Drivetrain issue - "Do not switch off engine"

...or you could be stuck. I had this yesterday, drove straight to the dealer, and after turning it off & on again it was fine. Nevertheless they've had it in overnight to do diagnostics and after consulting with BMW UK say it's a software problem, so everything's been reinstalled today. They've given me a REx for a couple of days, and hopefully I get it back tomorrow.



Anyone else with similar? One chap on Pistonheads.com did but after turning off & on again his has been fine, he says.

Drive to the nearest BMW i Service if it's in range.

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FTFY.

AndyW said:

...or you could be stuck. I had this yesterday, drove straight to the dealer, and after turning it off & on again it was fine. Nevertheless they've had it in overnight to do diagnostics and after consulting with BMW UK say it's a software problem, so everything's been reinstalled today. They've given me a REx for a couple of days, and hopefully I get it back tomorrow.

Anyone else with similar? One chap on Pistonheads.com did but after turning off & on again his has been fine, he says.

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I'm definitely interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced this. We had similar drivetrain faults in the ActiveE's but assumed that would have been a high priority for BMW to engineer out of the i3 and make sure it doesn't reoccur.

Obviously there will be some problems, but I really hope the drivetrain malfunction problem is behind us.

any news regarding this issue ?

Hi , I picked up my i3 last week and it showed this message 2 days later ... It has been back at the bmw garage for 5 days now and they don't appear to know what to do . They are now talking of upgrading the software in the hope the problem is resolved . The car has done less than 100 miles on the clock . Has anybody else had this issue and was it resolved ?

Sorry to read that Ditzy. Mine's apparently fixed & been test driven with no issues, and I'm picking it up tomorrow, so fingers crossed. If you're in the UK (or even if not!), maybe get your dealer to phone mine? Nikki at Vines of Guildford. Good luck!

Thankyou . Hopefully after a software update we should be reunited also tomorrow . If there are any problems I will get the dealer to contact yours . I just want to get back on the road and enjoy ..., I'm in Scotland so not too far away!

Hope yours is ok now!

So, good stuff, got my car back today, all fixed (not charged up by the dealer though, not impressed - I'd hope they won't forget again though, after the minor rollocking they got. I'd planned to take it to another car meet tonight, where it always gets a good reception - who knows, it might've converted someone...).

Anyway, it's apparently had a software upgrade, which I think I can vouch for as it lost a load of settings! I've also noticed a few changes, but would be grateful if anyone could confirm - they could be stuff I hadn't noticed before! Or, all the new features could be old hat to more recent owners with the latest software already - mine was an early one, after all.

Switching off, it used to ask if I wanted to change the next departure time, or charge immediately if it's peak time. Now it shows this:


So you click on Change setting and it goes to a screen similar to the old one:


Immediately after accepting the destination, you get this flash up, which I'm sure didn't use to:


Clicking on the iDrive controller from map used to just turn the time & eta info off & on, now it brings up a submenu:


I'm pretty sure there only used to be 8 saved DAB radio station slots, now there are 40:


When it's plugged in, it tells you when it'll be fully charged:


All comments welcome, except calling me an unobservant berk!

I was going to ask why your last photo showed the charge was going to complete on February 4th if these are new photos when I realized you weren't in the U.S. so the date is written in a less nonsensical way

AndyW said:

Hope yours is ok now!

So, good stuff, got my car back today, all fixed (not charged up by the dealer though, not impressed - I'd hope they won't forget again though, after the minor rollocking they got. I'd planned to take it to another car meet tonight, where it always gets a good reception - who knows, it might've converted someone...).

Anyway, it's apparently had a software upgrade, which I think I can vouch for as it lost a load of settings! I've also noticed a few changes, but would be grateful if anyone could confirm - they could be stuff I hadn't noticed before! Or, all the new features could be old hat to more recent owners with the latest software already - mine was an early one, after all.

Switching off, it used to ask if I wanted to change the next departure time, or charge immediately if it's peak time. Now it shows this:


So you click on Change setting and it goes to a screen similar to the old one:


Immediately after accepting the destination, you get this flash up, which I'm sure didn't use to:


Clicking on the iDrive controller from map used to just turn the time & eta info off & on, now it brings up a submenu:


I'm pretty sure there only used to be 8 saved DAB radio station slots, now there are 40:


When it's plugged in, it tells you when it'll be fully charged:


All comments welcome, except calling me an unobservant berk!

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Mine is also one of the early specimens.

