My lovely i3 wont charge and charger doesn't lock in

[Grandad]

Afternoon all,

Apologies in advance as ive been a forum browser but haven't officially introduced myself.
I bought her in November last year and she has been a great car to have, thoroughly love the car however it has now developed an issue.

Its been in my garage for the last three weeks as its starting to get cold here and we live a bit off road. When i went to take her for a drive a few days back, no error codes apart for the tyre pressure sensors, which were saying that my tyres were low. I reset these and everything was fine.

I went to charge her on an evening and I got the symbol to charge on the dash but not the counter to tell me when it would be finished charging. I tried locking and unlocking the doors but this did not help. Also the charger did not lock into position, and the light did not light up blue.

When i lock the door i can't hear the locking mechanism for the charger , but when unlocking I can.

Any ideas, would be helpful.

I have now 6 miles of range remaining. eeehhhhh!!!!

 

[eNate]

I'm going through something similar with one of my EVSEs Anne suspect it's the charging handle. The car recognized the handle is plugged in, but won't latch to initiate charging.

My other EVSE continues to work properly.

I will suggest that first you do some quick troubleshooting: ensure "charge immediately" is selected from your charging menu. Off-peak charging and no set departure time could result in similar conditions to what you're describing, depending.

 

[Neil]

Is this a used i3 or is it new? Many odd problems may occur if the 12V battery is old and failing, more likely in an older used vehicle. Do you know how old the 12V battery is?

 

[Grandad]

Thanks for the reply guys, yes I've checked the on board settings and charging is on immediate.

The car is a 2014 car, so quite old now. How would you know if the battery is the original battery? Is there a date stamp on there, is there anything specific I need to look for.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Neil]

I also have a 2014 as the original owner. A few months ago my 12V battery failed and I replaced it. I still have the old battery but can't seem to find any sort of date code on it. There is a Q code on it with various numbers but I don't know what they represent. Maybe someone out there does.

When the old battery was dying I was able to do an OBDII scan and find an entry which gave the date the last battery was installed. Not all scanners can do this, I think it takes a fairly sophisticated one. This is probably the date the new battery is registered.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

can't seem to find any sort of date code on it.

Try looking at the bottom of the battery. Should be a small 'dial' cast into the plastic with numbers 1 thru 12 in a circle, with an arrow in the center pointing at one for the month. On either side of the arrow should be a number, which is the year, so "1" (arrow) "4" would be 2014, and if the arrow points to "7" the manufacture month would be July.

 

[Neil]

Of course I didn't look on the bottom of the battery but even if I had I might have missed it in dim light. Thanks Mark. Mine was marked 12/13 which is interesting since my car suffered from the early battery/cable failure issue and was replaced by BMW later in 2014, and I would have thought the battery would have a more recent date on it.

 

[jadnashuanh]

There's a switch in the button of the handle. If that is not fully up, the interlocks will not allow the charging to start.

It might be useful to try the OUC (the device supplied with the vehicle) to see if it charges the vehicle, albeit slowly.

But, if the 12vdc battery is weak, all bets are off.

Regarding the TPMS, hopefully, you added some air before you reset! THe pressure does drop some naturally as air diffuses out of the tire over time, and cold will drop the temperature by about 1# per 10-degrees F change, so depending on the last time air was added or checked, they could actually be quite low. Resetting just tells the car to accept the new pressure as 'normal'. Later versions of the software are a bit more sophisticated, but all the reset is doing is learning the TPMS id and location, then setting the current pressure as the normal, then allerting if it gets low from that point.

 

[Grandad]

I am seriously impressed by the depth in the knowledge on the forum. Really appreciate the responses.

I've tried looking for a battery with a code AUX18L, however this is not available here in the UK. Would anyone know the code required for the right battery here in the UK.

Thanks

 

[jadnashuanh]

It's a 20Ah, AGM battery https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=1Z22-EUR-12-2013-I01-BMW_i-i3_60Ah&mg=61&sg=30&diagId=61_3350&q=61219321815

They tend to source them locally, or maybe in your case, from Europe. Here are the specs for the one used in US vehicles. https://www.remybattery.com/start-stop-aux18l-auxiliary-battery.html

A different one can be used, but you may need to modify both the holder and maybe the clamps, so easiest to use an OEM or equivalent one.

Those specs should allow any decent supplier to match you up with something that will work.

 

[Grandad]

Update

I spoke to BMW today and they mentioned a control unit recall on the charging side. So I have booked it in, if this cures it then hooray.

If that fails then they said that they will scan the car to see what the issue is.

I mentioned that the lock mechanism on the charger side wouldn't lock, but that wasn't covered under the recall.

I will see which parts are under the recall and update as I think this would be quite useful.

 

[Grandad]

Just some feedback.

I got car back from BMW, they carried out the recall. This was to replace the KLE. Having carried out the work, the car is now charging.

So all is well, thank you for you comments and feedback.