Drivetrain error on 2018 i3 REx

Hi All,

I sadly had my i3 lose power on the way to work last week with a red Drivetrain error and had to have the vehicle towed away. The car is a 2018 REx model with just over 2k miles on it.

It was towed to the local BMW dealer where they initially reported an issue with the crash detection system but later explained that they needed to run some tests and consult with BMW head office. The tests seem to have come back ‘inconclusive’ but a local technician appeared to have identified a fault with the KLE. The KLE was eventually replaced but sadly has not resolved the drivetrain fault leaving me a week and a half in and no closer to a fix.

I know others have had similar faults but these seemed to be older threads and wondered how many had seen this on the 94Ah, 2018 or vehicles with such low mileage?

In my case, the REx wasn’t in use at the time and the battery was around 50% full traveling at low speed with no audible sign of a fault.

Any input appreciated,

Just thought I would update incase my experience proves useful to anyone in the future. Following further diagnostics and advice from BMW, it was determined that there was a fault with the SME (battery management electronics). The SME was replaced, but again this did not resolve the issue.

Today, after nearly three weeks, I have received word that the garage have identified a broken cable in a loom feeding power to the offside rear of the vehicle and this is expected to causing the shutdown of the Drivetrain.

I’ve not had any explaination of what could have caused the wiring to fail, or specifically which harness was affected, but I’ll update when I have further info.

James

Jamesdanielholmes said:

Today, after nearly three weeks, I have received word that the garage have identified a broken cable in a loom feeding power to the offside rear of the vehicle and this is expected to causing the shutdown of the Drivetrain.

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