Unexpected, very powerful, acceleration surge BMW i3

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mbkb2017

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Aug 17, 2017
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In October 2016, my partner and I purchased a new BMW i3, without the range extender. We understand we were one of the first buyers of this updated i3 in the U.K.

Since then, in January 2017 (my partner driving) and again in April 2017 (when I was driving) we have had two accidents, both caused by a sudden unexpected, very powerful, acceleration surge.

We are interested to know whether any other i3 owners have experienced a similar event and what the outcomes were.
 
I haven't heard of anything like that but all cars these days have a lot of electronics, which can be buggy. I assume you've taken it back to the dealer for analysis ?
 
Isn't there an event recorder that BMW can access to learn more about the circumstances when a collision occurred?
 
Were you slowing down, hit a BIG bump on the road, and the car jumps forward?

This does happen, and it is quite scary indeed.

I posted about this previously, and the responses state it's regarding the car letting go of the drivetrain to release the tension from the bump on the road.
 
ASUN said:
Were you slowing down, hit a BIG bump on the road, and the car jumps forward?

This does happen, and it is quite scary indeed.

I posted about this previously, and the responses state it's regarding the car letting go of the drivetrain to release the tension from the bump on the road.

This is regenerative braking backing off when the DSC/Traction control is triggered (i.e. Bumpy or slippery surface). This is normal and it is to prevent the regenerative braking locking the rear wheels and causing loss of control (basically a handbrake turn). It can also be predicted by looking at the road surface and considering how much regeneration you're demanding.

It gives the impression of a 'surge', but it's really just the braking effect from regeneration being removed. The brain interprets this as 'accelerating' in a way.
 
nitramluap said:
ASUN said:
Were you slowing down, hit a BIG bump on the road, and the car jumps forward?

This does happen, and it is quite scary indeed.

I posted about this previously, and the responses state it's regarding the car letting go of the drivetrain to release the tension from the bump on the road.

This is regenerative braking backing off when the DSC/Traction control is triggered (i.e. Bumpy or slippery surface). This is normal and it is to prevent the regenerative braking locking the rear wheels and causing loss of control (basically a handbrake turn). It can also be predicted by looking at the road surface and considering how much regeneration you're demanding.

It gives the impression of a 'surge', but it's really just the braking effect from regeneration being removed. The brain interprets this as 'accelerating' in a way.

Yes...as per above... ;)
 
nitramluap said:
ASUN said:
'

Yes...as per above... ;)

Yeah, with more of an explanation as to *why* exactly - for the OP, not you. If it upsets you, I can delete my post.

Please don't get me wrong. I appreciate your in-depth answer.

Was making a joke...I guess you did not see my smiley face :D
 
Hi ASUN,
My wife has experienced the same trouble during to park it in to our garage on last week.
The car is 2015 Rex.
After she has stopped the vehicle in front of the porch, it showed some kind of fault message on display.
And suddenly it start to accelerate and run against the stairway in front of the porch.
The car is loaner vehicle from BMW dealer and waiting for delivery of i3...
She had a whiplash injury and hospitalized yesterday...
I am waiting for the report from dealer of BMW..
When we've got the report from them, I would like to share it.
 
ks2017 said:
Hi ASUN,
My wife has experienced the same trouble during to park it in to our garage on last week.
The car is 2015 Rex.
After she has stopped the vehicle in front of the porch, it showed some kind of fault message on display.
And suddenly it start to accelerate and run against the stairway in front of the porch.
The car is loaner vehicle from BMW dealer and waiting for delivery of i3...
She had a whiplash injury and hospitalized yesterday...
I am waiting for the report from dealer of BMW..
When we've got the report from them, I would like to share it.
Did the airbags deploy?

The reason I ask is after the 'unintended acceleration' claims against Toyota in 2009, all car manufactures are required to have accident data recorder, a type of black-box. One reason for embedding them with the airbags is they often have a capacitor with enough energy to record the data in nonvolatile memory. An airbag is fairly effective as an accident signal.

Several 'lessons learned' from Toyota's experience:
  • accelerator pedal has two 'pots/sensors' - these should have different slopes so a simple short can not lead to a false, acceleration signal. Any combination of ground and short should lead to an error and the car going into 'safe hold' mode or even disabled. The Gen-1 Prius had mechanical pots and there were known to put the car in 'safe home' mode also called 'the big hand syndrome.'
  • brake and accelerator pedals are too close - studies of Toyota accidents are consistently showing the accelerator was floored instead of the brake. HOWEVER, each case must be evaluated individually using data, not speculation!

Bob Wilson
 
No. airbags didn't deploy at that moment.
Front left side of the bumper had corrupsed.
We live in Japan. So there is a hundle in right side..

I hope the data log in that moment would solve that accident if available.

I suppose it will take a time for them to analyze the route cause of that trouble..
 
ks2017 said:
Hi ASUN,
My wife has experienced the same trouble during to park it in to our garage on last week.
The car is 2015 Rex.
After she has stopped the vehicle in front of the porch, it showed some kind of fault message on display.
And suddenly it start to accelerate and run against the stairway in front of the porch.
The car is loaner vehicle from BMW dealer and waiting for delivery of i3...
She had a whiplash injury and hospitalized yesterday...
I am waiting for the report from dealer of BMW..
When we've got the report from them, I would like to share it.

This issue occurred while the car is stopped. Oh my! Hope you wife is alright.

Please do keep us updated of this matter, and take care.
 
Hi Bob
Thank you for your comment.
Any update has informed from BMW, I will share it with you all.
 
Hi,
The dealer of the BMW inspected logs. But they couldn't find any fault in the car.
After discussion with them, they have suggested us to replace the Accelerator pedal.
And update its software to the latest one.

Tomorrow we'll be hand over from them.
I can't believe that was caused by some noise from train passing..
Our house is located next to railroad track.

We will take care during our drive..

Thank you.
 
I'm not a betting man, but if I had to I'd bet it was user error, despite what you might want to believe... and she's willing to admit.
 
May be..
I don't want to believe it. But there is nothing to prove it..
Will take caution during to drive it by herself.
 
ks2017 said:
May be..
I don't want to believe it. But there is nothing to prove it..
Will take caution during to drive it by herself.

Well, the flipside is that you're suggesting that this car can suddenly lurch forward all by itself without any input and with no identifying cause... which would potentially trigger an international recall if true - that is a Very Big Deal™️. That makes me think it's not true and BMW is just being polite by suggesting changing the pedal.

I've seen plenty of people put ICE vehicles through walls - or worse - when 'stopped'... but they forgot to put in in 'P' (for an automatic) and then accidentally hit the accelerator pedal while fiddling with something. It happens.

It's almost certainly the reason why the i3 goes into 'P' automatically as soon as the driver's door is opened. Very wise decision by BMW.
 
Just ran across this thread after an unfortunate incident in a 2017 i3.

My parents were coming home in the i3 and stopped in front of the metal entrance gate to the garage area in their townhouse.

My father reached up to press the gate button on the rear view mirror when the car suddenly took off. It ended up going through the metal gate at full throttle and then crashed into corner wall. The crash shook the whole complex and all airbags deployed in the car.

Thankfully my parents are okay but this has left us completely shocked.
 
ilya335 said:
Just ran across this thread after an unfortunate incident in a 2017 i3.
I believe the i3 stores a crash log so that BMW can review the last few moments prior to a collision. What did BMW tell you happened?
 
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