Used BMW i3 experiences

No Idea I just press the rear demist and they seem to work fine.

unkel

MM3 wrote: »

We test drove this one before we bought ours http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/i3/used-2016-161-bmw-i3-60ah-dublin-fpa-201809230782783

If I bought one, it would be more like a GBP10k early one from the UK

Patser

Where in Dublin are you Unkel? If you want a spin

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

If I bought one, it would be more like a GBP10k early one from the UK

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/i3/used-2013-131-bmw-i3-range-extender-donegal-fpa-201902175033353

unkel

That's a good price for one already in the country that you can just drive down. I'm not looking, yet, anyway. And if I were in the market for one it would have to be BEV.

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

That's a good price for one already in the country that you can just drive down. I'm not looking, yet, anyway. And if I were in the market for one it would have to be BEV.

Yeah, just copped that after i posted it.

bod71

Can I ask if any of you that bought from bmw uk recently have an issue of the dealer not selling because you don’t have uk address . I was told this earlier on when I rang.

MM3

bod71 wrote: »

Can I ask if any of you that bought from bmw uk recently have an issue of the dealer not selling because you don’t have uk address . I was told this earlier on when I rang.

Bought a few weeks back from a BMW dealer in the uk, no issues at all with it being an export deal.

ewj1978

Car salesman not selling cars.. wut?
I'd ring again and get a different salesman who actually has a clue.

Gumbo

bod71 wrote: »

Can I ask if any of you that bought from bmw uk recently have an issue of the dealer not selling because you don’t have uk address . I was told this earlier on when I rang.

Nope, bought 3 cars in the UK since January 4th and not one mentioned that to me.

unkel

kceire wrote: »

Nope, bought 3 cars in the UK since January 4th and not one mentioned that to me.

Careful now. Bring in more than 5 (I think) cars per year triggers a flag that marks you as a trader, with tax implications!

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

Careful now. Bring in more than 5 (I think) cars per year triggers a flag that marks you as a trader, with tax implications!

That will be it for a few years now.....until 120aH i3S is affordable

TheOracle77

Gentlemen

Still learning about this cracking little car and ev ownership in general.

Advice please.

My second hand i3's default mode is eco plus. But should be comfort mode? I presume it was coded by the previous owner via the Bimmer carry on? That is for another day's work.

Got my ecars card and I've been experimenting. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail! I was at a rapid charger and the combo was working fine. I know that only the combo or chademo can charge at a time. I was under the impression that if say the chademo was occupied, I could however plug into the Type 2 43kW cable and charge at 7kW. I tried this as a test however and the car wouldn't charge. I tried to reduce the charge settings on the in car menu but still no luck. Any advice?

I charged successfully at a fast charger no problem. The charging stations in my town are located in car parks. They tend to be right beside the pay stations so lots of foot traffic. I would be a bit nervous about the cable being a trip hazard even when wrapped up around a post or whatever. Who would be liable if somebody injured themself either accidently or by design? Anyone heard of same? I work in a hospital role so my view on this may be slightly nuanced.

And also the "fuel cap". Sooner or later, some yobo will kick that off! I don't think I could leave Betsy so vulnerable for a couple of hours.

Gumbo

TheOracle77 wrote: »

My second hand i3's default mode is eco plus. But should be comfort mode? I presume it was coded by the previous owner via the Bimmer carry on? That is for another day's work.

Where are you based?
I can code it back to standard no problem.

TheOracle77 wrote: »

Got my ecars card and I've been experimenting. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail! I was at a rapid charger and the combo was working fine. I know that only the combo or chademo can charge at a time. I was under the impression that if say the chademo was occupied, I could however plug into the Type 2 43kW cable and charge at 7kW. I tried this as a test however and the car wouldn't charge. I tried to reduce the charge settings on the in car menu but still no luck. Any advice?

I was under this impression also, so interested to hear views on this too.

TheOracle77 wrote: »

I would be a bit nervous about the cable being a trip hazard even when wrapped up around a post or whatever. Who would be liable if somebody injured themself either accidently or by design? Anyone heard of same? I work in a hospital role so my view on this may be slightly nuanced.

Just coil up the cable as much as possible and tuck under the car if you can, only leaving the length required to reach the charging post.

