BMW i3 maintenance costs.

Rougebladez

For those of you with a BMW i3.

What are the yearly maintenance costs of the i3?
Thinking of getting one but the "badge"does come at a premium maintenance.
The usual BMW (premium) wiper blade as opposed to a run of the mill one etc

Gumbo

Rougebladez wrote: »

For those of you with a BMW i3.

What are the yearly maintenance costs of the i3?
Thinking of getting one but the "badge"does come at a premium maintenance.
The usual BMW (premium) wiper blade as opposed to a run of the mill one etc

I’ve bought all my Bmw parts from Mister Auto, or micksgarage or similar. Similar price to open astra parts.

I don’t know where the myths of major price differences in parts come from.

unkel

+1

Maintenance in terms of parts costs nothing anyway in the scheme of things. How often do you change your €20 wiper blades? A €20 pollen filter every 3 years? For an ICE BMW, I would recommend using a good indy for the work you can't do yourself. For an i3? There is pretty much no scheduled maintenance once the car is out of warranty. Change the brake fluid once every so many years...

n97 mini

unkel wrote: »

For an i3? There is pretty much no scheduled maintenance once the car is out of warranty. Change the brake fluid once every so many years...

Rex presumably requires oil and filter changes etc. Probably once a year too.

unkel

I forgot for a second that hybrid vehicles are part of this forum too :pac:

Rougebladez

n97 mini wrote: »

Rex presumably requires oil and filter changes etc. Probably once a year too.

Hardly once a year unless you use rex a lot

n97 mini

Rougebladez wrote: »

Hardly once a year unless you use rex a lot

Annually or x number of miles, which ever comes first, is pretty typical.

unkel

+1

ICE needs oil and filter every year, no matter how low your miles. Don't believe any of those "long life" service intervals.

cros13

Service is once every two years, REx or not. I had my first service on my 151 back in 2017 at near enough 100,000km. Did the wiper blades in between.
2nd service due Jan 2019.

It would be unusual for an i3 REx motor to hit double digit operating hours in a year. A lot of REx motors only turn on once every 2000km or so for an automated maintenance cycle.
Even at my mileage I use fuel stabiliser to slow down the fuel going off, and part of the bi-annual maintenance checklist for a REx is draining and replacing the stale fuel.

After 160,000km I'm still on the factory brake pads. The i3 is the closest thing to a zero maintenance car in existence.
The only thing of note is that the tires go quick, partially down to torque and the application of it.... and partially due to the tread depth and compound.

I'm at 30,000 Kms and I got 3-5K Kms left. EC500 Tyres.

I notice some traction loss now though in the wet compared to when the tyres weren't as worn.

I love the Rex and have used it regularly due to chargers being in use, queuing or just too inconvenient.

Given the current horrendous lack of CCS chargers the Rex is still more than practical and necessary in my opinion.

I hope the 44 Kwh allows more power on DC and if they have a lot more CCS chargers I might consider letting go of the Rex , I may even hang on to the my current i3 and see what the ix3 costs.

There are people who run the Rex down , because they don't have it or realise the benefits of it, having being a BEV owner for 3 years and 85,000 Kms previously and suffering the public DC network I was not going to suffer that again in a hurry.

The 11 Kw AC charger in the i3 is brilliant and saves me from having to use DC or the Rex a lot too.

Being able to travel anywhere with the Rex is just brilliant !

A 44 Kw I3 S might be next on the cards, hopefully the DC network improves but there's absolutely no sign of the ESB getting the finger out !

You can have 100 Kwh or 20, the same issues with the DC network apply, when you need a charger it will be in use, there'll be 2-3 cars queuing ahead of you or those with larger batteries will be sitting there for an hour or more ....

Rougebladez

I've looked around and the prices of the i3 Rex in Ireland are at least 25k.

But in the UK it's less and if u incl vat of approx 2k it's still only 21-22ish.

Seems like a bit of a no brainer.

Just a day or 2 off work and a bit of checking with a ferry trip and train.

Someone talk me out of it.

