BMW i3

[TriggerFish]

Hi all, this is taken from another forum I'm on (one of the BMW ones), but thought it might be of interest to people on here, and if not, it only took 30 seconds to type this and press paste, so nothing lost!

 

Some background though as to why I was interested in the i3: my E30 is a summer car, and not for commuting (25mpg isn't great for a start, and a lack of aircon is another pain although it does have heated leather seats, just what I want in the hot months...). My 330d, as dependable as it is, is getting a bit long in the tooth. It's on 237k miles, so I can't complain, and it did manage to get me around Europe in the summer without major issue. Although trip did show that the 40c heat in Germany did show that, it starts to overheat in traffic as one of the fans has failed, the DSC doesn't like the heat either!, the rear lights are weaker than Norwegian crash barriers, it runs just as well on cheap (40ppl!) Russian fuel as it does the expensive UK fuel, and the ride is actually quite good on proper road surfaces, not the crap we have over here! But still, it managed over 5,000 miles in three weeks heading out to Russia via Poland and the Baltics and back home via Scandinavia, so it's not got any massive issues afoot. Given I want to replace it, I love the idea of charging an electric car for free at work, so the i3 seemed worth a look.

 

Anyway, enough pre-paste rambling, and onto the review!

 

So, as some of you may know, I've recently had three days in an i3 (the range extender version) thanks to North Oxford BMW. These are my thoughts, and a summary of everyone else that's been in it.

 

"Wow, it's silent, that's spooky!" Followed usually by laughter and "Wow! That's fast! Errily fast"

 

Anyway, some actual thoughts. I'm hardly a wordsmith, so don't expect to find an evo-esque review full of flowing metaphors and elegant descriptions.

 

Firstly, the elephant in the room. The looks. They're fine. This photo I took this morning proves it.

 

 

I'm not going to bother with more photos. They're online if you type 'i3' into Google images. Personally, I like the front, and the side from the front up until the end of the front door. The rear door/quarter is weird, and the boot looks like a squashed Darth Vader helmet.

 

Ok, so they're not to everyone's taste. Most people have been a bit 'meh' at first, but have all changed their opinion of the car once going in it, even 'it's electric, it'll be rubbish' mindset people.

 

So, my use case, and how it fits for me. I do 45 days in commuting a day, and can charge the car for free at work. The car can easily manage that on a charge, and the one I had came with a petrol engine to charge the batteries, giving you the same range as a petrol car - unlimited. Given this, the range really isn't a problem for me.

 

On the front most people are likely interested in: dynamics. Firstly, comparisons are to my 237k 330d manual (now on standard MSport suspension after I removed the coilovers to cope with the bumpy Russian roads (although they're better than ours, so that was an unneeded change!)).

 

It's silent. There's no motor noise, just a slight amount of wind/tyre noise at speed. Cruising at A-road speed doesn't require you to raise your voice at all, something that the 330d can't claim. It's much louder in wind/road noise, and the engine is very noticeable in comparison (compared to silence, not surprising!), but it did strike me just how loud it was when I first started the car.

 

Handling is OKish. It's got skinny 165 tyres, so it's never going to be amazing, and it is quite rolly. The tiny turning circle and very direct steering can make it a little twitchy, but mostly it's OK around town. At speeds over 75 on a dual carriage way, it does start to get a bit unsettled. I came across some bumps/undulations on a right hand corner, and hit those, which in the 3 serires causes no problems at all, you just bounce a bit. In the i3, you become very unsettled. It's not nice, and is bordering on scary. Keep it around 70, and it's fine. Range is preserved this way too. 

 

The ride, much to my surprise, is decent. It's on 19s as standard, with 20s as an option, but it rides well - much less crashy than the 330, and arguably better isolated from the road compared to the 330. It's not soft and wallowy (despite the body roll), as it's quite firm, but in a nice way. I prefer the ride to that of the 330, although I think the E30 is possibly the best of the three cars I've driven recently. (See that lack of adjectives shining through?!) The seats, despite being very thin, offer decent cornering support (almost as much as the 330, which are too wide for me), but they also offer much, much better lower back support.

 

So far then, it's all going well. It's quiet, the ride is decent, the interior is very nice, although some of the materials are a step down from the 3 series - like the centre console. I like a low, stretched out driving position with a small, cocooned glass area usually, like my old RX-8, but this, which is much higher with a large dashboard leading to a big windscreen is actually great, I feel. Visibility ahead is much better, which helps for a smoother drive/more anticipation.

