Which options for i3

[oddman]

Putting together spec for i3.

The man maths is making sense - stand to save around £200 a month in fuel and basic REX is £340 on salary sacrifice scheme.

Every £500 of options seems to add about £10 a month. I'm quite happy with white, base spec wheels and the cheapest interior (which seem to suit the car).

I'm inclined towards media pack, parking pack and LED lights. Don't need fancy ICE.

Any thoughts/experiences - especially driver pack (adaptive cruise control etc.)

Thanks

[squirejo]

I have a basic spec REX. And it's tremendous, for my main use round town. It has the business sat nav which gives the wider screen: I like that. It doesn't have heated seats - probably a no no - it given it can pre condition, especially useful in the winter, it doesn't bother me. The stereo is basic (2 speakers) but surprisingly fine. Wouldn't pay for the LED lights unless you are driving unlit country type roads. It's not a large car so the rear parking sensors (audio) are fine. Rapid charging....wouldn't bother on a Rex, especially now ecotricity are charging for charging. What else? Glass roof would be nice, but the grey basic interior is lighter in reality than in many of the pics you will find.

Trouble with specs is of course the more a car has, the 'better' So I guess that I am illustrating that the basic spec of the i3 is already quite generous so imho you don't need to ad much at all.

[oddman]

squirejo said:

So I guess that I am illustrating that the basic spec of the i3 is already quite generous so imho you don't need to ad much at all.

That's exactly how I feel about it and why I was asking. The basic spec seems very good and wondered which if any of the add ons are worthwhile. Very tempting to go a bit tick happy though.

Thanks.

[oop north]

Depends what you want from the car / where you will use it. I think the rapid charge is standard on new orders now - it would be a nightmare charging away from home without that but if just local not needed. My car has Leather interior but standard would be fine. I couldn't cope with basic stereo. The widescreen nav comes with professional option. LED lights great for country lanes. Dark rear tints a waste of time - not dark enough. Parking gizmo - only use reverse camera, rest of it not worthwhile.

[chandrew]

I would go for all the rapid chargers. Here in Switzerland you have to pay for both a fast AC and fast DC but I think in the UK they might be standard.

I have the business nav with wider screen. It looks nice but for most things I now use Google Maps on my phone most of the time and push the directions through the stereo. I have the standard stereo and whilst the sound quality is OK it's really quiet - I need to have it on 80% volume for some spoken-word podcasts or classical music. Standard lights are OK on country roads. Reversing sensors do the job well enough.

I've got a second set of wheels / tyres for the winter. We had a mild winter last year and yet I felt they were still good value as I found it quite sensitive to the tyres being in their range. I lost traction (in the wet on summers) once when I tried to feed in too much acceleration coming out of a bend and it's a handful when it lets go - probably to do with the short wheel base.

The man-maths works. It's costing me less in total than just the petrol on my other car.

[nbetts]

chandrew said:

I would go for all the rapid chargers. Here in Switzerland you have to pay for both a fast AC and fast DC but I think in the UK they might be standard.

I have the business nav with wider screen.

In the UK you have to specify Professional Navigation to have the Wider Screen - otherwise you end up with a massive screen and a tiny LCD in it.

[oddman]

Thanks All

UK car comes with DC charging

Have opted for the REX with wider satnav screen LEDs and parking

All of this added £30 per month on salary sacrifice.

Now the wait.................

[nbetts]

oddman said:

Thanks All

UK car comes with DC charging

Have opted for the REX with wider satnav screen LEDs and parking

All of this added £30 per month on salary sacrifice.

Now the wait.................

Good Luck our Second i3 comes late September. I have owned our 2014 REX from new and it has proved to be faultless other than manufacturer recalls for components that 'may' fail.

Get around 70miles in winter and 85 miles in summer - the REX fully fuelled offers the same range as the 100% battery charge give or take a couple of miles - so quite capable of a 150 mile drive

The new one I hope will be bale to do a 200+ mile drive using all energy sources - not that I do that - but it is nice to know

[chandrew]

nbetts said:

chandrew said:

I would go for all the rapid chargers. Here in Switzerland you have to pay for both a fast AC and fast DC but I think in the UK they might be standard.