FriendsEV

Rougebladez wrote: »

I've looked around and the prices of the i3 Rex in Ireland are at least 25k.

But in the UK it's less and if u incl vat of approx 2k it's still only 21-22ish.

Seems like a bit of a no brainer.

Just a day or 2 off work and a bit of checking with a ferry trip and train.

Someone talk me out of it.

Only thing that would concern me is the crappy BMW 2 year warranty

Hyundai have 5 year unlimited, Kia 7 year and a premium German brand has 2 years

If you could get an extended warranty it's a fantastic buy for sure

i3 doesn't really have any faults, engineering masterpiece with its carbon fibre, liquid cooling etc

Like any BMW better to have a warranty

ewj1978

Rougebladez wrote: »

I've looked around and the prices of the i3 Rex in Ireland are at least 25k.

But in the UK it's less and if u incl vat of approx 2k it's still only 21-22ish.

Seems like a bit of a no brainer.

Just a day or 2 off work and a bit of checking with a ferry trip and train.

Someone talk me out of it.

Which version? 94ah?

unkel

cros13 wrote: »

The i3 is the closest thing to a zero maintenance car in existence.

i3 REX needs more maintenance than every single pure EV for sale today

Not sure why you are making that point while clearly referring to the i3 REX

And yes, I agree with you that pure EVs need virtually no maintenance apart from the stuff that will keep them in warranty. I paid €0.00 for my first year service for my Ioniq.

80sDiesel

FriendsEV wrote: »

Only thing that would concern me is the crappy BMW 2 year warranty

Hyundai have 5 year unlimited, Kia 7 year and a premium German brand has 2 years

If you could get an extended warranty it's a fantastic buy for sure

i3 doesn't really have any faults, engineering masterpiece with its carbon fibre, liquid cooling etc

Like any BMW better to have a warranty

But its best to avoid the earlier rex models as the engine reportedly gives issues.

zoom_cool

FriendsEV wrote:

Hyundai have 5 year unlimited, Kia 7 year and a premium German brand has 2 years

FriendsEV wrote:

i3 doesn't really have any faults, engineering masterpiece with its carbon fibre, liquid cooling etc

My 94ah which I got from UK has 3 year warranty

Gumbo

Rougebladez wrote: »

I've looked around and the prices of the i3 Rex in Ireland are at least 25k.

But in the UK it's less and if u incl vat of approx 2k it's still only 21-22ish.

Seems like a bit of a no brainer.

Just a day or 2 off work and a bit of checking with a ferry trip and train.

Someone talk me out of it.

No need to talk you out of it!
It’s a wise move.

I bought my leaf in scotland!

Check around here for the spec you want, if none then see if any of the EV garages can source one of you don’t want to travel.

But you can do it all in one day.
Early flight, drive back and ferry that evening.
I always do it on a Friday so you can rush and then have the Saturday to relax (if you don’t work weekends of course).

Rougebladez

ewj1978 wrote: »

Which version? 94ah?

It's a 2015 so i assume it's the 60ah

unkel

cros13 wrote: »

It would be unusual for an i3 REx motor to hit double digit operating hours in a year.

So the average is say 5 hours a year? Given the higher purchase price (thus higher depreciation), higher tax and running costs and less subsidies (like tolls), the car costs maybe €1k per year or so more to own?

That's €200 for every hour the REx motor runs. That's crazy Ted! I don't understand how people who rarely need REx, thought it a good idea to fork out thousands extra for the REx. Peace of mind perhaps?

Don't get me wrong. For those people who regularly do trips beyond the EV range of the car and running the REx motor on those trips it can make sense (with our poor current fast charging structure). Mad_Lad - how many REx hours have you clocked up roughly since you bought the car? I'd say more like a few dozen hours compared to the 2 or 3 hours the average owner has done in 6 months?

unkel

unkel wrote: »

So the average is say 5 hours a year? Given the higher purchase price (thus higher depreciation), higher tax and running costs and less subsidies (like tolls), the car costs maybe €1k per year or so more to own?

