I3 buyers guide?

[Trustmeimadoctor]

so i am intrigued by the little I3 (ok not that little in the carbon composite flesh)

As a daily for around town and the commute (say 80 miles per week) but having never had a milk float before I am unsure what i need to look out for and what other vehicles i can compare it to or look at as an alternative.

do i need a charger or will a granny socket be ok

id started looking at 2019 I3s with the 42kwh battery without rex just as it has the biggest battery and if we had to take it on a longer journey we wouldn't need to stop quite as often (I am aware it not a fast charging car by today's standard but how long would it take really to do that 20-80% charge?)

these seem to start at about 11k and honestly that still seems alot

any pointers or alternatives greatly received

[p1stonhead]

A granny socket will be fine. For that mileage definitely.

I used one for 6 months. It’ll take maybe 15-18 hours from properly empty but an easy overnight charge if about a quarter full. It has very good battery management and very limited evidence of really any degradation even on quite high mileage cars so what a lot of people do is just basically always charge it when you get home.

It won’t let you charge past 80% of real battery capacity I don’t think even though it’ll say to you 100%. So you don’t have to worry about the 80% rule.

It can only charge at 50kw but even then, it’ll do 20-80% in about 25 mins when on a fast charger.

Brilliant cars.

[Nomme de Plum]

I have a 2020 i3s.

It's a great runabout but the ride is a bit unsettled particularly over poor road surfaces. The acceleration at all legal speeds is more than adequate and the torque gives it instantaneous acceleration. For me tyre wear seems not dissimilar to an ICE.

If I was doing regular 200mile journeys then I would have looked elsewhere but most of my motoring is less than 50mile each way.

I've not found any other downsides.

I had an Ohme pro charger installed and pay about 6.5p/kWh off peak.

[QuattroDave]

I'm on my 2nd i3, both being the REx version.

Personally I'd not go BEV from previous personal experience of running low on juice when on a long drive and not having a working charger anywhere near.

There's not much to look out for to be honest, there's one known issue of the heater unit having faulty LED's predominantly around the heated seats. The seats themselves still work but if you have a faulty unit the lights don't light up properly. Not the end of the world!

Make sure you get both a granny charger and a proper charger and the removeable cup holder! Each one sells separately for £50-100 and sellers have a habit of keeping them and selling on ebay later!

If you're only doing 80 miles a week a granny charger is absolutely fine. We only use the 3pin plug for 99% of our charging so you'll be absolutely fine.

Personally I've always gone for suite interior as the leather looks better and the widescreen nav as the poverty spec looks proper cheap.

My one has some of the rarer options such as adaptive cruise, collision warning pack thingy (though I don't rate them personally, especially as apparently the i3 thinks I'm going to crash into one of the bridges on the A34 when I pass under it!)

£11k I don't think is too bad, but then that's what I had mine up for sale for (ended without selling) and I paid £18k less than 2 years ago, but then EV's are in the doghouse price wise!

We're still looking at selling either our i3 or our Jag Xj, whichever sells first!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

interesting how much use is the rex though with its 9 litre tank does it really save you?

[eth2190]

Have a look at Wisely Automotive on youtube, they have several in depth videos on the i3 as a used vehicle. I found them very helpful when choosing mine.

[p1stonhead]

Excellent channel.

[QuattroDave]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

interesting how much use is the rex though with its 9 litre tank does it really save you?

You can get 110 miles out of that little 9 litre tank! So yeah, it saves you a lot!

My first i3 with a 60ah rex could do 60 miles on a good day so having 110 in reserve was incredibly useful. So much so that I managed to do a 394 mile round trip in my i3 in a day to collect some wheels for my other car. Did around 110 miles on electric and the remainder on rex.

[Nomme de Plum]

QuattroDave said:

Trustmeimadoctor said:

interesting how much use is the rex though with its 9 litre tank does it really save you?

You can get 110 miles out of that little 9 litre tank! So yeah, it saves you a lot!

My first i3 with a 60ah rex could do 60 miles on a good day so having 110 in reserve was incredibly useful. So much so that I managed to do a 394 mile round trip in my i3 in a day to collect some wheels for my other car. Did around 110 miles on electric and the remainder on rex.

Surely it depends on one's usage profile. I bought the pure BEV version and during my ownership 18 months or so have remote charged it no more than 8 times. I can do Heathrow and back from the South coast on a single charge. I therefore do not need an engine to back up the battery.

I fully appreciate your usage may be slightly different so the engine may be a handy back up.

[ben5575]

Love ours (2019 BEV). They are an absolute steal at £11k.

Good luck with the search

[p1stonhead]

£11k seems good!

I paid £16k for a 10k mile 120ah (69 plate) just over 12 months ago from BMW.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

p1stonhead said:

£11k seems good!

