Range Extender maintenance cycle required

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justanotherdrunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
265
Location
Silicon Valley
like ive said - the rex is worthless for me

i have never come close to needing it

should have got the BEV - my mistake

got this message today for the first time


20160310_164451-L.jpg



:eek:
 
The computer will try to turn the REx on after about 6-weeks of non-use (not positive on the exact time). But, it can't do that until the SOC is less than 75% so that there is room to put the produced energy while it runs (approximately 10-minutes). This is prudent to ensure it can burn off any potential moisture and to ensure everything gets a coat of oil. And, that it actually would work when you might really need it.
 
+1. Good for longevity and reliability.

It's a good idea to let this run as scheduled, or drive the car a little further once a month and let it run after the batteries are below 7%. I use my range extender once every 2-3 weeks. Even though it isn't used much, it's nice to have on those longer trips when I do need it.

The owner's manual states you can cancel the maintenance cycle by pressing the Start/Stop button if it happens at an inconvenient time. I'm sure the car will only allow you to do this a number of times though.
 
brorob said:
+1. Good for longevity and reliability.

It's a good idea to let this run as scheduled, or drive the car a little further once a month and let it run after the batteries are below 7%. I use my range extender once every 2-3 weeks. Even though it isn't used much, it's nice to have on those longer trips when I do need it.

The owner's manual states you can cancel the maintenance cycle by pressing the Start/Stop button if it happens at an inconvenient time. I'm sure the car will only allow you to do this a number of times though.

It came on during a recent short trip. When I got out of the car, it stopped, then when I got back in it waited about 20 minutes or so and started it again.
 
If the ReX never cuts in, the petrol in the tank will slowly age and take on moisture which could lead to deterioration in components and not do the engine much good when it does burn it. It's not good leaving fuel lying around for long periods unused.
 
So how much longer would my 11 hour, 463 mile drive home take?

I've made reservations to drive 290 miles June 19th from Huntsville AL to Tunica MS with my wife. We'll stop frequently along the way and happily so. If it works, we might make a triangle by driving to Vicksburg MS and then home, 821 miles, with few if any charging stations on the way. RV parks will be our most likely charging spots IF we have time.

Think of it this way, the off-lease BMW i3-REx can be bought in fly-over states. An EV-only has to be shipped.

Bob Wilson
 
Gif said:
If the ReX never cuts in, the petrol in the tank will slowly age and take on moisture which could lead to deterioration in components and not do the engine much good when it does burn it. It's not good leaving fuel lying around for long periods unused.
As opposed to most car fuel systems, the i3's tank operates differently which should minimize moisture absorption. That's the reason why you have to wait a bit before you can open the filler cap.
 
bwilson4web said:
So how much longer would my 11 hour, 463 mile drive home take?

Unless you code your car when sold in the USA, you can't turn the REx on manually, which means you'll be skirting with potentially not having all of the power needed. If your speeds are kept lower, the REx can keep up. The motor is 170hp, and then the electronics and cabin conditioning all take power. The REx is 34hp...cruising on the level below 70mph, the REx can keep up. THrow in a hill or a big headwind, and it probably can't. Depends on how long your power need exceeds what the REx can provide (that comes out of the battery, lowering the SOC)...if you get the battery SOC too low, things will abruptly slow down. If you stop, it will slowly build back up. If your load doesn't exceed the REx output, you can drive as long as you have fuel in the tank. Things are a little less traumatic as delivered elsewhere, since you can try to keep the battery well within the range where you can use all of the power you want, at least for most situations.
 
jadnashuanh said:
Unless you code your car when sold in the USA, you can't turn the REx on manually, which means you'll be skirting with potentially not having all of the power needed. If your speeds are kept lower, the REx can keep up.
Unless CARB is giving credits for BMW i3-REx sold in non-CARB states, BMW really should offer two variants. It is not that hard to tract vehicle versions. True enough, I coded the car before I left the dealer lot and didn't know if it worked until I'd gotten out of the Charlotte beltway.

I am an 11 year, Prius owner who recently gave our first, 2003 Prius to our house keeper. We still have a 2010 Prius and I'm seriously looking at replacing it with the i3-REx. Other car makers have differentiated a CARB compliant versus non-CARB car. BMW could do the same thing. Just I'm used to the 65-70 mph being the threshold between 52 MPG and 39 MPG @75 mph.

One of my suggestions to Prius owners who want higher mileage is to use semi-trailer trucks as a pacing vehicle. By following far enough to avoid road debris, over-taking traffic will ignore the Prius and smoothly pass the semi-trailer. Without the truck as 'cover', over-taking traffic will tailgate the Prius. In fact some trucking companies are reliable 65 mph cover.
jadnashuanh said:
. . . The motor is 170hp, and then the electronics and cabin conditioning all take power. The REx is 34hp...cruising on the level below 70mph, the REx can keep up. THrow in a hill or a big headwind, and it probably can't. Depends on how long your power need exceeds what the REx can provide (that comes out of the battery, lowering the SOC)...if you get the battery SOC too low, things will abruptly slow down. If you stop, it will slowly build back up. If your load doesn't exceed the REx output, you can drive as long as you have fuel in the tank. Things are a little less traumatic as delivered elsewhere, since you can try to keep the battery well within the range where you can use all of the power you want, at least for most situations.
The coding worked perfectly on my drive home. Charlotte is 710 ft and the highest pass on I40 is +2800 ft. I recently measured a 4% drop in SOC for 500 ft at 20 mph. So the climb alone would taken about 20-25% of the SOC but I would have made it even without the code. The reason is I learned in the Prius to follow semi-trailer trucks in the climb lane and that is exactly what I did even with the range extender running. I was keeping up with traffic ... the semi-trailer traffic.

