Has anyone got a fault-free i3?

I have 2,000 miles on my i3 REx. CEL software update took 4 days. The i3 is in for repair again for a week now -- awaiting delivery of a new EME...will probably be a total of 10 days before they are done. I am assuming my i3 will be returned with the charging power reduction fix to avoid the KLE issue -- which will ultimately require another visit to the dealer to replace them. I really use the i3 during the weekdays for my commute in Los Angeles where I am driving in the car pool lanes. So far, out of the 35 business or work days I have owned the vehicle it has been out of service about 40% of the time.

Ok, so I sound like I am whining, but I have confidence that BMW will sort these things out. The i3 is a great automotive leap forward and a blast to drive! My dealer has been nothing but supportive and communicates daily with me...however, in my mind, two things would make this all less painful:

1. BMW needs to fix their delivery system. The dealer said the EME replacement would be there Monday...now saying tomorrow (Thursday) - I am told they don't have tracking visibility - how is that possible?? FedEx fixed that 25 years ago! Given the rate of failure of some of the components you would think parts would be staged at least somewhere in California!

2. In Los Angeles at least... i3s are travelling in the carpool lanes. When I take my i3 in for service they give me a shiny new 2014 X3 or M4. Great, but I need a chauffeur to go along with that so I can get back in the car pool lanes. My 45 minute (40 mile) one way commute balloons to 1 hour 20 minutes each way. BMW needs to put a few RExs into the loaner pool -- especially in the early going here.

Looking forward to getting the car back and I am hoping that we will soon be through the early adopter pains...

Had Rex for five weeks and 1500 miles with no problems, fantastic car!!

All good here, wonder time driving the new way of thinking!
Loving it!

2,200 trouble free miles in the San Francisco bay area had check engine light come on once then upon restart went away

BMW i3 REX

5000 miles and 4 months - fault free for me

A whooping 202 mi here. Only oddity I've seen is my rear hatch has to closed rather strongly or I will get a warning that my hatch is not closed on the driver display.

Zzzoom3 said:

A whooping 202 mi here. Only oddity I've seen is my rear hatch has to closed rather strongly or I will get a warning that my hatch is not closed on the driver display.

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Heheh, can be business as usual for a BMW. My wife's 2011 X3 hatch exhibited that trick, and the rear door on the i3 can also do that.

BUMWA said:

I'm still digesting the manual that I carry on my iPad :lol:

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Is that the iPad app or do you have the full owner's manual as a PDF? If you have a PDF, can you tell me where you got it?

Thanks!

@boatguy

PDF - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1gaIBWsVgEHNEtXUzEyUm9FVTg/edit

Also tech docs:
http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1335

There is a link on this site somewhere. Im about to go out so can search for it at the moment.

Took delivery last Thursday and put ~300 miles on it over the weekend. Tried to start it up Monday morning to go to work and got drive train malfuction and battery discharge errors. Dealership says it needs a new 12v battery and will be at least a week, possibly two for the new battery to arrive.

Yay.

jtoast said:

Took delivery last Thursday and put ~300 miles on it over the weekend. Tried to start it up Monday morning to go to work and got drive train malfuction and battery discharge errors. Dealership says it needs a new 12v battery and will be at least a week, possibly two for the new battery to arrive.

Yay.

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I think it is ironic that a major source of problems for hybrid/plug-in vehicles has been the 12v battery. I know it has been a problem in both the Prius and Ford's current Fusion and C-Max.

I recently had some panel repairs done at the dealer due to someone rear ending the i3. When I picked it back up, they told me there was a fault in one of the controllers and they had ordered the part. Turns out the part is the EME.

Google tells me the EME is a major part. Is it a big job to replace?

LOL. Answering my own question.

Rang the dealer to see if the car would be ready to pick up this afternoon? Answer: No.

Apparently the EME is a major operation. The service contact said he went out to have a look at the car and it has no rear end on it, so it definitely won't be ready today.

