Repair in Chicagoland area

Where is there an experienced repair shop to get my i3 repaired in the Chicagoland area (preferably in the Northern suburbs)? Once the warranty runs out, I would like to use somebody other than the BMW dealer, and while I have a good place that has worked on my old Infiniti, Volvo, etc., I don't think repair shops have had a lot of experience with i3s.

The tech is these cars will probably cause a ton of head scratching at indy repair shops. Simple things can be done but when you get into messing with the drive system and the high voltage batteries, great care must be taken to avoid injury.

If you can find a shop that services Teslas or other electric cars, they might be able deal with the i3's as well.

Now that some of the i3 warranties are ending, there might be a market for repair shops to invest in training to get the guys up to speed with the tech.

The other challenge will be parts availability. BMW may not want to sell a $5,000 steering module or a $6,000 engine management module to an indy shop with out some sort of licensing or certification.

IT really depends on the thing that needs servicing...most places could deal with say brakes, and maybe service the REx, if it's just a filter change. But, if you have a system problem, you need a BMW knowledgeable scanner. Those aren't super expensive, and many places do have one...but understanding all of the codes can get a bit tougher. I have a Foxwell 510 (labeled Schwaben from ECSTuning) that can read and interrogate BMWs, including the i3.

If it was in the electrical system (stereo, lighting, etc.), some things are fairly common with other BMWs, so a shop might have some idea, but not if it's related to the HV system and batteries.