Losing faith in the Corporation - not the vehicle

[Steve Gmail]

Hi all,
Until recently, was a proud owner of a 2015 i3 REX model and as a city commuter, it is totally and absolutely fit for purpose. I took it home for 2 years (Where I live 'off-grid') and the benefits of charging using free solar power was brilliant but let down with minimal to no charge points when I visited the nearest city, some 1.5 hours drive from home. The local BMW dealer didn't have a quick charger but let me use their wall plug using the standard charger supplied with the vehicle. They have since installed a wall charger but where I live in northern Australia, there is very few quick charge points available.

Only 1 major issue with the car when it was 6 months old. A cooling fan died within the battery pack which caused all of the batteries to overheat necessitating a complete battery pack change out under warranty. This took 4+ months to replace due to the fact that the batteries could not be air-freighted so came by slow-boat from Leipzig. At least I was given another ICE car to use for the duration of the lengthy repairs.

BMW Australia gave me an addition 2 years warranty after the repairs were complete

Battery range was......."OK" @ 120 kilometers on a good day, before needing the REX, but the range has dropped off significantly since, and is down to 70 odd kilometers. This is OK as a city commuter but not good for 100+ kilometre trips to the city and suburbs 'cos I'm running the REX back and forth on every trip which is defeating the purpose of having an EV.

BMW have quoted me AUD$31,000 to upgrade the battery and control systems so I'm very envious of the post about the guy in EU who can change them over at half that cost (I really like the car!!)

BMW won't "come to the party" with replacing the batteries under warranty as I have just tipped over the 10 years or 100,000 kilometers conditions so I'm trying to see if they will meet me half-way to do the work....... So far there has been a deafening silence!

I have babied the car since new (I'm an engineer and am fastidious with looking after all of my equipment). It is immaculate and as stated previous, as a short trip city commuter it is perfect but alas, unless BMW Australia meet me 50/50 with the costs, it is just not financially viable to shell out $31K on a vehicle that is worth half that. Looking like I'll be stuck with a car I won't be able to sell which is such a shame unless I get a reasonable offer as a trade in on a later i3 (But with a hefty $$ changeover).

 

[mojo]

I would guess that it's very very unlikely that BMW will do anything for you - because they won't want to set a precedent for other owners with 10 year old cars! They know that this could open the floodgates for them, so they will resist to the end (IMO).

 

[oldbimmerguy]

Yes, it is very interesting that this car was developed, presented and promoted as a green revolution and fully recyclable. However, various engineering mistakes, adversarial customer relations, an historic unwillingness to involve the corporate level with stealership issues will conspire to brick many i3 to the landfill a decade sooner than it should happen. Bmw not talking so much about the green i3 now when stealership are quoting five figure numbers for air conditioning compressors for lack of a return filter or whatever. This is not a specific i3 issue with lack of intercession in repair disputes, BMW has a decades long history of this and it's a corporate culture type of thing, but stealership blithely handing out insulting repair quotes need a slap aside the head. Please note, I am German ancestry, and have driven BMW since the late 70,so It is very German of them to make a mistake, not admit, and imply u will do it our way. The argument that the stealer is an independent business and corporate cannot intervene its fallacious and does not hold up.