Tom,
You can add these to the stack.
LIKES
* Its electric. Soooo cool.
* Its quiet. Running on city streets, its a ghost car. Practically silent. More quiet, even, than the BMW ActiveE. The A-E had a bit of a turbine-like whine to the motor as you accelerated; the i3 has almost none.
* The size. All the photos of the i3 prime you for a car that is not much different in in size than, say, a BMW Mini or a Honda Fit. Not so. The i3 is tall and wide. But short, so it appears stocky and narrow even though it isn't. The passenger compartment is roomy. The height makes it seem like a little SUV, not a large econobox.
* The appointments. I only got the mid-grade i3 (Giga World) interior appointment option with cloth with leather trim seats, and a wood dash, but it is way more than I had hoped. The style reminds me of the midcentury modern minimalist style that is clean and refreshing. The seats are comfortable, and being cloth, are cooler than leather.
* The BMW options. BMW offers a v-a-s-t number of options such as improved sound system, satellite radio, keyless "ignition," adaptive cruise control, parking assist, back-up camera, built-in garage door opener, and (of course), the Range EXtender engine. All are excellent goodies to add to the car, although they are not inexpensive. Still, after a few months (maybe weeks), you will stop complaining about the high prices and praise the high technology. I no longer fret about the cost. I just enjoy it. So does my better half, when she swipes it from me.
- - -
MEH
* The driving and handling of the car. Although it has a roundel on the nose, it does *not* handle like the sporty cars we otherwise know as BMWs. In my limited experience, I'll say that it handles okay, but it ain't sporty. At times, it seems "twitchy," especially on grooved pavement. I feel like I have to drive it all the time, not just "aim" it, like others. I attribute this to the skinnier tires that are used on the i3. Higher sidewalls and narrower footprints mean that turns are not as sharp and crisp as the low-profile tires. Or maybe its higher stance it is more susceptible to side gusts. I can't say for sure.
* The (paint) color selection. I was slightly surprised and disappointed in the color palette offered by BMW. The all-black nose / top / back deck make for an odd look, even when attempts at softening it with other colors. I would've preferred an all-white car, or even all-black, but not this year. I settled for as close as I could get to all-black: Laurel Grey. Its okay, but I think BMW couldn've done better.
* The continued "Drivetrain Error" and other such errors. It seems that the Mini-E and Electronaut teams ran through a 2-year test program -- for nothing. It seems that *none* of the software glitches that we found were cured. They are, for the most part, benign, but it is a bother that BMW hasn't actually eliminated them. The only fix that I see that BMW actually did take care of was a hardware upgrade -- to the electric motor, eliminating the "spline" issues. But I suppose that fix in itself paid for the program, considering what a recall program and the replacement of several thousand motors and gearboxes would've cost BMW. But the job isn't done. There are more fixes to do.
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DISLIKES
* Lack of an accurate Remaining Range (or even a State-Of-Charge) indicator. The "Miles Remaining" value is *guaranteed* to be inaccurate, often by more than 10 miles. This inaccuracy was in the ActiveE's range estimator, and the estimate has not gotten any closer to reality.
Yes, BMW will reply that it is based on some kind of sophisticated algorithm that takes into account the terrain, the temperature, and the last xx minutes of my driving habits or some such, but they should realize that whatever they are doing, it isn't good enough. BMW needs to take their ego out of the equation and come up with a better "Guess-O-Meter." I would prefer that the range estimate be pessimistic rather than optimistic. 116 miles of range. Really? I'm lucky to get 80. And how hard could it be to change the "fuel quantity" thermometer bar into the same kind of Microsoft "download percent" bar that we see on our computers practically every day to show a percentage state of charge?
* BMW's iDrive system, the system that uses a control wheel and surrounding buttons instead of a mouse seems to be an acceptable way to keep the driver's eyes on the road while attempting to perform advanced functions of the car using the iDrive command unit, but the way the displays are laid out and the features that are not offered irk me. I could go on and on here:
* The Instrument Cluster (in front of the steering wheel) has very limited display space. It will let me see total miles, time, outside air temperature, average miles/kWh, instantaneous miles/kWh, and a few other handy features, but not at the same time. I hate having to step through the displays to find out stuff like the outside temperature, and then the current time.
* The clock is not continuously displayed; it is an item on the instrument cluster, and an item on the infotainment display. Normally, the clock shows on the top of the infotainment panel, but depending on the option chosen the clock's positon can be different. There are several pages where the clock does not display. At all. Now a clock isn't exactly a crucial item, but it *is* a common item that every other car in the world has. But BMW has decided that you don't need to see it all the time, or at least it will make you hunt the dashboard to find it.
* It is r-e-a-l-l-y difficult to determine what to do to the knob (press, twist, press to the side, press up/down) to get to a desired sub-menu that *may* or *may not* actually exist. You know there's another screen behind this one, but its hit-or-miss to actually find it.
* It is maddening when you (the driver) have the infotainment display set up the way you want, and then the front seat passenger tinkers with the radio, tinkers with the GPS, makes calls on their phone over the Bluetooth, or other activities that change the display from the way I had it set up. This is especially annoying when I am using the GPS and the passenger usurps control to aimlessly browse through the radio's stations commandeering the display.
What is truly needed is a switch to cut the display in half (and allow the system to show *anything* on the left half of the display, and *anything else* on the right half of the display) and a toggle to send the queries / commands to either the left/right side of the screen.
