Welcome to the BMW i3 Forum

[JohnKelly]

Welcome!

 

[Bertone]

Muchas gracias

 

[Jotkam]

Hi Everyone, I am driving my i3 for over a year now. Happy to share my experience and looking for other users tips and advice

 

[jlangham]

Hi Everyone, I am driving my i3 for over a year now. Happy to share my experience and looking for other users tips and advice

Welcome! I've had my 2014 BEV i3 for about 1.5 years and love it! I have over 70k miles and still have my GOM display 90 miles on occasion! And that's with driving it like I stole it most of the time!!! :lol:

 

[richs]

Hello! I bought a very lightly-used black 2017 REx a couple weeks ago, right before COVID locked us all down at home. Despite that, I've gotten it out for a few rides around the Austin area, and one longer road trip. It's definitely a fun little car, with more acceleration than I need! As a "less popular" model in the US (and especially in Texas) I'm glad to see that this forum is here and still a little active. I've already used BimmerCode to enable Hold SOC and tweak all sorts of other options, so thanks to everyone for all the previous posts about that.

Because this is my first EV, my first BMW, and my first European car of any kind, I bought a certified pre-owned with an extended warranty, which I've never done before. (The horror stories of BMW repair bills got to me, I guess.)

I'd like to give a special thanks to the original owner of my car for ridding it of 60% of its cost for me. You're the best, whoever you are!

 

[frictioncircle]

Bertone & richs –

As others have said, welcome to the forum! There is a lot of smart advice here posted by knowledgeable members.

You both now own a carbon-fiber RWD vehicle that was years ahead of its time when it came out in 2013 – many of its design features have yet to be matched in the marketplace, seven years later!

Don't hesitate to ask what may feel like basic questions. Moving from an ICE vehicle to an EV is a big step and there are more than a few things to learn along the way.

 

[SLCFBP]

Checking in as a new 2020 I3s REX owner - bought it in early march sitting on the dock in Germany fully loaded (including the blue seat belts!), and now just arrived (but needs a part before being handed over). Looking forward to checking it out. Have flirted with PIEV by having a 2017 M-B GLE 550e, which has PI with "19 miles" range, and really got a an appetite owning a "real EV" to use for my commute to work (12 miles each way), and around town, and keep the MB for longer trips and for family and cargo trips (and the occasional snow storms in the part of the US where I live)

Chose the I3 over the Tesla, as I had in my mind to have a luxury commuter EV, some of my friends are shaking their head that I paid the same for the i3 as I could have gotten a long range decently loaded Model 3 for, but I have my M-B for long range, so I feel good about my decision - and to check the BMW brand out (I have been driving M-B for decades). For me, it's all about doing something unexpected, that's what keeps me feeling 'Alive'!!

Also looking forward to see what I can learn (and eventually contribute) to this forum

 

[Berlindriver]

Hey good evening all,

Happy to introduce myself.

I drive the i3 on short and long distance. Long is about 600 km from work to my family home (Netherlands to Berlin, Germany) and during the week commuting in the Netherlands mainly.
And because almost everyone is in favour of the Tesla around me, I choose the i3 , due to his amazing engineering and beautiful interior. A new 150 or 180 battery would be nice, and faster charging as well. But besides that I love this car.

 

[Franz]

Hello everyone,

This week we traded in our 3 year old 2015 CPO for a brand new 2020! We loved our 2015, but eventually the 80 mile range felt limiting especially with weekend car rentals less attractive these days. We took our first day trip (SF to Napa and back). We seemed to get better than expected range (40 miles left after a 130 mile trip).

We love this car. We were tempted by a Tesla Model 3 but are so glad we stuck with the i3!

 

[RicLord]

Hi,

I am a proud owner of a 33 kWh i3. I like it because it's propose made for energy efficiency. I which it had a bigger battery though.
Also, since it has a REX, and given the still growing number of charging stations, it doesn't have any real limitations has to how far or where it can go.

It's airy and open and beautiful and simple inside although I wish the seats were more comfortable. I also wish the REX version also had a heat pump instead of a resistance for heating. Outside it is arguably the prettiest city car available. I also love that it has a CFRP pass module, but that's more of a vanity thing... can't ditch the battery weight...

Greetings,
Ricardo Lordelo

 

[jadnashuanh]

The seats are fine for the duration of the existing battery charge, at least for me. So, given more padding means more weight, and the design as a city car...I think it's a good compromise. That's one reason I didn't go for the REx, as stopping once an hour to recharge or refill and the overall comfort, for me, just wasn't something I wanted to deal with.