That's €200 for every hour the REx motor runs. That's crazy Ted! I don't understand how people who rarely need REx, thought it a good idea to fork out thousands extra for the REx. Peace of mind perhaps?

Don't get me wrong. For those people who regularly do trips beyond the EV range of the car and running the REx motor on those trips it can make sense (with our poor current fast charging structure). Mad_Lad - how many REx hours have you clocked up roughly since you bought the car? I'd say more like a few dozen hours compared to the 2 or 3 hours the average owner has done in 6 months?

Rex gets full 100% BEV toll rates.

How many hours ? no idea at all , but I'm on about my 5th tank in 8 months. Still got some petrol from that so that makes it about, lets say 35 litres of petrol for about 20,700 Kms.

Remember, I got the high spec 2017 I3 Rex for 37K with 9,500 Kms, or rather that was the list price, I'll pay less on PCP if I decide to let it go after the 3 years, that's about 6.5 K more than I would have paid for the 24 Kwh 2015 Leaf, the i3, no question , a far, far higher quality much more fun car to drive car !

Rex has made some trips possible that otherwise wouldn't have been possible with BEV only. I can take it anywhere, this is the important thing here, "anywhere"

I've had several occasions where DC chargers were in use and/or there was a queue or broken chargers, until there's a big role out of new fast chargers I stand by my decision to have the Rex, to me it's essential. Others have no choice but to live without it and be dependent on the disgraceful DC infrastructure and having driven the leaf for 85,000 Kms I wasn't prepared to suffer again and without the 6.6 Kw charger in the Leaf my Life would have been much more inconvenient, it was a Godsend as is the 11 Kw AC charger in the 94 Ah i3 Rex.

Chargers are getting busier, batteries getting larger, waiting times at DC chargers getting longer and longer, no thanks ! Rex is the best !

Until the DC network substantially improves, my next car could be a Rex also, perhaps a 44 kwh BEV if the network improves by 2019 and the 44 Kwh can charge faster than 50 Kw or I may keep the 2017 i3 because I really enjoy driving it a lot.

Unkel, Frank Keane or Joe Duffy Motors is only down the road from you, go take a i3 for a day or two test drive and take it to the back roads !

Anyway, the bit of Petrol and the bit of servicing every 2 years or in other words every 60,000 Kms is no big deal, the Petrol is a necessary evil and the servicing will cost probably less than the Leaf because the Leaf needs a "service" every year or 30,000 Kms whichever comes first.

Imagine if I had a BEV only and a cranky tired 2.5 year old and 4 year old in the back while I had to wait an hour for a charge and on top of that add 30 mins for my own charge ? than add to that missus who is p1ssed off I didn't take her car....... no thanks !

I can take the i3 anywhere, the 24 Kwh leaf was a good commuter car with a bit of a road trip now and then, the I3 Rex is a take you anywhere anytime car and the extra EV range is very nice.

I did the whole BEV pioneer thing for 3 years and the ESB let us down badly !

unkel

I have to say your timings are rather good. You were mad to get your first EV that you needed to publicly charge every day to make your commute. But you did save a bomb on fuel - but your car cost you a lot too. When I bought my EV at the start of 2017, the public charging system was alright - and I didn't need to rely on it much as my car has a lot more range than first gen EVs

But 2018 is a bit of a transgression year. I would be anxious to take my family on a long trip. Who knows it might be impossible to fast charge my car or I might have to wait for several hours even if there is only one car (Leaf 2018) ahead of me in the queue :eek:

Within a year or so, this issue should be resolved for CCS cars, but until then only a REx car or a Tesla or a Hyundai 64kWh are problem free

And yes, I am looking forward to test driving an i3

jhegarty

My Rex demanded a maintenance cycle this morning.

Now I am going to have to buy €2 of petrol :eek:

unkel

jhegarty wrote: »

My Rex demanded a maintenance cycle this morning.