Well yes and no! I have not had any issues except several of the recalls have been done on my car. Like the KLE and the gas tank sensor.

2470 miles and 11 months and loving it so much. Getting average of 4.7 miles/Kwh. Typical range in the summer now is 96 miles with AC on and in comfort mode.

No issues I could even remotely blame BMW themselves for. As previously mentioned, my windscreen cracked after a stone hit the roof just under the wipers.

My REx was built during Jan 15, therefore had the new comfort charging unit (KLE) already.

Couldn't be happier with the car, despite little niggles with the i Remote app for iPhone.

mindmachine said:

Getting average of 4.7 miles/Kwh. Typical range in the summer now is 96 miles with AC on and in comfort mode.

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I don't know how people are getting such great range! I am averaging 3.6 mi/kWh in a bev. GOM is usually in the 60s. It can be consrvative, but somethimes I have run the battery down to fumes(?), and the real range has been 62.

There are some factors I understand -
I have owned the car for less than two months, and the high temps have been between 95-104. My drive home is during the hottest part of the day. I drive in comfort mode with the A/C on all the time.
My commute is only 14 miles round trip along surface streets. I thought that would be ideal, but apparently the start-stop nature of the drive is not ideal.
I may drive it harder than optimal. Accelleration is fun.

Those of you who are getting nearly 5 mi/kWh - How do you drive? No A/C, Eco Pro, and steady at 35 miles an hour all the time? I love the car, and its range suits my needs fine. But I'm a little jealous of all these reports of 4.5+ mi/kWh.

I only ever drive in Comfort but rarely if ever use the heating or aircon. My overall average is 4.8 m/kwh and my last journey today was 5.3, but that was a lot of downhill driving. I drive at or near the speed limit so between 30 and 70 ish most journeys. That said by usable range is normally only around 75 miles as I do lots of very short journeys. If I take it on a trip then I get around 95miles.

coreperformance said:

My commute is only 14 miles round trip along surface streets. I thought that would be ideal, but apparently the start-stop nature of the drive is not ideal.

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It should be better than driving at highway speeds if you don't use the friction brakes much (i.e., either coast or use regen to decelerate).

coreperformance said:

I may drive it harder than optimal. Accelleration is fun.

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…and costs in terms of efficiency.

coreperformance said:

Those of you who are getting nearly 5 mi/kWh - How do you drive? No A/C, Eco Pro, and steady at 35 miles an hour all the time?

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My Giga BEV (original I001-14-07-503 firmware) has averaged 5.6 mi/kWh driving on Oahu where the highest speed limit is 60 mph. My driving is a mix of urban stop-and-go, 35 mph suburban driving, and 50 mph freeway driving through Honolulu. Honolulu isn't nearly as hot and humid as Dallas, and it's much warmer in the winter, so I rarely use A/C, have never used the heater, and drive with the driver's window open (somewhat increased drag). I almost always drive in Eco Pro+ with ACC set to 5 mph over the speed limit and allow ACC to control my speed except when I see stopped or slow traffic beyond ACC's "vision" upon which I disengage ACC and slowly decelerate. I have increased the inflation pressure of my 19" tires to 51R (sidewall maximum pressure)/43F in an effort to protect my tires and wheels from Honolulu's potholes which might also reduce my tires' rolling resistance somewhat. Honolulu's climate is ideal for EV's which really helps.

So my driving style is certainly not exciting, but that's fine with me.

coreperformance said:

Those of you who are getting nearly 5 mi/kWh - How do you drive? No A/C, Eco Pro, and steady at 35 miles an hour all the time? I love the car, and its range suits my needs fine. But I'm a little jealous of all these reports of 4.5+ mi/kWh.

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My average is also 3.6mi/kWh lifetime, but I can easily average around 5mi/kWh (with a/c) any time it's needed to stretch the range.

6mi/kWh and up takes some effort, including keeping speeds down and minimizing accessory use.