 

Anticipating in the i3 is very important, and it employs a fantastic regenerative braking system. Come off the throttle, and the car slows down, using the momentum to charge the battery. The car will come to a standstill on it's own, and depending on how much you back off the throttle, the car slows proportionally. As a result, I managed to drive the 22 miles home, only needing to use the brake pedal twice! This sounds weird, but you pick it up very, very quickly. It took me longer to remember to brake when getting back into the 330. The first time I had to stop, in the BMW car park, I put the clutch in, and then wondered why I wasn't stopping, until it dawned on me - I needed to brake! This was still a problem about 20 miles into the journey. It's scary how quickly it became second nature.

 

On the flip side of braking: power! It's got no gears, no engine noise, and 'only' 170 bhp. I'd seen the video of one outdragging an E92 M3 off the line, but I still doubted the performance. I was wrong too, it's way faster/more responsive than it has any right to be. Up to 40-50mph, it's blistering. 0-60 on my REx was 7.9 (I think) seconds, with the lighter battery-only model being 7.2 seconds. The instantness of the torque really is amazing, it's so surreal to have instant power, compared to having to wait a second or so for my turbo to spool up. Away from the lights, it's really amazing. The speed it can leave traffic behind is great (although the 4 series that was right up my tail might disagree!).

 

On of my favorite features is the preheat option. Plug the car in, set a departure time (iDrive or mobile app), and it will start heating the batteries for optimal range, BUT it also heats the cabin up too - ready to leave. In the winter, this would be amazing! If the car's not plugged, you can still preheat the cabin, and this can be done ad hoc from the mobile app, or from a button on the key. The heated seats are just an accidental castration waiting to happen - they're hella hot! I've had heated seats in three other cars, but none like this before!

 

Bad things? Range is limited with battery. Petrol engine equates to about 40mpg. It's got some cheap plastics inside, and the spec isn't too generous as standard (better than a standard 3 series or something though). Ummm... handling's not amazing, esp. at speed. Visibility is obstructed when reversing by thick B/C pillars That's about it really, I can't think of much else.

 

I really cannot recommend taking a test drive of one of these to someone enough - it's completely transformed my view of cars in general. I had a 4 series for 24 hours back in the winter (a 420d M-Sport 8-speed auto), which had a price of over £40k. This i3, at less money, is a better car IMO. It's faster, quieter, cheaper to run. Neither are lookers IMO, although I did prefer the low slung 420d driving position, but the compromises in other dynamics are enough to lose it the choice in my mind.

 

Yes, the long term future of motoring may not be electric, and they may never truly catch on, but as an idea, right now, an i3 suits my needs perfectly. 'Free' to run, two year servicing interval, great performance, and a level of refine I doubt you'd find on any other (new) car at this price level. (£33k before grants, or about £270 a month on lease with £270 deposit for 10k p/a.)

 

Would I buy one? I'm 99% sure I'm going too. I don't feel I could go for a battery only car, so I'd have to get the petrol assisted one. It would remove all anxiety, and allow me complete freedom to take long trips without worry.

 

 

For contrast, all taken from the same website, with the same deposit duration (1 month), same lease term (4 years) and annual mileage (10k):

 

i3 battery: £270 pm

Golf GTD: £300 pm

i3 petrol: £330.

 

The Golf is better spec'd, but slower, and more expensive to run (i.e., you have to pay for fuel!).

 

Anyway, just my 2p. I know lots of people on here seem to hate them, but hey-ho, haters gonna hate...

[silver1011]

Nice review.

 

How far did you get on a full charge before the engine kicked in, or did you not get a chance to flatten the battery?

 

My daily commute is 65 miles each way at 60-80mph, hence I spend close to £500 / month on diesel alone.

 

I'm tempted with electric / hybrid when my current trusty Superb dies but the sums will need to work.

 

I'm hoping the monthly payments on a PCP will be covered by the potential fuel savings.

[TriggerFish]

Cheers.

 

I didn't manage to kill the batteries, I must have done 50-60 miles or so (commuting + showing it to people at lunch/in the evenings) and had it on charge during the day at work. I charged it for about an hour each morning so I could warm the car up before heading to work. (Can be done without being plugged in.)

 

General consensus is that the worst case scenario, with cold weather (worse for batteries) and not preconditioning it will give you about 50 miles. The preconditioning is clever - it not only heats the cabin ready to leave at a predefined time (say goodbye to deicing!), but it also heats the batteries up (the LEAF etc. don't have thermal battery management, AFAIK) before leaving. Doing this increases range as there's less heater load while driving, and the warmed up batteries offer better efficiency. (Note - battery preheating is only an option when on charge, I think. Cabin heating can be done anytime, triggered on a schedule, by mobile app, or from the key.)

