Things I Dislike About My i3

[Mauijohn]

Hmmm...

• Lack of roof rack hardpoints. Sucks I'm stuck sticking suction cups to my roof.
  
• Lack of volume un-mute I've complained about previously. If I'm muted, and I select an audio source, unmute my dang audio!
  
• Lack of seat bolstering. Just a little. Please?
  
• Lack of sun visors. I mean, fer reelz BMW?
  
• Lack of a fully-implemented Radio Data System (RDS tags). I don't know exactly how this system works, but compared to other vehicles I use, the i3 is missing some features. And also not making full use of the display screen. But who listens to FM radio anymore, anyway?
  

But don't get me wrong, I really dig this car. Every car has its shortcomings, and the "major" ones (roof rack, tires) I knew about going in, and decided I could make do.

YAKIMA - EasyTop, Instant Roof Rack
This has been a solution for a roof rack for our 2018 I3. I bought a new Z4 . Needed a roof rack for surf board. This works! To bad I cant post pics! John

 

[eNate]

• Lack of roof rack hardpoints. Sucks I'm stuck sticking suction cups to my roof.

YAKIMA - EasyTop, Instant Roof Rack
This has been a solution for a roof rack for our 2018 I3. I bought a new Z4 . Needed a roof rack for surf board. This works!

The EasyTop unfortunately doesn't add hardpoints, but the straps do render the side curtain airbags useless, and I'm concerned about their comparability with frameless doors. Also doesn't work for bikes, which is what I primarily put on the roof rack.

 

[i3Alan]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned disliking the AC compressor failure that leads to repair quotes over $20,000 (just under $23K for mine). At least we can love BMW for their goodwill gesture of helping with this situation for an i3 one year out of warranty, as that $2000 was so generous.

Note that these AC catastrophic failures seem to be virtually non-existent for any i3 less than 5 years old, as the half dozen or so incidents I have heard of have all be 2014 and 2015 models. So, perhaps I should rephrase my thing I dislike about the i3 to needing to sell it before it is 5 years old to avoid one of the most preposterous Sword of Damocles one is ever likely to encounter in owning a car (perhaps excluding considerations of owning a Mercedes!).

 

[Fisher99]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned disliking the AC compressor failure that leads to repair quotes over $20,000 (just under $23K for mine). At least we can love BMW for their goodwill gesture of helping with this situation for an i3 one year out of warranty, as that $2000 was so generous.

Note that these AC catastrophic failures seem to be virtually non-existent for any i3 less than 5 years old, as the half dozen or so incidents I have heard of have all be 2014 and 2015 models. So, perhaps I should rephrase my thing I dislike about the i3 to needing to sell it before it is 5 years old to avoid one of the most preposterous Sword of Damocles one is ever likely to encounter in owning a car (perhaps excluding considerations of owning a Mercedes!).

What??? $20k+ for an AC compressor??? How can that be?

 

[eNate]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned disliking the AC compressor failure ...

Alan, some guy beat you to it, post #4 on the first page.

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16619#p62806

 

[frictioncircle]

Great topic! Seeing as BMW is actively developing the next generation i3 (I02?) I'm looking forward to seeing some of these ideas in the new model! :lol:

100% on the heated steering wheel – yes, please.

Sun visors – they need to extend lower and should have pull-out tabs for more horizontal coverage.

Three suggestions I've not seen mentioned:

– The car knows day and date from the Settings menu. Please allow the driver to display this at all times on the iDrive display: Tue Mar 10 01:33

– Traversing a long audio file (e.g. 30+ minute podcast) is horrendous... please add a scrubbing mode. Suggestion: hold down the < and > keys together and the volume knob becomes a scroll wheel to shuttle through the file.

– The driver's display has a fixed trip odometer in the upper right. With the limited range that I get in my 2014 I'll count my trip distance with one of these, thank you very much – how about a full-time odometer or SOC?

 

[shane]

Ok ....if there is a solution to this niggling dislike let me know. I want the front ultrasonic sensors to help me park every time i go below 5kph or so. Currently i have just finished parking when they come on to tell me i am 2 inches away from the thing on front of me.

Is there a way to have the pseudo radar screen come on with a preset or with speed?

Shane

 

[Fisher99]

Ok ....if there is a solution to this niggling dislike let me know. I want the front ultrasonic sensors to help me park every time i go below 5kph or so. Currently i have just finished parking when they come on to tell me i am 2 inches away from the thing on front of me.

Is there a way to have the pseudo radar screen come on with a preset or with speed?