TheOracle77 wrote: »

And also the "fuel cap". Sooner or later, some yobo will kick that off! I don't think I could leave Betsy so vulnerable for a couple of hours.

This is one downfall i've noticed after coming from the Leaf. The filler cap is flimsy. In fact, I viewed 2 cars here and one didn't sit flush with the body when closed as I suspected somebody opened it with too much force, or bent it back too far at some stage.

bod71

kceire wrote: »

Nope, bought 3 cars in the UK since January 4th and not one mentioned that to me.

Do you want to make it 4.ðŸ˜

TheOracle77

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOracle77 View Post
My second hand i3's default mode is eco plus. But should be comfort mode? I presume it was coded by the previous owner via the Bimmer carry on? That is for another day's work.
Where are you based?
I can code it back to standard no problem.

I'm in Wexford. Thanks. Appreciate the offer. But it's due a service in the Summer which I presume resets any changes? I might experiment after that.

Gumbo

bod71 wrote: »

Do you want to make it 4.ðŸ˜

Have you got one in mind?

Gumbo

TheOracle77 wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOracle77 View Post
My second hand i3's default mode is eco plus. But should be comfort mode? I presume it was coded by the previous owner via the Bimmer carry on? That is for another day's work.
Where are you based?
I can code it back to standard no problem.

I'm in Wexford. Thanks. Appreciate the offer. But it's due a service in the Summer which I presume resets any changes? I might experiment after that.

No, service will not reset any coding unless the dealer specifically updates the complete cars software. They normally don't as there's been no software update for the i3 since early 2016 I believe.

bod71

kceire wrote: »

Have you got one in mind?

I do it’s a 330e, not an i3. I’m waiting on the dealer to come back to me with pics and information on the car, then take it from there.

Gumbo

Couple of observations coming from the Leaf.

Didn't charge last night as got full charge in work yesterday, so woke up this morning to 90% and 189km range.

turned on the fan and 22 degrees and range dropped to 149km. I know its only a GOM but it seems a big drop compared to the Leaf dropping about 10% with hot and AC on.

I also noticed that if you play around with the fan speed, and turn on AC, the range increases......?

Now it makes no difference to me but i'm just curious, either way I drove in with air off and sun roof open, its a nice fresh morning

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Couple of observations coming from the Leaf.

Didn't charge last night as got full charge in work yesterday, so woke up this morning to 90% and 189km range.

turned on the fan and 22 degrees and range dropped to 149km. I know its only a GOM but it seems a big drop compared to the Leaf dropping about 10% with hot and AC on.

I also noticed that if you play around with the fan speed, and turn on AC, the range increases......?

Now it makes no difference to me but i'm just curious, either way I drove in with air off and sun roof open, its a nice fresh morning

You're is the 60 Ah right ?

The GOM in the 94Ah doesn't budge when I turn on or off the climate, but to be sure I will check later.

The 2011-2014 Leaf was the same the 2015+ not. The GOM in the original leaf was just programmed to drop 30 odd km when you touched the climate control lol.

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

You're is the 60 Ah right ?

The GOM in the 94Ah doesn't budge when I turn on or off the climate, but to be sure I will check later.

The 2011-2014 Leaf was the same the 2015+ not. The GOM in the original leaf was just programmed to drop 30 odd km when you touched the climate control lol.

Mine is the 94 Ah.

My 141 Leaf would only drop by about 10% range when I turned the climate on/off.

I know its only a GOM but i'm just curious as to how it works.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Mine is the 94 Ah.

My 141 Leaf would only drop by about 10% range when I turned the climate on/off.

I know its only a GOM but i'm just curious as to how it works.

Strange, I must check it again , to be honest I only drive with climate off when the weather is warm and not so humid.

It's just programmed that when you press the climate control to drop a preset amount of km, have to say I never noticed.

DrPhilG

Although the GOM in the i3 is a lot better than the Leaf, it's weakness is climate control.

In the Leaf if I had say 50 miles range, I'd knock off the climate control and it would increase to maybe 53. Climate back on, 50. Climate off, 53 and onward to infinity.

In the i3 it would be more like:
Climate on - 50
Climate off - 53
Climate back on - 49
Climate back off - 52
On - 54
Off - 51
Etc etc.

