Finalising my order

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SanSerif

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
175
Location
Southern UK, EU.
Just been on the phone to my local BMW dealer (who is, fortunately, an i dealership) and have specced up a car:

REx
Solar Orange
Suite interior
Winter Pack (heated seats etc)
Enhanced Bluetooth (for phone)

I'm undecided about whether to bother with the Fast DC charge prep. Naturally, it's an electric car so, of course, I want 30 minute charging. OTOH, I have the REx and, secondly, I know of precisely zero fast DC chargers in the UK - so it seems a bit pointless.

Be interested in people's thoughts on this.

Still gypping a little at splashing over £30k on what is effectively a replacement for my wife's Fiat Panda. But, hey, how can I resist a real sci-fi electric car!

For anyone thinking of ordering, the dealerships' online system opened for orders today (apparently).
 
SanSerif said:
But, hey, how can I resist a real sci-fi electric car!

:lol:

Grats on being that close to submitting the order, I wish I was in the same position. I'm still waiting for my accountant to tell me the best way to buy one so I can figure out the tax benefits. Actually I was thinking of starting a thread on the subject seeing as quite a few UK posters here and expect there are others with LTD companies so I won't hijack this thread !

As for the DC charging option, I've read a few articles saying that it's not worth it in the UK at the moment so I'm not going to bother, the fast wallbox charger installed at home will do. This is one article I quickly googled that mentions the lack of DC charge points, you've probably seen the same.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/bmw-i3-electric-car-revealed/266385
 
SanSerif said:
Just been on the phone to my local BMW dealer (who is, fortunately, an i dealership) and have specced up a car:

REx
Solar Orange
Suite interior
Winter Pack (heated seats etc)
Enhanced Bluetooth (for phone)

I'm undecided about whether to bother with the Fast DC charge prep. Naturally, it's an electric car so, of course, I want 30 minute charging. OTOH, I have the REx and, secondly, I know of precisely zero fast DC chargers in the UK - so it seems a bit pointless.

Be interested in people's thoughts on this.

Still gypping a little at splashing over £30k on what is effectively a replacement for my wife's Fiat Panda. But, hey, how can I resist a real sci-fi electric car!

For anyone thinking of ordering, the dealerships' online system opened for orders today (apparently).

I have ordered the Rex but didn't go for DC charging for the reasons you outline. With the Rex you have the comfort of putting in fuel although DC would future proof the car if you wanted to keep it for a long time as cant be retro fitted. I think it will take 3 years plus to get a decent DC network in Uk and I guess manufacturers need to agree on a common standard??
 
Did either of you guys try mentioning the 'discount' word to your dealer ? I know there's some big reductions on other BMW's at the moment (been keeping an eye on the m135i which people have reported getting up to 16% off) but I have a feeling the i3 will be a different story with it being so new ?
 
Plug said:
Did either of you guys try mentioning the 'discount' word to your dealer ? I know there's some big reductions on other BMW's at the moment (been keeping an eye on the m135i which people have reported getting up to 16% off) but I have a feeling the i3 will be a different story with it being so new ?

I understand dealers only getting a handling fee. BMW will hold all stock including second hand and that way they control the market. Downside no big discounts but maybe more stable secondhand values. So basically dealers will quote the BMW finance figures and only negotiation will be on trade in of other vehicle if there is one.

Anyone brave enough to pay cash or finance themselves and take a view on residual value ??
 
I probed a little - along the lines of "what incentives are there for early orders?" rather than referring to discounts. I got the impression fairly rapidly that prolonging that thread of the conversation was going to be a waste of breath! BMW don't need to discount right now; there's a lot of pent up demand from ev fans, the geeky and the curious.

Gaz26 - I'll be paying cash if that's what you mean. This is purely due to ethical objections to debt rather than a savvy punt on residual values!
 
Placed my order yesterday which was entered onto BMW's system today ;)

Can't wait, I'm quite excited about the sci fi behind this car - I've very nearly ordered everything on the options list......LED lights, Winter Pack, Harmon, etc

Only discount I got was the free professional navigation upgrade which would have cost £1,000.....I'd have ordered that anyway so to me it's better than nothing
 
Congratulations to those already ordered... making me jealous. I am holding off to see what prices come through my company's car scheme (given current 0% benefit in kind tax currently). Anyone else thinking about this as an option? I know the rates will be increasing in the next few years but my spreadsheet is good to go when the prices are available ;)

I have been booked up for a trip to Frankfurt for a while and saw an article about test drives today http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/08/bmw-i3-available-for-test-drives-on-indoor-track-at-2013-frankfurt-motor-show.html
 
Went in this morning and placed my order. After much deliberation and vacillation have gone without REx and ordered:

Solar Orange (not popular with other family members - but who cares!)
Suite with brown leather
Winter Package
Turbine 19" wheels
Sun Roof
Cold weather Prep
Harmon Kardon
Enhanced Bluetooth (ordered for voice response to use new Siri functionality with my iPhone)

Should end up costing around £500pm on contract basis - still cant decide whether to purchase or lease. The dealer had already placed 6 orders and build slots will be based on date of deposit so am hoping for an early delivery.
 