Shane

I haven't tried this on my i3, but on my wife's 535i, you can press the "P" button on the console and it turns on the camera and sensors. I'd be surprised if it doesn't work that way on the i3 too. Will give it a try later when I'm back home.

 

[i3Alan]

[/quote]Alan, some guy beat you to it, post #4 on the first page.[/quote]

Opps! That was my post! I did look to see if I, or anyone else posted on this (forgetting that I already had) and did not notice that. Sorry. And, thanks!

 

[Valleeboi02]

But why bother to even buy the i3 if the dash looks cheap?

Why bother to buy if there are no rear door audio speakers?

Why bother to buy if there are no power seats?

Why bother to buy if there is no AutoPilot?

Why why why?? It makes no sense to buy a car you know does not have the features you want but yet complain that the features are not there..

My i3 has a leather and wood dash..
My doors are leather and wool and plastic.
My i3 has rear door speakers.
My i3 has ACC and TJA autonomous driving.

I was fully aware before buying my i3 that it is a cheap economy box made with sub par materials and build quality and lacked many features that other EVs have. The i3 is far from a posh performance car..

 

[eNate]

But why bother...

Did you bother? ...to read the first sentence of the first post of this thread?

I mean, Fisher started by saying his short list of dislikes was easier to write than the long list of "likes" on a car he "loves." I think this sentiment in this thread has mostly stayed in that vein.

Face it, even the "perfect" car is a compromise. there's always something somebody wants that that car doesn't offer. Except for i3Alan, but he didn't know he was buying a car with a grenade in the AC compressor.

 

[Fisher99]

But why bother to even buy the i3 if the dash looks cheap?

Why bother to buy if there are no rear door audio speakers?

Why bother to buy if there are no power seats?

Why bother to buy if there is no AutoPilot?

Why why why?? It makes no sense to buy a car you know does not have the features you want but yet complain that the features are not there..

My i3 has a leather and wood dash..
My doors are leather and wool and plastic.
My i3 has rear door speakers.
My i3 has ACC and TJA autonomous driving.

I was fully aware before buying my i3 that it is a cheap economy box made with sub par materials and build quality and lacked many features that other EVs have. The i3 is far from a posh performance car..

As the person who started this thread, I think you are missing my point. Which was that I love this car so much that, after several months of ownership, the only negatives that I can think of are extremely minor, nit picky issues. Others have chimed in and, for the most part, have only reinforced the basic goodness of this wonderful little car. While the title of the thread may indicate a dissatisfaction with the car, the original post, and most of the following posts, certainly point out it is just the opposite. Most of us love the car, which is why we keep driving it. But that doesn't mean that it's perfect.

 

[shane]

[/quote] aven't tried this on my i3, but on my wife's 535i, you can press the "P" button on the console and it turns on the camera and sensors. I'd be surprised if it doesn't work that way on the i3 too. Will give it a try later when I'm back home.
[/quote]

Thanks....i did try this immediatly after you posted this ages ago. Sorry for the slow reply.

It works...but is one more distraction to deal with.

My Wife's Pacifica van has a beautifully responsive warning that needs no prompting.
If only my BMW was a Chrysler eh!

Hahaha!

 

[GuyD]

Hello all,

Haven't been on this site since we bought the car and needed advice. Have now had our 2017 i3 for nearly 3 years (ex-demo) and 50 000kms.

Generally we love driving it for all the EV reasons, especially my wife as it covers up the things that irritate her about ICE/manual cars. Personally we love the looks and here in South Africa it is generally met with much admiration......Been getting 3.9 miles per kW average so quite happy with that. We charge mainly from solar so running costs are negligible and we notice the savings in diesel costs.

Even take it to Cape Town (550kms) regularly as there are now fast chargers all the way. The difference in range between cold, windy and fast and warm, still and slower is about 35%!! That can reduce the range to under 130km which is a bit of a bummer.

It has been reliable with only a few things addressed during services - steering wheel airbag; sticky fuel cover; and some minor recalls.

There are three major dislikes (and they will make me change to another EV when they become available here):-

1) Road noise on rough tar. So loud and miserable that it makes chatting or listening to music difficult. No alternatives in tyres to address this.

2) The clam shell/suicide rear doors which are just a constant irritation every time we have to use them for passengers or loading. Why oh why, BMW, when this is an urban car?

3) The steering is very poor which makes the handling when driving fast unpredictable. How BMW got this so badly wrong I have no idea.