Now I am going to have to buy €2 of petrol :eek:

What's the point of having a REx if you normally have zero petrol in the tank?

jhegarty

unkel wrote: »

What's the point of having a REx if you normally have zero petrol in the tank?

For the day you get to the rapid charger and it's out of service/iced. With the current setup and reliability I wouldn't chance a Cork/Dublin trip on a 60 Ah Bev.

Or the day you urgently need to change plans and don't have your battery charged sufficiently.

The reason for having it empty is that you lose the last 7% of your range if there is petrol in the tank as the Rex will be forced on at 7%.

80sDiesel

jhegarty wrote: »

unkel wrote: »

What's the point of having a REx if you normally have zero petrol in the tank?

For the day you get to the rapid charger and it's out of service/iced. With the current setup and reliability I wouldn't chance a Cork/Dublin trip on a 60 Ah Bev.

Or the day you urgently need to change plans and don't have your battery charged sufficiently.

The reason for having it empty is that you lose the last 7% of your range if there is petrol in the tank as the Rex will be forced on at 7%.

Do you keep spare petrol in a can ? And how did you deplete all the petrol in the first place ?

jhegarty

80sDiesel wrote: »

Do you keep spare petrol in a can ? And how did you deplete all the petrol in the first place ?

Most fast charges are within a few meters of a petrol station. So I don't carry a can.

i depleted by only buying enough to complete the journey the last time I filled up.

unkel

jhegarty wrote: »

The reason for having it empty is that you lose the last 7% of your range if there is petrol in the tank as the Rex will be forced on at 7%.

Ah now I recall someone mentioning that before. In that case I would carry a few litres of petrol.

But if it was me looking for a car with a REx for very occasional use (cros13 reckons most only see a few hours per year) then I would keep the €5k in my pocket and by a second hand €40 petrol genny instead

Linky

Cros is willing to wait around at fast chargers and I will if they're free and I'm on my own but travelling with my OH and 2 Boys is a different story, I'm lucky that I can get from Carlow to Galway in the i3 without a charge and that's not crawling either but my trip to Galway and around the ring of Kerry would have been impossible in a BEV CCS only as the Killarney Nissan DC is ChaDeMo only and the AC point in Killarney was down. I can get away with 30 mins max with Family but a queue ? not a chance in hell. I'd be murdered !

More recently, an unplanned trip to Dublin , I left with around 50% charge, got to Naas charger and there was a queue, I just went to the petrol station at the McDonald's , filled up in 5 seconds and headed off.

I would hope the 44 Kwh can charge at a faster rate than 50 Kw, it's only then I would consider the BEV only, but this depends completely on the ESB, so far there's not a word out of them and this to me is a very, very bad sign, to my knowledge , not a single DC charger has been installed since 2015 so it's easy to see the value in AC charging in Ireland.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

I have to say your timings are rather good. You were mad to get your first EV that you needed to publicly charge every day to make your commute. But you did save a bomb on fuel - but your car cost you a lot too. When I bought my EV at the start of 2017, the public charging system was alright - and I didn't need to rely on it much as my car has a lot more range than first gen EVs

But 2018 is a bit of a transgression year. I would be anxious to take my family on a long trip. Who knows it might be impossible to fast charge my car or I might have to wait for several hours even if there is only one car (Leaf 2018) ahead of me in the queue :eek:

Within a year or so, this issue should be resolved for CCS cars, but until then only a REx car or a Tesla or a Hyundai 64kWh are problem free

And yes, I am looking forward to test driving an i3

The car cost a lot with the high interest, but that's life, and having any Nissan will see a lot of depreciation.

Taking the family on a long trip in a BEV only with the current state of the DC network can be tricky, for starters it's unfair to expect small Children to sit in the car for up to 1-1.5 hrs for a charge after a long drive, if you can get out and have some food it's different but all including, Wife, Partner etc all have to be into the EV thing.

In the beginning I was mad looking back, the Naas charger was so busy and people disappearing for up to an hour or more and what's worse is people going into the Aldi or Lidl across the street or into the shopping centre wouldn't even give me the 10 mins I needed to get home promising they'd be back in 20 mins only to arrive an hour later, I should have disconnected them!

