Thinking of buying a one owner 2014

[cgates30]

Hi,

I've owned 3 EV's since 2014 (2014 Honda Fit (put 40k miles on in 3 years), 2016 Tesla Model S (put 70k miles in 5 years), and a 2022 Polestar 2 (so far 14k miles)). Now I'm looking for a second car and have found a 2014 i3. I'd be buying the car for running errands and driving to work on cold/rainy days.

I'm wondering:

• What are the common EV/battery problems I should be aware of for the 60 Ah i3?

• 
  how long do these cars last? Is it common for the battery to need replacement after XXk miles? (i.e., is battery failure/replacement common under 100K miles?)

• 
  The car I'm looking at has over 70K miles and is, apparently, good condition. What all should I have checked? I don't know of any EV specific mechanics in the area.

• 
  The car has the range extender, so what are the things I need to pay attention to and how do I test the REx's operation?

• 
  Are there any common non-EV/problems that I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

[alohart]

Many, but apparently not all, 60 Ah battery packs tend to degrade quite rapidly with some being replaced under warranty because they'd lost more than 30% of their new usable capacity. The 2014 BEV that we bought new suffered from such capacity degradation, but not enough for a warranty replacement by the time the battery pack warranty expired. 94 Ah (2017-2018) and 120 Ah (2019-2021) battery packs seem to be degrading very slowly by comparison.

However, with a REx system, even with a low and decreasing pure electric range, you would be able to continue driving but by burning gasoline. The added complexity of the REx system could make this a less reliable car compared with the BEV version. Early REx's had quite a few problems that were sometimes difficult to diagnose (check engine lights with no easy diagnosis).

I'm not aware of any i3 owner having to replace a battery pack because it had failed. I'm sure that there have been some, and maybe it will become more common as i3's age, but that's not been a big problem so far. Unfortunately, new battery packs remain so expensive that their cost might exceed the car's value. However, it's possible to install a used 94 Ah or 120 Ah battery pack from a wrecked i3 for a price that might be worthwhile. I probably wouldn't risk buying a used 60 Ah battery pack.

I don't have any REx experience, so I'll let others reply to your other questions.

 

[cgates30]

Thanks for the info. I hope others can reply as well. I'm not super jazzed about need to rely on the REx, but I guess it's better than being stranded.

Is there a quick way to check the battery capacity other than looking at bars on the screen? I've heard there's a battery kappa number, but I'm not sure how to access it.

 

[alohart]

Is there a quick way to check the battery capacity other than looking at bars on the screen? I've heard there's a battery kappa number, but I'm not sure how to access it.

This is one of several YouTube videos that demonstrate the process. You need to enter the sum of the last 5 digits of the VIN to access the service menu.

 

[cgates30]

That's really good information! The example in that video has a capacity of 18.8 kwh. Of course, higher is better, but what's the consensus on where one should turn away? Would 12 correspond to ~60% of remaining capacity, etc?

 

[alohart]

That's really good information! The example in that video has a capacity of 18.8 kwh. Of course, higher is better, but what's the consensus on where one should turn away? Would 12 correspond to ~60% of remaining capacity, etc?

18.8 kWh is the nominal new usable capacity of a 60 Ah battery pack and thus the denominator in the calculation of the estimated current capacity percentage.

Batt. Kapa. max is a calculated capacity because charge level and capacity cannot be measured directly and depend on temperature and other factors. Therefore, a single Batt. Kapa. max value likely isn't very accurate. Some i3 owners display Batt. Kapa. max values repeatedly over time under as similar conditions as possible to try to get a more accurate capacity, or at least capacity trend.

I have seen a 2 kWh difference in Batt. Kapa. max values between 2 successive readings taken several days apart. I have seen a 4 kWh increase in Batt. Kapa. max after a system software update. Subsequent Batt. Kapa. max values slowly decreased over time.

Reinitializing the BMS using BMW's ISTA+ diagnostic software can also increase Batt. Kapa. max., at least temporarily until the BMS adjusts to the actual capacity which could take several months.