The steering has been checked by BMW (alignment/tracking as well) and declared correct and to spec. It is sticky around the centre which removes the ability to smoothly steer around the straight ahead position. It also suffers from bump-steer so sweeping corners with any undulations have the car moving all over the road. It also results in the car running wide or, conversely, ducking into corners. Even in a straight line at speed the car can feel so 'nervous' that passing vehicles, especially trucks, is far more nerve shredding than it should be.

Driving in the wet is less secure than it could be due to the steering inadequacies.

Some people blame the narrow tyres but this is a poor reason.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Which tire setup do you have on your vehicle? That can make a difference as can the alignment and tire pressures.

 

[frictioncircle]

3) The steering is very poor which makes the handling when driving fast unpredictable. How BMW got this so badly wrong I have no idea.

Hello, GuyD –

Having owned BMWs for more than 20 years, I've found the i3 to be one of BMW's best in terms of steering.

Early on, I did have a problem with the steering being loose – BMW NA replaced portions of my 2014's steering column over two service visits in 2015. That brought the steering back to spec where it's remained since.

The electrically-assisted power steering in my 2014 i3 is so much better than that in BMW's current cars. When my i3's been in for service I've had loaner F30 3ers, X2s, M235is, even a 2020 F44 235i Grand Coupe and the steering feel is so much worse in these cars.

 

[eXodus]

Hello all,

Haven't been on this site since we bought the car and needed advice. Have now had our 2017 i3 for nearly 3 years (ex-demo) and 50 000kms.

3) The steering is very poor which makes the handling when driving fast unpredictable. How BMW got this so badly wrong I have no idea.

The steering has been checked by BMW (alignment/tracking as well) and declared correct and to spec. It is sticky around the centre which removes the ability to smoothly steer around the straight ahead position. It also suffers from bump-steer so sweeping corners with any undulations have the car moving all over the road. It also results in the car running wide or, conversely, ducking into corners. Even in a straight line at speed the car can feel so 'nervous' that passing vehicles, especially trucks, is far more nerve shredding than it should be.

Driving in the wet is less secure than it could be due to the steering inadequacies.

Some people blame the narrow tyres but this is a poor reason.

I think something is wrong with your specific car. I test drove a few different cars and bought one last year and none had the issues you describe.

We are driving quite a lot of highway - at a 120km/h , the car is solid. Don't know how fast you can drive in South Africa?
Many people are getting wheel spacers - which are apparently increasing the stability at high speed. 12/15mm at the front and 15/17/20mm in the back. That would be something cheap you can try.


Just thought: You could have a damage shock absorber. That would pretty much explain all the symptoms you have.
It shows up perfect on alignment but drives like crap.

 

[CanisLupus]

I've mentioned this before . Because of the higher ride height and narrower wheel base combination , whenever there are uneven undulations in the road , it might seem that the car is being pulled off course when in fact it tracks perfectly straight with steering wheel left in the center . When the car tilts due to the road , it is sensed more due to the ride height/wheel base ratio (edit-and firm suspension) . We need to understand this . This should be explained to any new i3 driver .
When I got my first i3 , initially I was reacting to what I thought was the car being pulled off course . Once I understood that it was not the case , I went over the same bumpy street leaving the steering wheel in the center and the car tracked perfectly straight .
My suggestion is that this precise straight tracking steering setup is one of the steps toward autonomous driving .

 

[eXodus]

When I got my first i3 , initially I was reacting to what I thought was the car being pulled off course . Once I understood that it was not the case , I went over the same bumpy street leaving the steering wheel in the center and the car tracked perfectly straight .
My suggestion is that this precise straight tracking steering setup is one of the steps toward autonomous driving .

I mean it makes sense that self driving car is designed to mechanical drive more straight - needs less processing power in the computer, instead of having a vehicle which wants to run of to one side all the time.

 

[Deutsch100]

I have been in my 2020 i3S now since Sept. 27 and before than I had a 2019 i3S. I find the i3 to be rock solid at freeway speeds (granted I have never taken either i3 over 80 mph). I find the steering as good (or better) than current/modern BMW ICE cars.

I agree with the member above that mentions on roads with uneven concrete or asphalt, especially at highway speeds it might feel as if the i3 is moving or tracing a bit, but I believe it is just a sensation. My past two heavy Jaguars would do the same with the strange air suspension they use.

I have had personally at least 12-15 BMWs since the early 1990s (and my spouse prob 5-6) and the i3 is in my top 3 fav BMWs ever. It makes me smile every time I see it and I look forward to drive it every opportunity I have. In fact, it gives me more joy than many 6 figure cars I have owned.