The GOM jumps all over the place as you toggle climate off and on.

unkel

So wild variations but all between 49 and 54? I would hardly call that jumping all over the place.

What seriously put me off the Leaf was that during the test drive in early autumn on a mild dry day with no heat on and no air conditioning on, the range dropped 40 km in the 10km I drove it. I did a few fast accelerations but with the dealer beside me I didn't go mad. I drive my Ioniq far harder than I drove the Leaf on that test drive. I average about 200km in Ioniq (driving it very hard, but not much at all sustained 120km/h intercity driving - mostly around Dublin). In Leaf I reckon that would have been not much more than 95km. NOTE - with my driving style!

DrPhilG

unkel wrote: »

So wild variations but all between 49 and 54? I would hardly call that jumping all over the place.

I would.

The GOM shouldnt change its estimate of my range based on the exact same circumstances only a few seconds apart.

unkel

The extremes of your observations are less than 10% from the average either way. Honestly, that's pretty much like a constant & reliable reading.

And you had no issues with the GOM in your Leaf that was completely unreliable (based on my own quick test drive, but mostly on what other people have reported online)?

Gumbo

DrPhilG wrote: »

Although the GOM in the i3 is a lot better than the Leaf, it's weakness is climate control.

In the Leaf if I had say 50 miles range, I'd knock off the climate control and it would increase to maybe 53. Climate back on, 50. Climate off, 53 and onward to infinity.

In the i3 it would be more like:
Climate on - 50
Climate off - 53
Climate back on - 49
Climate back off - 52
On - 54
Off - 51
Etc etc.

The GOM jumps all over the place as you toggle climate off and on.

I was wondering
Mine does exactly the same.
Range is 144km, turn in AC, range is now 146km

DrPhilG

kceire wrote: »

Range is 144km, turn on AC, range is now 146km

But turn AC off again and it "should" go right back to 144km. Instead it will probably decide that it's now 150km!

Gumbo

DrPhilG wrote: »

But turn AC off again and it "should" go right back to 144km. Instead it will probably decide that it's now 150km!

True

Patser

So if you keep turning it on and off you never run out if range#!!

We've achieved perpetual motion lads.

Gumbo

Patser wrote: »

So if you keep turning it on and off you never run out if range#!!

We've achieved perpetual motion lads.

My local curry shop has been supplying that for years now.............

DrPhilG

Patser wrote: »

So if you keep turning it on and off you never run out if range#!!

We've achieved perpetual motion lads.

Self charging...

Lads it's easier to just get more familiar with charge % rather than the GOM because the GOM can't predict the future and can't account for hills, sudden acceleration and increased speeds, it takes time to adjust and then gives a prediction based then on that bit of driving and if you slow down etc , go down hill it will go back up again. The charge % is much more reliable or the Kwh/100 Km.

GOMs work best with the same continuous conditions, I found the Leaf 24 2015 model to be pretty good.

On a warm day in the Leaf 24 new, I could get 140 Kms off the Motorway the same as I can get 230 Kms in the i3 94Ah.

The 120 Ah i3 appears if it could do 220 kms at 100-110 Km/h and 250-280 with the same conditions I get 230 Kms in the 94 Ah Kms.

One of the benefits of the Rex is that it allows you to drive it to a much lower SOC than you'd normally drive a BEV.

Could I live with the 40 Kwh i3 ? I'm not so sure to be honest given the current infrastructure, perhaps if it could charge at 100 kw and there were a lot more chargers then yes, I could see myself easily living with 40 Kwh.

I would imagine that BMW will announce that there is a 50-54 Kwh i3 coming for 2020 but they need to try harder and go with 60 Kwh and faster charging that would be something but highly unlikely. Truth be told there won't be another battery upgrade until the next generation whenever that will be considering it was to be scrapped in 2020 and now it's not so they are probably way behind in updating it.

This is the 120 Ah i3 after full charge from work in Eco Pro+ first time to see anything like that on the GOM ! :-)

You can see the different driving modes in each pic.







Got home from work and the GOM showed this

Gumbo

Good figures there from the 120ah version!

unkel

351km if you drive it like a Leaf

Is that figure realistic though? I guess it probably is.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

351km if you drive it like a Leaf

Is that figure realistic though? I guess it probably is.

