BMW i3 reliability - better info

I wanted more up-to-date car reliability information that made the differences between cars clearer. So a few years ago I started getting people together to make this possible. TrueDelta now updates actual repair frequencies, not just dots, four times a year, to track cars closely as they age.

Thanks to excellent participation by owners, we've been covering most BMW models for years. I'd like to do the same for the i3. Just a matter of getting enough owners involved.

Participants report repairs the month after they occur on a one-page survey. When there are no repairs, they simply report an approximate odometer reading four times a year, following the end of each quarter.

To encourage participation, participants receive full access to all results, not just those for the i3, for free. I'll share results for the i3 in this thread after each update.

http://www.truedelta.com/join

Ten owners signed up so far. A very good start considering that the i3 is a low volume model. Once we have 25+ we can include them in the survey.

Was wondering when i3 will start showing up. I've tried to add mine two months ago after positive experience with truedelta.com and my previous cars.

Hmmm, you should have been able to add it two months ago. If you're still not able to, please let me know. Also shoot me a message or email (michael@) if you're not able to do this through your old account. I can sort that out for you.

See my Former i3 Owner Writing With Mixed Emotions under Why I’ll wait for the next-gen i3. If you want specific mileage and dates I still have all of the workshop receipts. As can be seen from my write-up, I no longer own the car due mainly to safety related issues. FYI, WBY1Z4C50EVX62892 has an ODI (Office of Defect Investigation) number assigned to it this being 10644828. This was pursuant to filling triplicate copies of the last two work orders covering,

“Fault in airbag, belt tensioner or belt force limiter.”

at 4,078 and again at 4,424 miles with invoice dates of 09/11/14 and 09/22/14 respectively.

woundedi3 said:

See my Former i3 Owner Writing With Mixed Emotions under Why I’ll wait for the next-gen i3. If you want specific mileage and dates I still have all of the workshop receipts. As can be seen from my write-up, I no longer own the car due mainly to safety related issues. FYI, WBY1Z4C50EVX62892 has an ODI (Office of Defect Investigation) number assigned to it this being 10644828. This was pursuant to filling triplicate copies of the last two work orders covering,

“Fault in airbag, belt tensioner or belt force limiter.”

at 4,078 and again at 4,424 miles with invoice dates of 09/11/14 and 09/22/14 respectively.

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Grumpyness and sour grapes - never a good and valuable input for forums such as this.

You've been unlucky with your purchase and managed to sell the car again. You've said your piece. Now leave it and move on.

P

+1

psquare,

I believe mkaresh wanted car reliability information and expressed the desire for information specific to the i3. I will furnish this as I purchased one of the first sold in the U.S. with a delivery date of 05/30/14 or for those who use the other date format 30/05/14

If you care to peruse other parts of the forum you will find what could also be construed as “grumpiness and sour grapes” in other parts of this discourse as well.

This does not mark the end of my involvement with EVs. I am still looking at this and other sources of information for how far or how little the situation has progressed, CCS deployment being one example, since I traded mine six months ago and can separate the wheat from the chaff as well as any one else.

Bad cars happen, and they're easier to shrug off when they happen to someone else

That said, this survey operates differently than other online surveys. To minimize the chances of inaccurate results, we gather data going forward, not retrospectively, and only include problems that appear after someone joins the survey. It is possible to post old repairs to the site, but they won't be included in the reliability stats.

It looks like we'll have at least a preliminary stat for the i3 with our August update. We don't yet have enough participants for a reasonably precise stat, so I hope at least 10 to 15 more owners will sign up.

www.truedelta.com/join

Now that our i3 has arrived, joined!

Thanks!

How long have 2015s been available? Dealers seemed to still have 2014s well into the year.

mkaresh said:

Thanks!

How long have 2015s been available? Dealers seemed to still have 2014s well into the year.

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2015 production started in January according to the documentation I have.

Thanks. Since the 2014s didn't arrive until well into calendar year 2014, I'll probably combine the 2014s and 2015s. No significant changes I'm aware of, and this will provide a larger sample size.

At the moment we have 25 2014s and 4 2015s signed up, so the odds of having a fairly precise stat with the August update are high.

Odds of having an initial stat this month are iffy. At the moment we're a response or two short. I just sent a special email to the five i3 owners who haven't responded. If a couple of these respond, we'll have a stat. If not, then August.

We ended up just one or two responses short of the bare minimum with the May update. The small amount of initial data suggests a worse than average but not terrible repair frequency.

We'll certainly have a stat for the i3 with the August update. The more owners are involved, the more precise the upcoming stats will be.

www.truedelta.com/join

So far almost 15 k in 4 months and not a single solitary issue, besides a flat I repaired myself courtesy of a $5 kit.

I got a service upgrade of the charging unit that was capped at 5 kw.hr back to 7.4 kw.hr but nothing else.

Our reliability stats for the i3 now cover the year ending June 30, 2015. (Others are over a year behind, and so report how these cars were doing when a year younger.)

Repair trips per 100 cars:

2014-2015 i3: 75, high due to a common problem with the charging module

For the descriptions of all reported repairs, results for other models, and to sign up to help improve this information:

BMW i3 reliability ratings and comparisons

We've updated our reliability stats for the i3 to include owner experiences through September 30, 2015. Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2015 i3: 55, high

The stat would have been much lower without a common problem with the charging module, so it could improve once these are more than a year in the past.

We'll have further updates in February and in May. To see how competitors compare, and to sign up to help improve this information:

BMW i3 reliability ratings and comparisons

We've updated our reliability stats for the i3 to include owner experiences through the end of 2015, about eight months ahead of other sources. In terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year--lower is better:

2014-2015 i3: 66, high

For the repairs behind this stat, reliability information on other models, and to sign up to help improve this information:

BMW i3 reliability ratings and comparisons

More than 28k in a year and not a single solitary issue.

Any doubters? I drive the car hard, without compromises... over long distances and far reaching commutes in the heat of the Cali desert and the cold of mountain freezing.

I average about 1000 miles a week in some months. The battery pack has no sign of any yield decrease after 290+ charging cycles.

i3marc said:

More than 28k in a year and not a single solitary issue.

Any doubters? I drive the car hard, without compromises... over long distances and far reaching commutes in the heat of the Cali desert and the cold of mountain freezing.

I average about 1000 miles a week in some months. The battery pack has no sign of any yield decrease after 290+ charging cycles.

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It's great that you got a good one, but not everyone did....