BMW i3 charge socket repair - does this sound ok cost-wise?

styo · 23-09-2021 10:27am #1

Hi,

the BMW garage has told me that a repair to fix my i3's charging socket (won't charge - I can hear the pin fail to engage), will need the entire charging socket to be replaced, with a total cost hitting about 2k.

First question - does that sound about right cost-wise assuming that the whole unit needs to be replaced? It's the CCS model.

Second question. I had anticipated that the locking mechanism was the issue, and that this part would be the scale of replacement. The garage seems to suggest that the charging socket itself is functional (my BWM app confirms that they have tested charging successfully, presumable with the system disassembled somewhat). So the question is whether the scale of replacement (the whole charging socket system) is excessive? Appreciate that's a hard question to answer, but any advice appreciated - ie. is replacing the wheel caboodle typical? First video I came across was this, which made me wonder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziVu9-v69eE

Its a 2014 model out of warranty, so the repair cost is appreciable in terms of car value, but obviously if necessary its necessary.

thanks,

Styo

zg3409 · 23-09-2021 11:57am

Ask on various i3 forums and see if you can get part from a scrapyard

The main dealer is always going to be crazy expensive. That's the max you should pay. Ring the likes of electric autos in naas who do aftermarket repairs of EVs and may be able to source the parts from crashed cars in UK. There may not be many CCS spares.

Have you asked dealer how much for the part on its own? A local garage that deals with hybrids or EVs should be able to swap with a few YouTube videos to help.

Mentioned in the comments of that video suggests this is the part you might need, but check 100% it's ok for CCS

"61-13-6-805-425" Google this

https://www.google.com/search?q=%2261-13-6-805-425&client=ms-android-google&sxsrf=AOaemvK-i5yzHVDh3pVJueyqk-ycDUjDlw%3A1632394832220&ei=UF5MYaH5DL2NhbIP_fiGoAI&oq=%2261-13-6-805-425&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBAgjECdQoShYl0Zg4EloAXAAeACAAXOIAZ0CkgEDMi4xmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

styo · 23-09-2021 12:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117928344#Comment_117928344

thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, with repair to my i3 charging, I'm stuck with the BMW garage - the car had to be recovered to them (and BOI insurance didn't cover that incidentially - I'll be changing insurer next time). I don't have any local garage able to repair EVs afaik. Getting the car moved to another garage is going to cost me another few hundred for recovery anyway. I'm going to have to swallow the main main dealer hit I think, and (steadies himself), I'm ok with that premium as water under the bridge, and also just want it fixed tbh. I've had experience before with a local garage replacing 2/3 grand of parts in a car over a number of weeks, trying to find the problem, with no resolution.

The real question is whether the scale of job seems sensible - it's been suggested to me elsewhere that components come in large modules these days so that even a small sub-component means you're going to be hit with a large parts bill. I'm trying to get a sense whether this kind of hit for what is a common problem with the charging system, so I'm told is normal. It seems to be a really bad engineering design from BMW to have a mechanical failure require a replacement of an entire electronics component, most of which seems to be working fine - the car is charging at the garage as I write :)

slave1 · 23-09-2021 12:42pm

For EVs a lot of approaches are total replacement due to lack of detailed knowledge at local garages. This will remain until the shift of detailed working knowledge to "fix" versus total replacement.

pdpmur · 23-09-2021 5:56pm

Failure of the solenoid that activates the locking pin in the charging port is quite a common fault on the i3.

There's quite a bit of info online about this - this particular fix also seems relatively easy and minor.

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17186

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ziVu9-v69eE&t=237s

Parts can also be ordered online, e.g.

https://www.hubauer-shop.de/en/

handpref · 23-09-2021 5:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058210098/bmw-i3-charge-socket-repair-does-this-sound-ok-cost-wise

Do you just need the locking mechanism part ?

What part of the country is your dealer in ?

The i technician in Keanes is a really good guy, he had no problem talking through some issues my car was having, can you talk to someone ‘normal ‘ to try find a workaround ?

Something like - ye the charger pin lock is goosed, if you get one we will fit it...

Price the part ex labour

Bare in mind your talking around €140 per hour for main dealer service.

silver_sky · 23-09-2021 7:17pm

You don't have to stick with the dealer just because you brought the car there. You would have to pay them for their time spent diagnosing it though. I was in a similar position recently and had my car brought to the dealer under my breakdown cover. Then after much messing around I had it transported to another garage that could actually do the job.

handpref · 23-09-2021 8:31pm

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16349

As above -

I thought I’d seen this somewhere, maybe when the Rex tank filler lock acted up- duct tape disabled that issue ..

k123456 · 24-09-2021 3:46pm

"will need the entire charging socket to be replaced, with a total cost hitting about 2k."

Perhaps overkill on BMW part, its easier for them , and costly for you

BMW i3 charge socket repair - does this sound ok cost-wise?

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