How long do you plan to keep your I3?

[nickp]

Now that we know BMW will not be making these anymore, what do you guys intend to do with yours?
Although the car is low maintenance, there still are a lot of moving parts. Wheels, bushings, discs, pads, suspension, steering, etc.

If there are no independent manufacturers of these parts, then we will be at the mercy of the dealerships. I have a 2006 ML Benz and it is easy to maintain that car because I can buy OEM parts at fcpeuro or Amazon.
Does the I3 share any parts with other BMWs? Minis?

I'd like to know your thoughts on this topic.

 

[vreihen]

I have already stated that my i3 will be the last car that I ever buy. The carbon fiber tub and aluminum chassis should out-last me, and battery tech will have 60 Ah batteries down to the size of a loaf of bread by the time that the battery pack needs replacing. In terms of other parts, the salvage market should have most of them when the time comes.

The one thing that does concern me is the availability of tires in the i3's odd sizes. Storing rubber for a long time isn't a good idea, so keeping fresh tires on an aging i3 may be the biggest challenge.

For benchmarking purposes, next January will be the 20th anniversary of me picking up my race car at the dealer, and my pickup turned 13 years old last week. If I live until 2040, I fully intend to put NY State historic plates on my i3.....

 

[jadnashuanh]

I may sell mine next year. Not because it no longer works, but for some other reasons:
- I have two cars, an ICE and the i3, one-car garage, living in a condo, so one sits outside. During the winter when it snows, I have to move it so the plow can get through which is annoying.
- I am gradually getting stiffer and stiffer, and bending to get into the i3 is getting harder some days. Similar to getting out...sometimes, it just hurts so a slightly different seat height to door and roof that offers a better entry/exit may be nearly required sooner rather than later. FWIW, once I'm in, have plenty of room, though...it's just getting there and back.

What seems like it may be my next car is the X5 hybrid available in the USA sometime next year. Enough battery capacity to handle 95% of my needs, but plenty of range and quick refill to fill in for my current ICE. And, it seems the ergonomics seem to be a bit better. Only having to insure and register one vehicle has its advantages, too. While NH doesn't have a sales tax, you do pay property tax on vehicles every year.

 

[alohart]

The one thing that does concern me is the availability of tires in the i3's odd sizes.

Up until we sold our 2000 U.S. Honda Insight in 2017, its special Bridgestone low rolling resistance tires were still available even though fewer the 20k Insights were sold. So because so many more i3's have been sold, I am confident that Bridgestone will continue making i3 tires for many more years.

 

[vreihen]

I'm sure that the Insight used a tire/rim size that had plenty of +1 / -1 options if the original size was no longer available. The only alternatives available for the i3 are donut spares right now.

Tirerack.com is still selling 2015 stock Blizzaks for the i3. While tires will be available well after the i3's end-of-production, how fresh they are is a risk.

FYI, I just noticed that Tirerack apparently has a new/fresh batch of Blizzaks arriving later this week. Their web site lists two different Blizzaks in i3 size now, with slightly different compound specs. Interesting thing is that the new stock is a bit cheaper than the 2015 stock.....

 

[Obioban]

In a perfect world, I'd cycle out my battery by 100,000 miles, get it replaced by BMW, remove the battery and use it as house storage, and sell the i3 chassis to someone that crashed theirs

I'm averaging over 1 full battery cycle per day (and probably more like 1.5 cycles per day, come winter), so thinking it might be possible... and I'll certainly hit the battery mileage cap before the battery year cap, which I believe makes it more likely.

That said, brakes and bushings are stupidly cheap on this car compared to my other cars, so... seems like a very cheap car to run, long term.

 

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

My wife and I share one car, the BMW i3, and I used to think that I'd keep this car forever as a second car at least. But I'll probably trade it in for a used Tesla Model 3 LR when those cars depreciate below $20K. (We currently rent cars for long-distance road trips.) I can't justify two cars for a two-person household--it's $2-3K in insurance and maintenance each year--when taking Ubers everywhere would be cheaper.

 

[gt1]

I'd like to keep the car for a long time. My wife is the primary driver, and after 3 years in i3 she still thinks it is the best car in the world. We have a Pacifica Hybrid for the family and out of town trips.
My main concern is that many random failures turn out prohibitively expensive. Like a bad AC compressor effectively totaling the car.

 

[i3Alan]

My 2014 i3 BEV turned 5 in August. I expected to keep it perhaps another 5 years. On the one hand, I typically keep cars I love 9-11 years, but on the other hand I was not confident that the battery degradation over the next 5 years would be acceptable, so maybe only 3 or 4 more years. Then the AC went out. Then the repair quote to replace the entire AC system with both heat pumps due to the compressor destroying it all came in at $23K. No more i3 in my garage.