The rest of the trip was unremarkable with the expected number of fuel stops. The CARB credits should not hobble a car that is licensed outside of a CARB state. The current situation encourages 'independent' coding instead of what is needed, CARB state, specific enforcement.

In my first week, I learned the BMW i3-REx is excellent for joining 'the leaders of the pack' on local, cross town roads. It is fun but I don't feel comfortable having to deal with cop-paranoia on a regular basis. My Prius habits are lower stress and the BMW i3-REx excels with those loads.

Bob Wilson
 
justanotherdrunk said:
just had my next maintenance required event yesterday

3 months later
Our last use of the REx was 66 days ago and the message showed up. So this morning I took the longer, high-speed route that brought the SOC down to 88%.

At lunch time, I'll bring it down to under 75% just to see if the REx comes on by itself. Yes, my car is coded and if the engine does not come on, I'll turn it on manually.

It came on by itself when I checked at 75% SOC. So after eating breakfast/lunch, I returned to work and on the way back, manually turned on. The maintenance condition cleared itself.

Bob Wilson

ps. With an abundance of caution, I drove our 2010 Prius that had been sitting idle. Tire pressure is low but otherwise normal operation after 'scraping the rust' off the brake disks.
 
Having the REx may make resale easier, but as you're finding, if you don't need it, is just another cost, time consumer, and potential source of failure. Some have reported that BMW offered it to help those on the edge about range anxiety, but would have preferred not having it available at all. It makes the car slower and the added weight has some impact on the tire wear (although, the wider tires verses the base BEV may help some). It does make the car somewhat more flexible, but stopping maybe every hour or so to refuel is a pain that I'd not want to deal with.
 
My route home from Charlotte to Huntsville:
charlotte_010.jpg


Complements:
bwilson4web said:
jadnashuanh said:
Unless you code your car when sold in the USA, you can't turn the REx on manually, which means you'll be skirting with potentially not having all of the power needed. If your speeds are kept lower, the REx can keep up.
Unless CARB is giving credits for BMW i3-REx sold in non-CARB states, BMW really should offer two variants. It is not that hard to tract vehicle versions. True enough, I coded the car before I left the dealer lot and didn't know if it worked until I'd gotten out of the Charlotte beltway.

I am an 11 year, Prius owner who recently gave our first, 2003 Prius to our house keeper. We still have a 2010 Prius and I'm seriously looking at replacing it with the i3-REx. Other car makers have differentiated a CARB compliant versus non-CARB car. BMW could do the same thing. Just I'm used to the 65-70 mph being the threshold between 52 MPG and 39 MPG @75 mph.

One of my suggestions to Prius owners who want higher mileage is to use semi-trailer trucks as a pacing vehicle. By following far enough to avoid road debris, over-taking traffic will ignore the Prius and smoothly pass the semi-trailer. Without the truck as 'cover', over-taking traffic will tailgate the Prius. In fact some trucking companies are reliable 65 mph cover.
jadnashuanh said:
. . . The motor is 170hp, and then the electronics and cabin conditioning all take power. The REx is 34hp...cruising on the level below 70mph, the REx can keep up. THrow in a hill or a big headwind, and it probably can't. Depends on how long your power need exceeds what the REx can provide (that comes out of the battery, lowering the SOC)...if you get the battery SOC too low, things will abruptly slow down. If you stop, it will slowly build back up. If your load doesn't exceed the REx output, you can drive as long as you have fuel in the tank. Things are a little less traumatic as delivered elsewhere, since you can try to keep the battery well within the range where you can use all of the power you want, at least for most situations.
The coding worked perfectly on my drive home. Charlotte is 710 ft and the highest pass on I40 is +2800 ft. I recently measured a 4% drop in SOC for 500 ft at 20 mph. So the climb alone would taken about 20-25% of the SOC but I would have made it even without the code. The reason is I learned in the Prius to follow semi-trailer trucks in the climb lane and that is exactly what I did even with the range extender running. I was keeping up with traffic ... the semi-trailer traffic.

The rest of the trip was unremarkable with the expected number of fuel stops. The CARB credits should not hobble a car that is licensed outside of a CARB state. The current situation encourages 'independent' coding instead of what is needed, CARB state, specific enforcement.

In my first week, I learned the BMW i3-REx is excellent for joining 'the leaders of the pack' on local, cross town roads. It is fun but I don't feel comfortable having to deal with cop-paranoia on a regular basis. My Prius habits are lower stress and the BMW i3-REx excels with those loads.

Bob Wilson
 
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