Likes and Dislikes

I'm doing a two part series on my blog about what I like and dislike about my i3 after 2,000 miles. The first part (link below) is about the likes. What are other i3 owners major likes and gripes?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-likes.html

TomMoloughney said:

I'm doing a two part series on my blog about what I like and dislike about my i3 after 2,000 miles. The first part (link below) is about the likes. What are other i3 owners major likes and gripes?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-likes.html

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Interesting description of hill hold Tom. I don't find it engages automatically, what do other EU owners think after reading Tom's description?

Bill

Excellent writeup! I noticed that it got picked up by a few relevant blogs. I’m looking forward to part 2.

Bunter said:

TomMoloughney said:

I'm doing a two part series on my blog about what I like and dislike about my i3 after 2,000 miles. The first part (link below) is about the likes. What are other i3 owners major likes and gripes?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-likes.html

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Interesting description of hill hold Tom. I don't find it engages automatically, what do other EU owners think after reading Tom's description?

Bill

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That is interesting Bill. It must be one of those European/US differences.

Bunter said:

Interesting description of hill hold Tom. I don't find it engages automatically, what do other EU owners think after reading Tom's description?

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Mine engages automatically but it has changed how it works following a software update.

Originally it would auto-engage, then after about 2 or 3 seconds it would disengage. I then took the car in to the dealer for them to investigate a charging niggle I was having and they updated the software as part of that work. When I got it back I realised that the hill hold now auto-engages and then holds indefinitely which I prefer.

My i3 (April delivery) has the hill hold function as Tom describes. Very good.

Plenty of likes, the usual. For me, 95% like, 5% dislike.

Some dislikes:
- the much too big key, please make it smaller
- the ridiculously small REx tank. This will cost them a lot of sales, much more than they gain in California. REx efficiency is also below expectations. 20 liters would be fine.
- air resistance could be better, that would improve range generally and particularly at highway speed

Something I also dislike is the upgrade policy. I would really like the heated steering wheel together with the heated seats, but am not willing to buy a huge, expensive and otherwise unwanted package for that. Same is true for the speed control function.

Other than first described, it is not easy to cruise by holding the gas pedal in the neutral mode between forward power and regen. You can`t find that most efficient point with your foot alone without looking at the screen. I would like to be able to go into neutral cruising mode with a button or paddle on the steering wheel, and back into normal mode by slightly touching either gas pedal or braking pedal. Use the knob in and out for that, but that is not ideal and in a surprising situation you have to brake without regen support.

Frank

I dont recall an option for a heated steering wheel? Sounds very frivolous i know but it is actually a very nice feature on cold mornings!

TomMoloughney said:

I'm doing a two part series on my blog about what I like and dislike about my i3 after 2,000 miles. The first part (link below) is about the likes. What are other i3 owners major likes and gripes?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-likes.html

Click to expand...

Following with interest while I wait for mine, sounds good so far.

Plug said:

Bunter said:

Interesting description of hill hold Tom. I don't find it engages automatically, what do other EU owners think after reading Tom's description?

Click to expand...

Mine engages automatically but it has changed how it works following a software update.

Originally it would auto-engage, then after about 2 or 3 seconds it would disengage. I then took the car in to the dealer for them to investigate a charging niggle I was having and they updated the software as part of that work. When I got it back I realised that the hill hold now auto-engages and then holds indefinitely which I prefer.

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Interesting, mine neither auto-engages or holds indefinitely, I must be on an older version of the software.

Thanks Plug.

Bill

Bunter said:

Interesting, mine neither auto-engages or holds indefinitely, I must be on an older version of the software.

Thanks Plug.

Bill

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Mine only engages when the brake pedal is pressed fully. A partial press of the pedal will stop the vehicle on slight inclines but not trigger the hill hold. It disengages 90 to 120 seconds after you release the pedal. The behavior pretty much duplicates my E90. Biggest difference is that the i3 rolls backwards dramatically when hill hold releases whereas the E90 has the automatic transmission creep.

Here's part two; the dislikes. How do other owners feel about these complaints? Agree, disagree? Do you have different complaints? Post them here.

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-part-two-dislikes.html

Very interesting, and I do agree with much of what you say. However, I do have a state of charge readout on my i3 - under setting / range extender. Have you looked there?

amateurish said:

Very interesting, and I do agree with much of what you say. However, I do have a state of charge readout on my i3 - under setting / range extender. Have you looked there?

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In the US we don't have a "range extender" option in settings like you do in Europe. That is because here we have no control over it at all. We cannot manually turn it on or off and we don't have a hold mode. Therefore there is no need for the setting in options so it isn't there. I didn't go into much detail about that because that topic is good enough for a whole post by itself!

Ah yes, that makes sense. It seems a strange place to hide a proper numeric state of charge anyway.

As far as I know, there's no way to deactivate the Euro range extender manually, once it has been triggered automatically by reaching 6.5% SOC. Like you, I think this would be a very useful feature.

True, here in Germany I can see the SOC in the range extender menu. I programmed one of the 8 buttons for that. However, I would very much prefer to have SOC on the display permanently. And I would LOVE to see battery temperature anywhere. Very important information.

I also would like to see outside temperature permanently. Now I have to decide between temperature, momentary power uptake and other data, and temperature never wins.

Glide Position Difficult to Achieve and Maintain
Exactly! This is my main complaint so far, as I have posted in the German forum before. Like you, I also expected that there would be a distinct neutral position which makes it easy to glide in neutral. It is absolutely impossible to achieve that most efficient mode of driving without looking at the display all the time and moving your toes some millimeters up or down. I use the knob to switch into neutral, but that is not ideal if you want to go back into normal driving mode quickly . May have to brake without regen support when you need it most.
I want a button or pedal on the steering wheel to go into N. Going back has to be by either using the button/pedal again or by slightly touching gas or braking pedals. Both must react. That would make sure that regen braking is always available.
I really think this would be a major improvement.

Frank

Gliding or coasting in neutral is deemed illegal in the UK but how it is enforced I don't know but guess if it caused a crash then you get found out. :?:

Tom,

Range numbers are a bit off. You stated 82 for the BEV EPA range, and 71 for the REX, but they are actually 81 and 72.

ultraturtle said:

Tom,

Range numbers are a bit off. You stated 82 for the BEV EPA range, and 71 for the REX, but they are actually 81 and 72.

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Lol