 

If you don't PCP, but opt for PCH, you'll be spending around £330 a month on one with the petrol engine + options. If you charge at work, and then use petrol for 10 miles each way in winter, you should be quids in. It costs about £2.50 to charge at home, and is from £0.00 to £0.09 per kW on public chargers (just under 20kW battery). BMW pricing isn't great - third parties are much cheaper (even for factory orders).

 

I've been quoted £382 pm for 15k per year for a range extender, with the top range interior (leather seats, dash, nice wooden trim bits), LED headlights, DC rapid charging (0-80% in 30 minutes) and harmon/kardon audio over 4 years.

 

 

The range extender can either be left to turn on automatically at 6% battery, or turned on manually when below 75% SOC. The latter is good for long trips, as if/when you run out of fuel, you've still got the full range of the battery to get you to another station. For commuting, leaving it to its own devices seems best, as it won't come on if needed.

[TriggerFish]

This is an interesting watch too. Guessing this is the same as the new Fabia vRS? Or did they not do a mk3?

 

 

And this, while clearly wheel spinning is still impressive.

 

 

I can only imagine a Tesla must be truely amazing!

[Ootohere]

I have done quite a bit of driving in a i3 ReX (Range Extender).

It does the job just fine knowing you can run the generator and continue and extend your range until you need to get on a charger.

[silver1011]

I'm guessing BMW's own finance house won't be the cheapest, but after selecting the following here I got to £600 per month before options for a REX...

 

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/topics/support/offers/i-series/i3/retailoffers.html

 

25,000 miles / year

36 month PCP

£500 deposit

 

= £599 / month.

 

I also grossly exagerated my annual fuel costs. After checking I've filled up 58 times since October 2014 to today, assuming an average of £50 per tank that's only £241 per month.

 

A shame as I was trying to convince myself a PCP on a hybrid would pay for itself against my current fuel costs alone, but sadly not.

[vRS Joe]

I had one of these on demo a while back.

I still cant get over how fast it was! Mine had no range extender generator so a good bit lighter!

With the options I wanted I was more than £10k more expensive than a top spec Nissan Leaf. Typical BMW pricing...

I also came to the opinion that the Rex is pretty pointless. What's your thoughts on it?

[vRS Joe]

Dp

[vRS Joe]

Dp

[silver1011]

I also came to the opinion that the Rex is pretty pointless. What's your thoughts on it?

 

The REX is the only reason I am interested.

 

My daily mileage (140 miles) puts me on or beyond the real life limit of the battery charge, which is why the cheaper (electric only) Leaf is no good.

 

Having to use the petrol engine to get me the last 10 miles into work or home (and for if I need to nip out of the office during the day) seems to make it worthwhile... 

[TriggerFish]

I had one of these on demo a while back.

I still cant get over how fast it was! Mine had no range extender generator so a good bit lighter!

With the options I wanted I was more than £10k more expensive than a top spec Nissan Leaf. Typical BMW pricing...

I also came to the opinion that the Rex is pretty pointless. What's your thoughts on it?

 

Tis a lot more £££ than a Leaf, but the engineering etc. can't come cheaply. That carbon fibre chassis which only weighs 80kg most cost a bit. They're not cheap though...

 

My thoughts on the REx? A must have, so the complete opposite to you! Why? With it, I can keep filling it with fuel, and still do long trips around the country without worrying or seeking out charge points. Sure, the 90mile range will need a fuel stop every hour or so, but it's not that often I do longer distances. Plus, if I can't get it charged up at work one day after having already driven home, and back into work, it means I've got the safety to know I can get home again on petrol without having to panic. For the rest of the time, it makes it slower, and less efficient, but I think that's a trade off for the piece of mind/flexibility it offers. For the three days I had mine, I was thrashing it around without concern for range, safe in the knowledge the petrol engine had my back.

 

And, without the REx, I'd have enough range to drive to/from work, and then I'd have to plug in ready for the next day - no option of going to see friends/to the pub or whatever...

 

Yeah, I know I've got the E30, so don't need the i3 to do longer trips, but despite having cruise control, the E30's still not the best long distance cruiser (bit loud, and expensive), and I don't really plan to use it in the winter/rain.