Anyway, even the 64 Kwh Kona, 100 Kwh EV or whatever will require charging when away from home and it's the same O'l story, not enough chargers !

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

The car cost a lot with the high interest, but that's life, and having any Nissan will see a lot of depreciation.

In the beginning I was mad looking back!

You were mad!

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyway, even the 64 Kwh Kona, 100 Kwh EV or whatever will require charging when away from home and it's the same O'l story, not enough chargers !

Not the same o'l story at all. You can get from anywhere in Ireland to anywhere else in Kona without having to charge. Real life range of over 500km. Only the €100k plus Teslas match that.

FriendsEV

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Remember, I got the high spec 2017 I3 Rex for 37K with 9,500 Kms, or rather that was the list price, I'll pay less on PCP if I decide to let it go after the 3 years, that's about 6.5 K more than I would have paid for the 24 Kwh 2015 Leaf, the i3, no question , a far, far higher quality much more fun car to drive car !

Did you get interest free pcp on your 37k i3?

PCP deals seem pretty crap on all EVs, high interest rates, VW lowest I can see at 3.9%, but have 0% and scrappage for ICE models

Looked at Ioniq there as its the cheapest EV and its pretty bad value to me

5.9% apr

11.3k deposit

12.6k finance ( 342pm x 37 )

12.7k final payment

Thats nearly 37k if you have cash for final payment, if you need finance on final payment it's over 40k

I might be looking at it wrong but I can't see how thats cheaper over 3 years vs say a 0% pcp 20k Octavia

Of course if you pay cash and do crazy milage it might break even

Would be interested to see the maths on this as Hyundai Kona now looks a crazy buy if it's 5.9% apr

FriendsEV

FriendsEV wrote: »

Did you get interest free pcp on your 37k i3?

No, about 4% , Leaf was 8%.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

You were mad!

Not the same o'l story at all. You can get from anywhere in Ireland to anywhere else in Kona without having to charge. Real life range of over 500km. Only the €100k plus Teslas match that.

Real life range of about 350 Kms more like it with normal driving. Still not bad really in fairness but it will still require charging when away from home.

Over 500 Kms, come on , that's bollocks, you got some horn for Hyundai EV's it's poking through the screen in my Laptop, all the way from Lucan to Carlow !

FriendsEV

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No, about 4% , Leaf was 8%.

How did the math work if you don't mind me asking

As Kona will be about 37k

4% is extremely good for a used car, you done very well there

Deposit amount

Finance amount ( total/ monthly payment)

Final payment

Thanks

Deposit 10K final payment of 18K. Montlhy payments about 458 PM.

I'd have to check the paperwork to be exact.

FriendsEV

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Deposit 10K final payment of 18K. Montlhy payments about 458 PM.

I'd have to check the paperwork to be exact.

Looks about right

44.5k total cost

Pretty good in fairness, 4% apr for used car is unbelievable, new ones are barely getting that now

8% on the Leaf was shocking

FriendsEV

FriendsEV wrote: »

Looks about right

44.5k total cost

Pretty good in fairness, 4% apr for used car is unbelievable, new ones are barely getting that now

8% on the Leaf was shocking

Yeah 44K total sounds about right if I were to keep it. To be honest , there's no car on the horizon that I would feel like I want to drive as much. I have no interest in the Kona, not that it's a bad car, not at all it just doesn't float my boat.

The i3 S could be on the cards next , I would love to be BEV I3 but it's unlikely, there's absolutely no move on the ESB to install chargers and unlikely in 2018 so at least the end of 2019 before we see any real progress or even 2020, the ESB have 0 interest in investing in the network for such little return and it's likely we'll only see one Ionity chargers by Summer next year at this rate.

IF I could get a 44 Kwh i3S at decent price though I might consider letting go of the Rex, I just might.

The predecessor the the i3 will be the ix3 and that sounds like it's going to be an amazing car but in decent configuration I can see it cost north of 60K time will tell.