I do like the vehicle or I wouldn't have bought one in 2014...

 

[user 7521]

Just took delivery of a '19 I3Rex. I haven't had it for 24hrs, but on the 10 miles I've put on so far I'm happy with it. May attempt some BimmerCode updates after I get used to the car.

 

[richs]

Just took delivery of a '19 I3Rex. I haven't had it for 24hrs, but on the 10 miles I've put on so far I'm happy with it. May attempt some BimmerCode updates after I get used to the car.

Congratulations! I have a 2017 REx and I'm feeling a bit jealous of your extra battery capacity. Is "Range Envy" a thing?

I used BimmerCode on mine about a month after I got it. Enabled the Hold State of Charge menu (very useful on road trips) and changed various other settings along the way, like enabling the AM radio (which, to be honest, I've never used). One of my favorite coding settings is enabling the tire temperature readings in the TPMS iDrive screen. I have no idea why BMW disables that feature by default.

People will tell you that it somehow voids your warranty to change these hidden settings, but I've had my car in for yearly maintenance and they never said anything about it. These are just software settings that deliberately BMW built into the car. BMW just didn't provide an easy way to change these settings on the iDrive screen. HSOC, in particular, is a feature that *every* i3 has outside of the US by default. "Coding" it to "on" on a US i3 just enables the menu item on the iDrive screen.

 

[Geodude]

Hi All,

I recently became a BMW i3 (2017 w/REX) owner and a first time EV owner as well. I really enjoy driving my i3. I did some pretty good research on this vehicle before I actually ending up getting one. For the last few days i've been driving this car around town and on the freeways.... it has absolutely blown my mind !! I never realized how much fun driving an EV could be - Cheers

 

[thrifty3]

Greetings!
I've been poking around forums and Facebook groups for nearly 2 full years now and about 13 months ago pulled the trigger on a super low mileage 2017 Rex with HK, driver/tech packages, park assist and 20 inch sport wheels. No regrets about the purchase. The wife and I share the driving fun and the car barely sits not driven 1 day per week if it's lucky. We're huge fans and if it were totaled today, we'd go out and buy one just like it.

 

[Geodude]

Thrifty3 wrote:

Greetings!
I've been poking around forums and Facebook groups for nearly 2 full years now and about 13 months ago pulled the trigger on a super low mileage 2017 Rex with HK, driver/tech packages, park assist and 20 inch sport wheels. No regrets about the purchase. The wife and I share the driving fun and the car barely sits not driven 1 day per week if it's lucky. We're huge fans and if it were totaled today, we'd go out and buy one just like it.

Congrats - Welcome to the BMW i3 forum. Really cool site !

 

[OhmsPaw]

Hello everybody,
This is my first post on any forum, ever! I've just taken delivery of a nearly new i3s in Melbourne Red, (six days ago) and can't stop grinning yet and also finding excuses to go for a drive. Which is just as it should be, of course!

I have a question and am not quite sure which forum to post on, it's for anyone who has fitted a Wokeby trunk (boot) extension.

Have any of you noticed any increase in noise, from the road or motor, or any extra wind noise or resistance? I know the space was designed for a REX engine so that must have been quite bulky too. The original metal cover must have absorbed some noise and without that would the replacement Wokeby unit resonate or be so thin (only 3mm) as to allow noise to intrude?

Any comments much appreciated. Very glad I've found a group of similarly happy people. Keep safe.

 

[eXodus]

Hello und Servus,

just recently got a 2017 i3 94ah BEV for pretty awesome deal out of Orlando Florida.

I love EVs since I worked on the Mini E on 2010 in Munich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_E

So happy to finally drive the car in which research I participated a decade ago.

 

[ScottA320]

Greetings! Just purchased a CPO 2018 i3s rex. My sixth BMW, first EV after a few bouts of Ford/Lexus hybrids.

Absolutely love the concept, execution, and mystique! Looking forward to learning and sharing experiences.

 

[longwaytim]

Hey everyone, another future i3 owner here. I am really interested in learning as much as I can before purchasing a used i3. anything to avoid etc... My wife and I test drove a 2014 a couple days ago from a local EV dealer. That was the deciding factor for us! Up until the test drive, we only saw them around town. I hear that they improved in 2017? Can anyone confirm this? Look forward to learning more!