351 ? I'm not so sure, I would say 280 would be possible under the same conditions as I can get 230 in the i3 94 Ah and this GOM readings above is using heater too so in warm weather it could be possible to get 300 Km out of it off the motorway urban driving 60-80-100 and so on or lots of back road driving for country folk like me.

It's leaps beyond my old 24 Kwh leaf for sure !

This 120 Ah I sadly have to give up soon might also have the heat pump which is good for +5 degrees C and above, below 5 degrees and lower they are useless. So suits our climate pretty well.

The Apple car play is brilliant, the HK stereo sounds better for some reason and the LED high beams would probably permanently blind oncoming drivers , I have never seen headlights so bright !

The i3 Got small improvements that made it even better , if I could only get the S for a few days !

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

The Apple car play is brilliant

I refuse to plug in my phone. I haven't had to plug in my phone for charging in many years. The current version of Android (not on my phone yet) supports Android Auto wirelessly

Maybe that feature will come to an iPhone in 2022 / 2023?

unkel

unkel wrote: »

I refuse to plug in my phone. I haven't had to plug in my phone for charging in many years. The current version of Android (not on my phone yet) supports Android Auto wirelessly

Maybe that feature will come to an iPhone in 2022 / 2023?

? Course it works wirelessly

Gumbo

Very quick wash.
Power hose.
Wash not rub down and a quick spray of quick detailer.

I want to de-iron, de-tar and clay over the coming weeks but knowing I won’t get to it for a month or so I just wanted to freshen up the exterior.

eagerv

unkel wrote: »

I refuse to plug in my phone. I haven't had to plug in my phone for charging in many years. The current version of Android (not on my phone yet) supports Android Auto wirelessly

Maybe that feature will come to an iPhone in 2022 / 2023?

Likewise. I hate plugging in phone, especially with wireless charging in many cars.


My Android phone supports wireless Android Auto, but unfortunately my car does not appear to.
Do many cars yet support it?

Idbatterim

Did the op buy an i3. He had concerns about running costs. The depreciation Figures I have heard here, from bmw dealers after six to 18 months is jaw dropping!

Gumbo

Idbatterim wrote: »

Did the op buy an i3. He had concerns about running costs. The depreciation Figures I have heard here, from bmw dealers after six to 18 months is jaw dropping!

Think he is still waiting on that bus as he hasn’t posted in over 2 weeks.

Patser

Beauty looking yoke KCeire, and almost a pity to lose those plates - the yellow reg looks great against the black, and the front one matches the wheels.

Gumbo

Patser wrote: »

Beauty looking yoke KCeire, and almost a pity to lose those plates - the yellow reg looks great against the black, and the front one matches the wheels.

I’m more annoyed with having to put discs in the front windscreen. The UK system is great. Clear window.

Patser

kceire wrote: »

I’m more annoyed with having to put discs in the front windscreen. The UK system is great. Clear window.

Top left corner, in where it's well tinted, that way its completely out of sight to you inside and only visible from outside to those who get close to look - as in Gardai at checkpoint, I'd no issue going through. But effectively invisible

Below is a pic of the 120 Ah i3 after getting back to the garage, 145 Kms and GOM says 146 Km left in Eco Pro and 170 Km Eco Pro +.

When I got to 50% I had 125 Kms which would suggest 250 Km should be achievable if you assume another 125 Km from the rest of the 50% and pretty much the same driving style and conditions.

280 Km I would say is quite possible in warm weather at up to 100 Km/h.

I drove back to the garage at 110 Km/h with some 120 Km/h stints from M9 Carlow to M7 roadworks and then 60-80 through that and then 100 on N7 with some 110 Km/h.

Oh and my i3 (94 Ah ) has more weight in the steering which I prefer , I knew there was a difference , probably because there is the S now they probably want to make the normal i3, well, more normal but it's still fun on back roads.

dloob

I know it's the used thread but someone has to take to depreciation hit for ye.



Pretty impressed with the charge rate on rapid chargers, really high 40s like 48kw+ up to 85% and still remains pretty fast for another few percent.
Goes at about 2% a minute below 85%.

I can confirm BMWs version of CarPlay is wireless but it's still a 200 euro optional extra in 2019!