That way, I could have anything I wanted on the left side, anything I wanted on the right side, and if the passenger wants to play with the system, I would at least have the one of the two sides untouched.
One such instance is when I want to have the GPS map showing, and I want to change radio stations. It is far more difficult than it should be to browse radio stations without touching the GPS map. BMW might even say "Why, you can do that right now! Just follow these nine simple steps..." And if they do, then perhaps they can also understand that it is far more complicated that it ought to be.
* Lack of hidden storage. BMW's teeny "frunk" up front is the only truly hidden storage area. And BMW has already pre-filled it for me with the can of fix-a-flat and tire inflator and towing hook, but I want add a couple of things like a quart of oil, a tow rope, a screwdriver and a wrench, and maybe a flashlight. That fills it up -- there's no more storage. Oh, I know, there's the cargo area in the back behind the rear seats, but odds and ends like a flashlight or quart of oil will just roll around back there.
I'm wishing that BMW could add cutouts to the left and right side of the cargo area, into the fenders, for a couple of cubbies to hold the usual little odds and ends that people carry with them.
* (Interior) Door Closing Handles. When the door is open, the door's styled "pull" above the door release handle is too far away for me to reach it. I usually have to grab the door pocket and pull on it to close the door. Luckily, its strong enough to tolerate it.
* No HUD. As gadget-happy as BMW is, I am disappointed that I was unable to order a Heads-UpDisplay as an option. I understand that the HUD projects an image to the inside of the windshield, and that the geometry of the i3's windshield is unique (and is therefore not eligible for an existing HUD), so I'll have to wait until my next electric BMW, I guess...
* Inadequate owner's manual. The owner's booklet, compared to BMWs in the past, is soooo thin. Oh, well. At least an electronic one is available, but it doesn't seem to have nearly the content of the older ones.
If BMW is trying to be "green" by not printing their manuals, then I would like to suggest some way of making a WIKI version -- a version that we users could improve. Case in point: The manual says that one of the options that the instrument cluster has is to display the outside temperature. But wait! It isn't there! Okay, so its an "optinal" display item. But the guide doesn't tell you (in that particular paragraph) how to get it to show up on the instrument cluster. You have to do a search on the maunal to find another instance of "temperature," and find where it tells you to press the tip of the turn signal stalk to step through the instrument cluster display options, and outside temperature is one of them.
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WISH LIST
* More range. I am getting tired of saying this. WE ELECTRIC CAR DRIVERS WANT MORE THAN "ABOUT" 80 MILES. The LEAF is an 80-mile car. The Honda Fit EV is an 80-mile car. The Ford Focus Electric is an 80-mile car. BMW ought to do better.
Apparently, BMW *can* do better, but won't. BMW advertises the i3 as having a range of "80 to 100" (which is more like "70 to 80") miles of range. When the ActiveE came out, we were hoping for 125 miles, and would have been deleriously happy with it. When the i3 was in the works, we were all hoping for a range exeeding 100 miles. We were disappointed. We want more. Tesla has 250 miles of range, and it seems that those who drive it are quite satisfied. So marketing had better figure it out before someone else does.
80 miles = not enough.
125 miles = what we say we want.
250 miles = demonstrated to make customers happy.
I'd say that BMW ought to offer a car with *at least* 100 miles of range, with an option to add more.
Hey, consider this:
Each individual BMW battery module weighs about 55 lbs, and there are 8 battery packs in an i3, for "about 80 miles" of range. (This means that each battery pack is good for "about 10 miles".)
The Range extender engine adds about 250 pounds to the car.
So, offer an option to install into the gap where the Range Extender engine goes with 4 more battery packs. Its about the same weight as the REx, and ought to give the car about 40 more miles of range (for "about 120 miles") -- this would be a BIG step in the right direction.
* A [CHARGE NOW] feature to the charging options in the smart phone app(s).
There are times that I will go into town, and will want to plug into a public charging station. And guess what? The car won't charge. Its going to wait until after midnight to begin charging because I told it to through the timed departure settings. But that was at home, when I wanted to charge at the cheapest electricity rates. So I'll forget to examine the display screen before I get out of the car admonishing me that charging is set up for a predetermined departure time, and it won't charge. Unless I remember later, and attempt to use my smart phone to override it. Wish me success, because without a [CHARGE NOW] button, it *may* or *may not* actually happen.
* Scheduled Charging that works. Right now, there is a scheduled charging section in the bowels of the iDrive system, and two apps (iRemote and BMW Connected) that seem to be fighting over it, too. Right now, the BMW Connected app is the most advanced and comprehensive, but it has bugs to be worked out. I am never quite sure if the car will actually charge or not, if the apps (& the car) have different schedules.
Someday, it will get straightened out. I hope its sooner than later.
* Add more settings that are unique to each individual driver (via the key fob).
While it already keeps track of what radio channel I'm on, I would also like to have it keep track of the following features:
- Custom / Eco Pro / Eco Pro+:
I would prefer if the car have an option to default to one of the driving modes. I prefer 'Eco Pro' mode, and its currently a minor annoyance that I have to press it each and every time I start the car.
- Car's Temperature settings for preconditioning:
The car's preconditioning temperature seems to be a BMW-decreed setting of 72 and only 72. There seem to be no other choices.
I would like the car to have a comfort range setting, say, heat-to-68 and cool-to-76, so the precondition cycle could heat or cool the car to my desired climate settings.
-- Ardie
