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BigKetchup

Member
Joined
May 8, 2020
Messages
21
Any guides out there for performing maintenance yourself? I have the BEV model so I'm guessing it's more user-friendly.

I was thinking about checking & replacing brake fluid, checking the computer maintenance diagnostics, etc.
 
Replacing brake fluid is really no different from most other cars. I did it for the first time a couple of months ago using a pressure bleeder I bought at Amazon. i3 wheels have a deep offset on their back sides making access to the bleeder valves more difficult that on our previous cars. I couldn't change the fluid with the wheels on the ground, so I lifted our i3 onto jack stands and removed each wheel. It was time to rotate the wheels side-to-side and to clean the rust dust off their back sides, so all was good.

I also checked the cabin air filters. Because our i3 has been driven only ~13k miles, much without the climate control on, and because we have very clean air in Honolulu, the air filters looked quite clean, so I kept my new filters for a later date.

These are the two things that our BMW dealer did every 2 years during scheduled maintenance visits, so that's what I did. I also inspected the suspension and brake components as the dealer would likely have done during its multi-point inspection. I discovered that the dust covers over the shock absorbers were beginning to tear as many others have reported. The suspension bump stops were also decomposing but still functional. I don't plan to replace the dust covers or bump stops at this time.

YouTube has videos that show how to replace i3 brake fluid and cabin air filters, so that's a good source of information. realOEM has parts diagrams that could help.
 
Here is a link to a previous post. It's my comprehensive maintenance list I put together a while back, that I use to track items I need to check. I tried to get the correct consumables & part numbers , but I suggest you verify them before using in case there is an error. Hope this is helpful.

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16964&p=65201&hilit=checklist#p65201
 
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