BMW felt bad for my loss, and believed their goodwill gift of $2K would be adequate. I figure my loss at pre-AC failure market-value minus trade-in (as salvage) value to be almost $8K. I'm getting ready to go to court to get my remaining $6K.

 

[KrisM]

I will keep mine until its falling apart ,

I have no interest anymore in cars, since almost 25 years I bought every 2 year a new BMW and had always two or three BMW's at the same time. It was an addiction for me but since I sold my business in 2016. I did not need a car anymore to go to customers so I sold all my cars and bought some more motorcycles witch is another passion of mine, I'm now at number 7 in the garage . Recently swapped the wife's Fiat 500 for the I3 and that's the story.

 

[keepgoing]

I planned to keep my 14' BEV, about 50K mile, (turning 5 years old in Dec) till it falls apart. The resell value is so low that there is no point to sell or trade. The GOM is now reading 60miles in Comfort mode (80 in eco+) measured in 90 degree day in summer. My other ICE (Nissan and Lexus) are 23 and 17 years old with only minor issue like replacing some exhaust pipe because of rust. I don't think the i3 can last that long due to the inherited BMW gene of un-reliability. Currently the Level 3 charging has issue that one charger complains charge plug not locking and I have to try at least 15 mins of plug and unplug until the lock magically engaged. I did lift the heavy plug up, left or right to eliminate any contact issue. The one other L3 charge will engage the charge plug lock immediately upon plugin, but disengaged the lock after 5 seconds upon communication with the vehicle, no matter how many times I tried. So the charge plug lock seems working. I think it is the BMW software at fault. And the fourth led on the fan speed is no longer working, which is no big deal.
In theory, an EV should reduce maintenance and cost long term, but only in ideal situation. If things start to fail, it would cost a lot lot more than any ICE since there is not many aftermarket parts or shop able to work on it. And the new light of failure of AC system can total the car does not help the situation either. Beside the chance of expensive failure, the battery is guaranteed to degrade. I was hoping the manufacturer would offer plan for existing owner to upgrade the battery at reasonable cost, but I have not seen any. With just the battery factor, the i3 can definitely NOT able to outlast my ICE.

 

[sipabit]

I bought the i3 conscious of the fact that I drove my last car which was used too for 10 years before I donated it with 245k miles on it. So I do plan to keep the i3 for awhile unless something drastic happens. It happens to fit perfectly for me. I like the performance, the low maintenance on brakes is amazing, the tiny size for parking in the city, yet the larger interior space than you may think to sit everyone comfortably and a small enough trunk it keep it clean, yet large enough to keep it usable.

I love most things that people hate about the i3, so I'm really immersed into it. Not that I'm anti Tesla because I'm not but maybe I'm more anti people-who-buy-teslas. I still have this thing against people who charge teslas at public charging stations that aren't superchargers when they have 220+ miles of range and don't drive anywhere near that in a day but my beef with that is for another thread. I just never wanted to be like everyone else, so the i3 in that way suits me too. Tesla is like the modern day Model T down to the color of black and they all look the same.

A 94ah i3 version would be nice. The larger one bogs down on performance too much for range I would never really use so having said that, I think my next car may actually be another i3.

I'm currently modding it now, so I'd want to at least take advantage of the changes I've made to it long enough to be worth it.

 

[vreihen]

Not that I'm anti Tesla because I'm not but maybe I'm more anti people-who-buy-teslas.

This topic came up more than once among the non-Tesla owners at the Drive America car shows I participated in last month.....

 

[frictioncircle]

keepgoing –

I had a similar problem with my i3's failure to lock the DCFC cable to the car.

BMW replaced 61136842870 (High Voltage Charging Socket, Central Locking Drive) as a goodwill (out-of-warranty) repair.

I've also had faulty LEDs in the climate control system and those were repaired under the original warranty. No problems since (knock on wood!).

 

[keepgoing]

Dear frictioncircle,
Thanks for the tips and sharing your experience. I will call up BMW genius Monday to see if they can help about the DCFC charging issue. My local BMW doesn't do anything goodwill since they need cash in the maintenance dept all the time. They were looking to sell me an oil change package for my BEV!

 

[frictioncircle]

Dear keepgoing –

I've found BMW NA to be unusually accommodating to customers outside of warranty when it comes to i cars. If your dealer isn't working with you, a nicely-worded email to NA may be helpful.

 

[bwilson4web]

"Until the wheels fall off."

It is the backup for our Tesla Model 3. So I take it out every other month and test everything.

Bob Wilson