So there's much we don't understand about Batt. Kapa. max other than it's not an actual measurement of usable capacity and should be considered a capacity estimate only.

The bottom line is that if the current actual range is sufficient for your needs, an i3 with a degraded battery pack could be a good purchase if the price is right. However, one has to assume that the battery pack capacity would continue decreasing which could make an i3 not so useful eventually. At that point, it might still be useful to some people, so it would still have a sales value. Replacing its battery pack might make sense but probably only with a used battery pack.

My opinion is biased because of my disappointment in how much the battery pack in our 2014 i3 degraded over only 13k miles but over more than 7 years. However, I replaced it with a 2019 BEV because there's no other EV available in the U.S. that meets our needs as well as an i3.

 

[alpine788]

HI everyone!
New to this forum. I just purchased today a 2015 i 3 from a local BMW dealer... 29000 orig miles, mint cond. We bought it for a errand car as well.. and I'm frankly getting tired of driving my Ram 2500 4x4 all over.. and paying California diesel costs. LOVE THIS KILLER LITTLE CAR... its kinda like a friend.... has a personality. I had a 2012 650 i with Dinan upgrades before so not new to BMW brand but really like this car.. and it was was ahead of its time. I would of course like to have more than the 72 miles of battery (mine has REX).. BUT I think it works out. Was able to charge to 94% in 60 mins today at ev G0. I really enjoy it and we are 4 car owners.... I say buy it! What a bargain on the resale mket. A quirky, fun and different ride!

 

[cgates30]

Well, we pulled the trigger and bought it today and have to say that I'm just totally thrilled with it. We bought it from the original owner and have all of the maintenance history in a binder they had kept. The battery kapa max read 15.6 kwh, so I think I got lucky in regards to battery health/status. The previous owners live 150 miles from home, but with the REx we had zero problems. We made one stop to recharge the battery to make sure we could make it over the mountain pass (~25 F), but the battery got us over the hill and the REx got us the last 60 miles or so.

 

[cgates30]

LOVE THIS KILLER LITTLE CAR... I would of course like to have more than the 72 miles of battery (mine has REX).. BUT I think it works out. ... I say buy it! What a bargain on the resale mket. A quirky, fun and different ride!

I totally agree! I can't wait to show it to all of my co-workers driving Teslas

 

[Jims5543]

My 2014 had 77K miles on it and the battery degraded to the point where the guess o meter was telling me it was going to get 55-60 miles, down from 85 when we first got it. We watched it slowly degrade over the years.

I felt guilty trying to sell it. We ended up letting Carmax make us an offer for it and they offered 9K, I jumped at that offer since I was in there buying an M5 at the time. I used to 9k to spllument my deposit and pay $500 less sales tax.

We wondered how much worse it was going to get as time went on, we felt the car was nearing the end of its usefullness. Which is a shame because the car looked brand new except for the headliner starting to fail and a blister on the carbon fiber roof.

I had a for sale ad for mine on here and I was very transparent about what I considered a massive decline in range.

I was happy I had a REX at least we could use that.

We had to drive 75 miles to the carmax where the M5 was. I was worried about range the entire drive down. I ended up tucking in behind a 18 Wheeler and drafting it at 75 MPH all the way down. My euro spec let me turn on the REX at 75% battery. I was down to 71% when I tucked in behind the truck and it slowly climbed back to 74%.

We traveled 75 miles used 3/4 of the gas, 1.5 gallons, and had 65% battery. I turned off the REX about 5 miles fom the Carmax.

As long as you are OK with the diminished range, then go for it. They are fantastic little cars and are perfect for in town commuting.

 

[cgates30]

I'm nearly a month into ownership and I'm totally thrilled with it. Yes the range less than when it was new, but for my needs it's fine. On freezing days it's at ~55 miles, so I'll see how it does as it warms up. Originally I was planning to buy a new Chevy Bolt with 260 miles of range, but dealers in this area are marking the prices up by $5K. I got this car for 40% of those prices and the interior quality/styling and car features made the i3 the clear winner for me.