I have the business nav with wider screen.

In the UK you have to specify Professional Navigation to have the Wider Screen - otherwise you end up with a massive screen and a tiny LCD in it.

Yes, my mistake. I have the 'Professional' Navigation.

[RossP]

Excellent, I currently have a BEV i3 which I've had since March 2014. My new 94Ah REx is built and on its way. Check out the i3 UK facebook group http://bmwi3owners.uk

[biggles330d]

I've had a BEV i3 since December and had the same dilemma.

Went with:
5 spoke alloys (the standard alloys are dull dull dull, I liked the black/polished alloy look)
ProNav (the wide screen - truly great. I even discovered it has google overhead imagery the other day)
Harmon Kardon speakers (I get really frustrated by the crappy, tinny sounds from many 'standard' units. This sounds very, very good. Clear, no distortion, solid bass).
Tinted windows (mine's white, looks like a storm trooper with the tints!)
DC rapid charge (its pennies on the lease, unlike the things above. It's a no brainer and gets used quite a bit)

I stuck with the standard trim as I didn't mind the grey dash and blue flash.

For me, it makes the car much more enjoyable to use.

[hairykrishna]

Bit of thread resurrection as I'm basically in the same situation - i3 on salary sacrifice lease works out about the same as running my shed commuter and I'm looking at options.

'Professional' nav. Is it worth it? How bad is the standard screen? I do a lot of miles into Birmingham stuck in traffic so the fancy adaptive cruise thingy is tempting. Anyone have it? Is it good?

I can't seem to find DC/fast charging on the options list - do they all have it now?

I'm more or less settled on a non-REX as I can use a different car if I need to do a long journey. What are peoples real world battery ranges on the new ones? Will I be able to do ~70 miles at motorway speed plus another 20 at town speeds, in winter, without having to switch anything off or worry about it?

[ds666]

I wouldn't bother with adaptive cruise . It sits too far away from the car in front even on the closest setting . Range wise in the summer we've seen up to around 150 miles . Winter was around 100 iirc .

[anonymous-user]

Mine is leased, base spec

Toyed with pro nav, but resisted - haven't got list any more frequently as a result

It has dc charging

As above, 150 range shows in summer, around 100 ish in winter: estimates are realistic

[LayZ]

hairykrishna said:

Bit of thread resurrection as I'm basically in the same situation - i3 on salary sacrifice lease works out about the same as running my shed commuter and I'm looking at options.

'Professional' nav. Is it worth it? How bad is the standard screen? I do a lot of miles into Birmingham stuck in traffic so the fancy adaptive cruise thingy is tempting. Anyone have it? Is it good?

I can't seem to find DC/fast charging on the options list - do they all have it now?

I'm more or less settled on a non-REX as I can use a different car if I need to do a long journey. What are peoples real world battery ranges on the new ones? Will I be able to do ~70 miles at motorway speed plus another 20 at town speeds, in winter, without having to switch anything off or worry about it?

All cars made after November will be LCI (facelift) cars and as such all get an updated 10" nav and LED headlights. (I'm also looking at one, as said in other threads, join the Facebook group as they are proper authorities on all things i3).

[covmutley]

You should be fine on that distance- just. I have rex and do 90 mile commute a day (mostly motorway) and am currently having 25 to 30m range left depending on speed.

I am guessing I may have to use rex on the very coldest winter day (only had car a month). But dropping to 65mph would avoid having to use it? Also BEV does get a bit further due to weight saving.

I am finding that you do have to get used to the car only having limited range left a lot of the time. But it has not suddenly dropped mileage on me and I have learned to trust it.

I find the standard satnav fine. I find its good placement relatively high on the dash to help more, rather than the size, compared to my last car.

Only option I added was sport pack (wheels, LED lights, KH sound ,and window tints).

Edited by covmutley on Thursday 5th October 15:38