I paid £16k for a 10k mile 120ah (69 plate) just over 12 months ago from BMW.

bmw want about 16k for a 21 plate with say 25k on it that looks like its been used in a destruction derby

11k gets you a 2019 with about 50k on it

Edited by Trustmeimadoctor on Monday 11th November 11:51

[cvega]

so just to add a different perspective; (i've owned my i3 for 2 years and I'm keeping itttttttttt):
- doors are a PITA if your side space is restricted
- boot is tiny
- tires are expensive
- Insured warranty from BMW is quite expensive, but possibly worth it - they are generally bulletproof mechanically, most faults in seem to be electronics
- replacing 12V battery can be a pain

Keeping that in mind, they are absolutely great. I charge mine 99% at home using a 7kW charger.
Battery tech is excellent considering it's quite old now, charges fast, has a large buffer, degradation is minimal.
They're fast off the line, fun to drive and feel light - as they are very light for an EV with a battery this size.

Edited by cvega on Monday 11th November 11:54

[p1stonhead]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

p1stonhead said:

£11k seems good!

I paid £16k for a 10k mile 120ah (69 plate) just over 12 months ago from BMW.

bmw want about 16k for a 21 plate with say 25k on it that looks like its been used in a destruction derby

Interesting. I’d assumed they’d be cheaper even with them by now. For what it’s worth I’ve done 15k miles since and not a single thing has gone wrong with it.

Also for those wanting to know, if going approved used, I just added another year of BMW full warranty to mine for £750. It’s on 25k miles.

Edit - this doesn’t seem too bad?



Budget £200 to quickly add wireless CarPlay to it. The kit is all there it just needs coding. 1000% worth it. I did mine here https://bmwspecialistreading.co.uk/bmw-apple-carpl... took an hour

Agree with guy above - doors are a pain if you actually use them. With kids in and out it’s annoying!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

cvega said:

so just to add a different perspective; (i've owned my i3 for 2 years and I'm keeping itttttttttt):
- doors are a PITA if your side space is restricted
- boot is tiny
- tires are expensive
- Insured warranty from BMW is quite expensive, but possibly worth it - they are generally bulletproof mechanically, most faults in seem to be electronics
- replacing 12V battery can be a pain

doors arnt an issue will never use them, boots big enough even for a few cases i think if needed

i must admit i havent looked at at tyre cost or insurance costs either

[jonathan_roberts]

We had a 120ah one for 1.5 years and it was an absolutely excellent car. 180-200mile range. My wife absolutely loved it and still raves about it. My sister just bought one on our recommendation and is obsessed with it and can’t believe she didn’t get one sooner. The only reason we got rid of it was that we went down to one car and i3 only was not up to the job. I’d have another one. They’re great.

[p1stonhead]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

cvega said:

so just to add a different perspective; (i've owned my i3 for 2 years and I'm keeping itttttttttt):
- doors are a PITA if your side space is restricted
- boot is tiny
- tires are expensive
- Insured warranty from BMW is quite expensive, but possibly worth it - they are generally bulletproof mechanically, most faults in seem to be electronics
- replacing 12V battery can be a pain

doors arnt an issue will never use them, boots big enough even for a few cases i think if needed

i must admit i havent looked at at tyre cost or insurance costs either

Tyres are about £150 each.

My insurance - 38 years old, Surrey, 15k miles a year inc. business use, and wife drives it too is £270 a year. Seems good to me?

[cvega]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

doors arnt an issue will never use them, boots big enough even for a few cases i think if needed

i must admit i havent looked at at tyre cost or insurance costs either

Doors are totally fine until you want someone to get in the back, means the front passenger has to undo their seatbelt and open their door etc - it's just a faff but if you're never gonna use them it's a non issue.

Insurance for the car is rather cheap for me, insured warranty is double of what my 520i costs via BMW.

the 19 inchers for non-S version are about 150 a corner, i think 20's for the i3s are even more.
I opted for the non-S simply because smaller wheels are a bit more comfortable and it gets a tiny bit more range, but that's a personal choice, i3s is popular because it does look cooler with extended arches and whatnot.

[cvega]

p1stonhead said:

My insurance - 38 years old, Surrey, 15k miles a year inc. business use, and wife drives it too is £270 a year. Seems good to me?

I meant Insured Warranty from BMW - just their name for extended warranty.

[p1stonhead]

cvega said:

p1stonhead said:

My insurance - 38 years old, Surrey, 15k miles a year inc. business use, and wife drives it too is £270 a year. Seems good to me?

I meant Insured Warranty from BMW - just their name for extended warranty.

Ah yes ok. Yeah mine last week was £750 as I said.

But I have zero DIY possibility on this. I’ll give it a year and if nothing happens, won’t bother again. It’s been flawless for the first year so hopefully it continues.