I can confirm that the "Goodbye" screen and "Time to fully charged" screen are the same as in mine.
BUT ... the 2 screens in the Nav mode are definitely new!

I cannot tell about the DAB though.

Interesting, thanks. I'm pretty sure they weren't like that before, but not 100%. Is there a button-press combo anyone knows, that can tell you the software version you have? I've found the satnav & media version numbers, but I don't think they're it.

MarkN said:

I was going to ask why your last photo showed the charge was going to complete on February 4th if these are new photos when I realized you weren't in the U.S. so the date is written in a less nonsensical way

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...the only sensible way, surely? Day < Month < Year and all that?

Hi , went to collect from dealer tonight ... It's apparently had a software update and the warning light didn't come on during the test drives .... However when I got my keys and jumped in .. Guess what ??? ..... No charge !!!! I had specifically asked for it to be charged for my collection as I live 30 miles from dealer !!! So they are delivering it to me tomorrow now ! So frustrating !!!

Ditzy said:

Hi , went to collect from dealer tonight ... It's apparently had a software update and the warning light didn't come on during the test drives .... However when I got my keys and jumped in .. Guess what ??? ..... No charge !!!! I had specifically asked for it to be charged for my collection as I live 30 miles from dealer !!! So they are delivering it to me tomorrow now ! So frustrating !!!

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What a bunch of idiots, I would think that by now they understand the concept of an EV and have adapted their service to it.

We also had the drivetrain failure message after a few days of ownership. They took it back & apparently re-installed the software & it's been fine since.

We also had the failure to recharge before collection too....

Geoff

So that's 3 of us picking up uncharged cars - not good, is it?

However, I got a very contrite letter of apology from the DP yesterday, with a £100 "Dealer cheque" useable at the dealer only, by way of compensation for the inconvenience. Good effort at bridge-building I thought.

It is unfortunate to hear the cars aren't fully charged when you pick them up from service. However I am not surprised. Being in BMW's e-mobility program in the US for five years now, I have seen this happen to a lot of my friends in the program. Some dealerships do a better job than others, but some need to be reminded that it is expected to pick up a fully charged car after service. It cost them very little to charge the car, yet it is very important to the customer. This is all new to most dealers so give them a little time to get this worked out but make sure you remind them to make sure the car is fully charged when you return for it.

If it isn't, politely remind them they failed to meet your expectations today and the next time you come you expect them to fully charge the car for you. Then follow up with a short note or email to the general manager. It really doesn't help to be confrontational, this is a new service and the dealer does want to make you happy because they do want you back, they may just need to be reminded that charging an electric car is a new service they must provide for their customers that have EV's in for repair. They need to set up an internal system to ensure it gets done on every car they get in for service.

Drove 160 miles on Saturday and got the "Check Drivetrain Soon" message at about 100 miles (was probably on REx). It had gone when I fired up in the morning. Did the return journey - and got the error message again.

Apart from the error message, everything carried on working with no noticeable difference.

I suppose I'm going to need to get it checked.

SanSerif said:

Drove 160 miles on Saturday and got the "Check Drivetrain Soon" message at about 100 miles (was probably on REx). It had gone when I fired up in the morning. Did the return journey - and got the error message again.

Apart from the error message, everything carried on working with no noticeable difference.

I suppose I'm going to need to get it checked.

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Are all these drivetrain error message from early i3s, or are they also from deliveries made March/April? When I pick up my i3 towards the end of April should I ask that the latest software is installed?

Hi Guys, had the same message as SanSerif yesterday. It is a different message than I have had earlier twice, which was less stressing on the word 'soon' (aka 'weldra' in dutch). The message reappeared immediatly upon pressing 'START' for the return journey after dinner. We were also on a longer trip, also with REx on for some time. The message seems unconnected with the workings of the REx though.

I let the car send the diagnositic info to BMW (again). Even though the message didn't reappear this morning, I will be contacting BMW tomorrow to get it checked out. Guessworkdiagnosis: oil level in the diff or something ? Everything keeps functioning normal at this point, no over-temperature warnings or whatever.

Regards, Steven

PS: this was again an orange warning, so not immediately critical and not accompanied by doomsday messages as 'Do not switch of car' or the like.

For those of you that get these messages, please snap a picture of the screen when it happens. I'd like to start documenting who is getting what message and under what conditions if you don't mind. You can post the picture here or message me and I'll give you my email. I'd like to start looking into this.

Thanks