank you for the welcome, and for sharing your experience. I recognize that description of a completely silent but pretty big vehicle sliding past in toe-squashing range. I might swap to a later model i3 at some point, just for that built-in warning sound. Until then, I'll have to keep pressing that bell-push.
All the best.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

Is it possible the pedestrian warning is turned off in the codes? I don't know if it's possible but maybe some others may know where to look.