Davidfromdigswell said:
Solar Orange (not popular with other family members - but who cares!)

Well you can help persuade them by pointing out it's the only colour that doesn't have the garish blue detailing in the kidneys/door sill, etc ;)
 
An iGenuis from BMW called me today confirming and thanking me for my order.

No indication of build slot and associated timescales but he did confirm I was in the first 'batch' of orders - I'll take that as a good thing.

Not sure whether the following is new information but I'll share it anyway......

1. The i3 is being built in Germany
2. Production will start in September which sync's with 1st deliveries in November
3. For those buying the iWallbox Pure which includes me, after a simple telephone questionnaire the sites survey and installation are likely to happen at the same time.....there seems to be a little fluidity on this at the moment
 
The CFRP panels are made at Landshut from CF made in Washington State.
The assembly line is at Plant Leipzig.

The battery packs are built up in Dingolfing from cells made in Korea.


Like nearly any car, the individual components come from all over.


Press release --> https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/p/gb/pressDetail.html?title=bmw-group-builds-mobility-of-the-future-in-leipzig-€-400-million-investment-in-megacity-vehicle&outputChannelId=8&id=T0088485EN_GB&left_menu_item=node__2207
 
For those of you starting to post about order placement, it would be useful to know WHERE you are. For example, I know that several of the people posting in this thread are in the UK, but only because you say things like "colour" and "£500" :)

And while mentioning your location in your post would be nice, better would be to enter your location into your forum profile, so it appears below your name, like "Atlanta GA USA" does for me here.

To do that, click on "User Control Panel" above, then "Profile", then fill in the "Location" field with whatever you want.

Thanks!
 
Just to confuse things, we Americans living in the UK. I use American spellings even though this computer says I'm not spelling color correctly.

Do you know if BMW-i will be offering Performance Center Delivery for the i3? We highly recommend it if they are. Getting a non-Rex i3 back to ATL from Greer might be an adventure though.

I have read they will eventually offer European Delivery to Americans although the details haven't been worked out yet.

OT:
Are you buying your i3 from BMW of South Atlanta? If you are say hi to Adrian from us.
 
ChrisC said:
For those of you starting to post about order placement, it would be useful to know WHERE you are. For example, I know that several of the people posting in this thread are in the UK, but only because you say things like "colour" and "£500" :)

And while mentioning your location in your post would be nice, better would be to enter your location into your forum profile, so it appears below your name, like "Atlanta GA USA" does for me here.

To do that, click on "User Control Panel" above, then "Profile", then fill in the "Location" field with whatever you want.

Thanks!

Done!

I'm on the South Coast of England. Being an island nation, you'd imagine EVs would do rather well here - range is less of an issue when you're rarely more than 100 miles from hitting the sea (or, in my case, 100 metres).
 
Thanks guys!

AndrewDebbie, I'll be sure to say hi to Adrian if and when I contact that dealer. I'm not quite ready to approach dealers yet, as I need at least another week of analysis (and data about the competing cars) before I'm ready to move ahead on the i3. Although at this point, halfway through my analysis (which I will post here), I'm leaning towards the i3 again, albeit slightly.

I went through almost exactly the same process with the Chevy Volt almost exactly three years ago -- pricing was announced late July 2010, and within days I'd put money down on a Volt. However I then had to completely configure and finalize my Volt (e.g. interior decor options) before I ever got to see it. I'm not doing that again. BMW, you need to get i3's to the US, even if for display only and not test drive! I will not order until I've physically seen the car and sat in it. As with the Volt, I will fly to see the car, just bring it over please ...
 
ChrisC said:
I then had to completely configure and finalize my Volt (e.g. interior decor options) before I ever got to see it. I'm not doing that again. I will not order until I've physically seen the car and sat in it

Ditto.

I saw the car at the launch night but it was under bright lighting and in full California spec (Orange with Brown interior).

I'm waiting until I've seen the full line up - there are only 4 interiors and 6 exteriors after all.

I'm off to the Frankfurt show where hopefully we'll get to see them all and I'll be able to make an informed choice.

As there are likely to be only 2 sensible ownership propositions (IMO) 3 years (lease) or 8-10 years full ownership ..... and I'm leaning towards the latter ...... I want to make sure its a combo I can live with for the long term and that I've chosen all the right technical options too.
 
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