Update on KLE replacement problem

[jasleinstein]

I got a phone call from the national customer care center. The major issues of our 3 week old car, with specific charge issues had been forwarded to them. I also gave them a written statement of the problems, highlighting the charging issues, that explained I was very clear when I bought the car, we had a very short charging window and the %30 rollback leaves the car in an almost unusable state. The office was aware the KLE had failed and was replaced. The rep told me BMW has the redesigned KLE in manufacture and will start getting them shipped soon, some as early as end of the month or early in October. It is not a surprise there is a priority list for deployment of the new KLE. She was also quite open and upfront about the issues and told me she would be in touch. Frankly (being a tech guy, as our industry tends to over promise and under deliver ) I expected BMW to take to much closer to the end of the year to get this replacement done. This is good news for many. Thank you BMW.

 

[TomMoloughney]

I got a phone call from the national customer care center. The major issues of our 3 week old car, with specific charge issues had been forwarded to them. I also gave them a written statement of the problems, highlighting the charging issues, that explained I was very clear when I bought the car, we had a very short charging window and the %30 rollback leaves the car in an almost unusable state. The office was aware the KLE had failed and was replaced. The rep told me BMW has the redesigned KLE in manufacture and will start getting them shipped soon, some as early as end of the month or early in October. It is not a surprise there is a priority list for deployment of the new KLE. She was also quite open and upfront about the issues and told me she would be in touch. Frankly (being a tech guy, as our industry tends to over promise and under deliver ) I expected BMW to take to much closer to the end of the year to get this replacement done. This is good news for many. Thank you BMW.

The newly designed KLE is is the final staged of technical validation and will likely begin to be installed in customer vehicles within weeks.

 

[Chrisn]

Is that "weeks" until the first or last customer install?

Good news either way. Sounds like we should all call and make sure we are on the top of the list at our respective dealers. I imagine many buyers never noticed the slow down and won't know until they get contacted for th fix.

 

[Jeffj]

This is great news. Just ordered a Rex last Tuesday. Had a choice between 2 already reserved manufacturing slots - week 38 (this week) or week 41. I opted for week 41, hoping that the KLE issue would be resolved before mine goes on the line.

 

[DAZ]

How complex is the removal and replacement of the KLE? Just hate the thought of any in depth maintenance on a new vehicle. I have a BEV and assume it might be easier (as in accessible)?

 

[noakey]

How complex is the removal and replacement of the KLE? Just hate the thought of any in depth maintenance on a new vehicle. I have a BEV and assume it might be easier (as in accessible)?

I am on my third KLE. I think the associated software upgrade takes longer.

 

[jasleinstein]

I was notified over the weekend the newly designed and built KLE has arrived. Will get it installed next week. Fingers crossed.

 

[Boatguy]

I was notified over the weekend the newly designed and built KLE has arrived. Will get it installed next week. Fingers crossed.

Do you know how they knew to contact you?

 

[TomMoloughney]

I had the new KLE installed a few weeks ago and the latest software 07-505 which restores the charge rate fact to its full 7.4kW. So far so good. Dealers will be receiving the KLEs in volume soon (some dealers already have a few of them) so it won't be long before you get called in to have the swap done. My service took less than two days but that will vary depending on how well your dealer knows the i3. Some service departments that haven't worked on many i3s will likely take longer.

 

[elptex]

Quick question. If I have missed the answer elsewhere, then I apologize (I try diligently to find my own answers).

Is the KLE issue affecting European i3's? I haven't seen anyone reporting it so I presume the 220/240v electric grid in Europe is not causing the same issues as the US 110v grid. I don't have an easy way to see my charge rate so I haven't calculated it yet.

 

[noakey]

Quick question. If I have missed the answer elsewhere, then I apologize (I try diligently to find my own answers).

Is the KLE issue affecting European i3's? I haven't seen anyone reporting it so I presume the 220/240v electric grid in Europe is not causing the same issues as the US 110v grid. I don't have an easy way to see my charge rate so I haven't calculated it yet.

Hi... yes... i am on my third KLE in the UK, and now with a reduced charge rate of around 5.2 kW.

 

[jackt]

I haven't had any KLE replacements but I do have reduced charge rate.

 

[MikeS]

I have software update 07-503 which was in my car when I collected it a couple of weeks ago and my EVSE completes a full charge in about 4 hours so it would seem that the charge rate is not reduced in my car.

 

[jackt]

Its heavily dependant on ambient/battery temperature, I mostly get close to 4hr charge but sometimes its much longer usually on hot day after long motorway drive.

 

[noakey]

I have software update 07-503 which was in my car when I collected it a couple of weeks ago and my EVSE completes a full charge in about 4 hours so it would seem that the charge rate is not reduced in my car.

I think you may be reduced. . A full 7kw will give you a full charge in about 3 hrs. .. My current 5.2 kW takes about 4 hrs.

