Power Loss

[eRichE]

Last week when I started my i3 (away from home) it came up with the message "Drive Train Malfunction: Full Power Not Available. Drive Conservatively". I thought that didn't sound too bad, but the power loss was noticeable. Shortly I noticed that the grey blocks on the performance display were disappearing one by one. It was really creepy, I wish I had gotten a picture. I can tell you from experience now that when maximum power is only one block top speed is about 5 MPH. I am convinced that it was a battery cooling failure, because when I got stuck at a light, the max power would go up again. There was also a loud fan noise coming from the frunk area that I had never heard before. I even tried stopping and waiting, and after 5 minutes I had almost full power again, but in a few hundred yards I was back to 5 MPH. I I ended up having it towed to the dealer. No diagnosis yet, but I am not optimistic about getting my car back soon. The good news is I get my new KLE while it is in.

I did learn something in the process that might be useful to someone as hapless as I am. If you take your car into the dealer after the service department is closed, leave it in the driveway and drop the fob and some paperwork with a likely looking employee, don't decide later t make sure you locked the car by locking it with your phone. Between the time I dropped it off and thought to lock it, some helpful employee moved my car into the service bay and tossed the key and paperwork into the car. I lost a day of potential repair while they figured out how to get the car unlocked.

 

[eRichE]

The fix sounds like it was fairly simple. They replaced the "electric coolant water pump". I have had it for a week and no more problems. It took them two weeks to diagnose, apparently lots of back and forth with Germany, each round trip communication taking two days. Then another 3 days for the repair and KLE replacement. It seemed interminable, but I had a loaner 328i for a week and an i3 for the rest of the time, so in the end I am pretty satisfied with BMW service while on warranty.

 

[Pentacat]

Did it look like this? I didn't get an error but I noticed the "reduced" display when accelerating away from a stop light that the car was not accelerating like normal. I think in my case it was because the car was so cold from sitting outside all day in the cold and wind. Once I got home I shut the car off and then back on and all but the rightmost gray block came back on.