Edited 29 October, 2015 by TriggerFish

[vRS Joe]

I think the reason I wouldn't get the REX version is I've had a Nissan Leaf for nearly a year now and got used to forward planning longer trips and using public chargers.

 

But then again my commute is only 23 miles each way so well within the capabilities of a Leaf.

 

I don't like the fact then the REX reduces EV range, reduces the performance, costs more and then you have to take it to a petrol station :(

 

And I'm an EV cheat really because I have a dirty fast Skoda...

 

The only reason I got the Leaf was because the monthly lease was so cheap it made it almost free when you take into account how much I save not filling up the Fabia (albeit Derv was quite a bit dearer a year ago)

 

Also I have a field with 2566 solar panels in it... makes the electricty kinda cheap 

[TriggerFish]

Makes perfect sense for you then.

 

If my second car wasn't so rust prone, and I could charge at home (for free, via solar) then I'd be all over the BEV instead of the REx. 

[TriggerFish]

Oh, the other thing to add here was the dealership experience - very impressive.

 

I've had recent dealings with Peugeot, SEAT and VW as a potential customer. Peugeot were quite good, but wanted to talk figures before they'd let me take the car out, but when it transpired they couldn't match the deal I'd found, they said no, as they wanted to keep their demo low mileage (I do get this), and instead offered me a drive in something else so I could get a feel for the newer, smaller engines (having made my desire for something big engined known).

 

SEAT were much the same - numbers first, then a test drive. (In a Leon FR 2.0 184 - a nice enough car, but a bit 'meh'. The door cards felt really poor quality - my E30 has miles better door cards!) VW didn't even let me walk into the dealership without accosting me, which would be fair enough, if they weren't incredibly stuck up and seemingly unwilling to help/entertain my idea of buying their car at all. In the end, I went to see a friend with Golf GTD and had a go in that instead. (A much nicer car inside then a Leon IMO, if bland as anything outside.)

 

Anyway, BMW. I submitted a request for a test drive (sorry, driving experience) online, and got a phone call a day or two later from the dealer. They said it would be a case of showing me the car, explaining its features/a Q&A session, and then a test drive. Afterwards, if I wanted, we could talk numbers. Anyway, I went for a drive, got back, had to ask to talk numbers. They straight out said BMW can't match online prices, but they've got another way of offering leases via a third party. They got me some figures, which weren't as good as my online ones, and then offered me the car for an extended test drive - letting me have it from first thing Monday AM until closing time on Wednesday PM. (Despite knowing they weren't competitive!)

 

A very good service - I was impressed. Not sure that they'd be as helpful on their regular range, I think they're trying to push the 'i' range, so see this as advertising as much as anything. Worked in my favour though, so   

[TriggerFish]

I've put in for a REx model

 

Just waiting for the credit checks to go through. Bit of a gamble, but given the petrol backup, going flat shouldn't be a problem.

 

I went for the standard spec (sat nav, Bluetooth, heated seats, cruise control, DAB, auto lights/wipers - all the normal standard stuff of a modern car etc.) + the 'suite interior' (ambient lighting, exterior extended lighting + leather seats/dash and wooden dash inlays), LED headights, DC rapid charging (30 minutes to 80% charge - only 89pence a month more, so even if I only use it once a year, it's no big loss), metallic black paint (to hide the awful two tone thing) and HK audio. The standard radio was fairly good considering, but for the last 3+ years I've hated the crappy radio in the 330d, even with an aftermarket amp and speakers, so I thought I'd splash out for the upgraded option, rather than kicking myself for the duration of the lease!

 

It worked out £399 a month with 3 months down for 15k a year. I can charge it for free at work. Serving every two years, which is basically an oil change on the engine, and new brake fluid.

 

It seems like quite a lot a month for the size of car, but if you consider I'd spend £180-£240 a month on fuel (let's say £180 on average to be fair), then subtract the running costs of a ICE from the lease costs, and it puts me into a ~£220 a month budget for leasing an ICE. At that money, you're looking at mid spec/power Astras, Golfs, Focus, Octavia, Leon/high end A1s, Polos, Fiestas etc. IMO, the i3 is a much nicer place to be than all of those, even if it is a bit fugly.

 

I very nearly signed up for Leon FR, before seeing a Golf GTD is better value, and nicer inside (higher standard spec makes value better), but a Golf GTD + fuel is more than the i3 per month. Not to mention slower, and louder/less refined inside. And likely lying about it's emissions, or due to destroy its camshaft, or <insert other recent VW disaster/QA failure here>

 

Once it arrives, I'll do a thread somewhere to document if it's a disaster or not!