 

[SanSerif]

How do you know you need a new KLE (whatever that is)?

I may have had a replacement when the car was taken away on a flat bed following total failure (see other thread!). In recap - the car totally died on the road. Nothing worked and it seemed as if the 12v was dead - certainly, jumping another 12v got sufficient things going to steer as it was towed onto the truck. They returned it having done a s/w reinstall but didn't find any specific problem. When I got it home, however, it wouldn't charge. It went back and this time they "replaced a part" - but which part, I know not. All has been well since then.

No idea what rate it charges at as I just plug it into any bog standard 3 pin socket (240v in these parts).

 

[ultraturtle]

... my EVSE completes a full charge in about 4 hours so it would seem that the charge rate is not reduced in my car.

I think you may be reduced. . A full 7kw will give you a full charge in about 3 hrs...

Charging the 18.8 kWh useable capacity from empty to 80% under ideal conditions (optimum temperature, 85% charger efficiency, 7kW charging enabled) would take a bit over 2.5 hours, with the final 20% (3.8 kWh) taking over an hour as the amperage steadily drops.

I doubt anyone has ever charged from truly zero useable SOC to full in 3.5 hours or less. Throw in less than ideal temperature, and it is highly likely a full charge will take significantly longer. 4 hours sounds like a reasonable real world number to work with.

By the way, If you have a BEV, you did not charge from empty. Unless you had a really bad day, there was some charge remaining when you pulled into your garage.

If you have REx, you also did not charge from empty. There was likely about 6% useable SOC remaining when you started the charge, so you were more than 11 minutes ahead of where you would have been had you started with a depleted battery pack.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The battery in the i3 is a 22Kw unit...in neither the BEV nor REx version does the computer allow you to use the full battery capacity. IOW, when the user display shows zero, that's zero only in the user capacity. The computer won't let you discharge further as it needs some charge to be able to run the logic that works when you plug it into your EVSE, and if you DID get it to a real zero, you'd significantly shorten the life of the battery (there is an emergency mode that can jumpstart the recharging cycle if something unusual discharged it below the user zero point). THe same thing happens at the top end of the battery...the car won't let you charge it to literally the full capacity. This also helps with longevity, but it also leaves a little headroom should you do a lot of regeneration near the beginning of your trip (say you live at the top of a hill, you might be trying to add power to the battery and if it was already totally full, you'd have issues!).

It's my understanding that everyone will likely get a new KLE as they start to flow into the parts system to restore the full recharging rates under all normal circumstances. When the supply gets built up, expect to hear from BMW to bring your vehicle in. Otherwise, as the original ones fail (if you're lucky, that wont' happen), if the new one is available, they'll get installed, otherwise, you'll get an old one. If you had the s/w update, the lower charging rate should protect the existing one until the new ones are available. Depending on your circumstances, you may never notice. I dont' have off-peak special prices on power, and plug it in when I get home, and it's charged when I leave the next day, so a hour or two isn't an issue...could be for some, though.

 

[TomMoloughney]

... my EVSE completes a full charge in about 4 hours so it would seem that the charge rate is not reduced in my car.

I think you may be reduced. . A full 7kw will give you a full charge in about 3 hrs...

Charging the 18.8 kWh useable capacity from empty to 80% under ideal conditions (optimum temperature, 85% charger efficiency, 7kW charging enabled) would take a bit over 2.5 hours, with the final 20% (3.8 kWh) taking over an hour as the amperage steadily drops.

I doubt anyone has ever charged from truly zero useable SOC to full in 3.5 hours or less. Throw in less than ideal temperature, and it is highly likely a full charge will take significantly longer. 4 hours sounds like a reasonable real world number to work with.

By the way, If you have a BEV, you did not charge from empty. Unless you had a really bad day, there was some charge remaining when you pulled into your garage.

If you have REx, you also did not charge from empty. There was likely about 6% useable SOC remaining when you started the charge, so you were more than 11 minutes ahead of where you would have been had you started with a depleted battery pack.

I've fully charged my REx in slightly under 3.5 hours, but as you point out, I was starting at 6% SOC which is about 17.7kWhs as compared to a BEV's usable 18.8kWhs. I was also at an EVSE that was supplying a true 240V the full 32amps. Most popular L2 EVSE's are only supplying 30amps and quite often your supply is less than 240V. I usually only pull about 230v at home.

 

[jasleinstein]

Boatguy,

I would like to say my pointed statements and questions sent to the concierge service and escalation procedures made a difference. Frankly the online service and concierge are worthless. I worked with my dealer Seattle BMW, and made it clear I felt BMW dropped the ball here and left both myself and Seattle BMW looking stupid as they sold me a bad product and BMW was not open and honest about this serious issue, until I pushed very hard. BMW didn't find or contact me, I had to push them. I'll keep that in mind when I am ordering my Tesla Model three.