BMW i3 Test drive today at Berkeley BMW

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Alexander99

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Messages
50
Location
SF Bay Area
Got to drive the BMW i3 today in Berkeley. Out and about for 6 miles with a brief stint on the freeway. Then spent 15-20 mins going over the details. Overall I liked it.

Entry and egress are easy. The car sits up a little higher than normal, like a mini-SUV. It was orange #105, and had been to Las Vegas - I pulled up the most recent charging list. Interesting feature, that one.

The car is very quick, when you mash the pedal it hauls. Maybe under 7 secs. Its not like the C63, there's no drama or noise. Just a mild electric whir.

Very quiet, couple squeaks, but nothing major. Car had 1150 miles on it. Also had the sunroof, but staff didn't know if it was standard or not.

Why doesn't BMW hire people that know the car to do these demos??????
"Yes sir, this is the base model. Really, that's odd. It has 20" wheels and a leather interior." Unbelievable.

Likes
Acceleration
Quiet
Hatchback and Rear seats fold down almost flat
Lots of storage
Eucalyptus wood trim
Visibility - it has a wide open view
Ride height
Exterior looks, except for the narrow wheels.

This car looks so much better in person than the pictures.

Dislikes
Manual seats
Back seat is snug, but liveable
Range - I'd like real 100+ miles
Brown interior (ugly IMHO)
Having to push the fold down seats into place from the back - this was odd - you have to pull the loop to get them back into place
Skinny wheels - maybe 195 or 205 width will fit?
No tracks for a roof rack

Last and this one is a deal breaker - the lease. $800-$900 is simply not equitable for this car.

I'm not buying any EV, including a Tesla, the technology is evolving too fast. So that leaves leasing and the owners choice program. We'll see where they end up with that part. I figure for a $22k check I s/b able to drive one for 3 years (and zero trips to the gas station) and then give it back.

We'll see. I also want to drive the B class MB.
 
Had a similar experience regarding staff lack of knowledge in SF. Person coordinating test drives acknowledged not being a product specialist. Was a manager from the vendor BMW hired to put on the events. Said that most of the specialists were in Detroit right now. Understandable I suppose. Still a bit frustrating that every time I had a question, their solution was to check the website, which I'd already scoured for answers.

Still I find the i3 quite brilliant. My main concern at this point is finding a dealer who will sell me one for MSRP. Such a silly concern to have.
 
stumbledotcom said:
Had a similar experience regarding staff lack of knowledge in SF. Person coordinating test drives acknowledged not being a product specialist. Was a manager from the vendor BMW hired to put on the events. Said that most of the specialists were in Detroit right now. Understandable I suppose. Still a bit frustrating that every time I had a question, their solution was to check the website, which I'd already scoured for answers.

Still I find the i3 quite brilliant. My main concern at this point is finding a dealer who will sell me one for MSRP. Such a silly concern to have.

I test drove at both BMW SF and Weatherford BMW in Berkeley over the weekend. The car is brilliant, but the presentation of it in the test drive is very lame. None of the people running it really knew the car. They didn't even have any literature to pass out that could have explained it. All they did was have you fill out some legal paperwork, show you how to start the car, and then you were on your own. Which was totally fine for me, but the other people attending couldn't get even the most basic of questions answered.

Oh well, at least Weatherford was offering up free tacos and drinks while you waited.
 
Interesting experience... Monterey BMW is having a drive event on Feb 19 and I'll take a spin. I'm not sold on the cost/range factor when compared to my Leaf which has exceeded all of my expectations per my driving habits, but I'm always willing to take a look. As posted here also, I am leasing for the foreseeable future given the changing technology, so anything more than $500 a month is out of the question - all depending on how the $7500 Fed tax credit works. I'll also be interested in how aggressive the SAE QC program gets rolled out... although the 7.xW charger will be considerably faster than the 3.3 I have in my Leaf.

I'll post my thoughts when the time comes...

Z
 
Alexander99 said:
Last and this one is a deal breaker - the lease. $800-$900 is simply not equitable for this car.



EDIT: I went and found my lease quotes.

Base car with heated seats and heated HV battery £2400 down £401 per month.

+ park assistance + optional wheels + better sound system + heat pump heater £2743 down £457/month

Base car + REx + park assistance + optional wheels £2904 down £494 per month.


Full leather interior package adds £270 to the down payment and £45 per month.


These prices are "on the road" and include all taxes and fees.

This may be the first (and only) time where a car costs more to lease in the US than in the UK.


UK has a £5000 plug in car grant. That is less than the $10,000 credit you would get in CA.
 
Ha! I had the very same experience in Santa Rosa, CA yesterday! The sale person was completely in the dark about EVERYTHING. He started the whole test drive with, "Today's your lucky day, You're able to drive the high end version today, but realize that the US models WILL NOT have sunroofs due to it not passing the US crash test." That isn't exactly putting your best foot forward BMW. I was ready to buy, but after testing it, I found it needs some serious refinements to the following year's release and educate the ENTIRE staff on their new car's specifications.
 
What is going on in the States? My experience in the UK was so different. The BMW guy spent a long time telling me all about the car, how it was made, where it was made, all the features, facts and figures. Then on the test drive he told me his dealership boss had asked him to drive a Rex model personally for 2 weeks to put it through lots of tests - long journeys, Rex engine only journeys, battery only journeys etc etc so that he could answer customers questions from personal experience rather than from the official brochure. He told me he'd got 105 miles from one charge using minimal electrics, careful driving and Eco mode with windows steaming up all the time! Also admitted he got only 62 miles from another charge driving with all the electrics blaring in comfort mode, racing people at traffic lights, 85mph on motorway legs. Finally he claimed to have done 200 miles just using the Rex motor with the battery on 3% charge from the very start and still 3% at the end. Said he phoned his BMW colleagues to warn them they may need to come and get him but it was not needed. Later he told me he had been asked by BMW to go to other dealers to train them on the i3. Sounds like he needs to be sent to the US!!
 
Same excellent service at our local dealer, the igenius knew the car inside out and could answer all of my questions and more, went back this weekend with my wife who was very nervous of the car and he coached her effortlessly on how to drive it and she got to enjoy it in the end. The UK i genius's are obviously well trained...

Just a shame I have to wait til July for the car, although BMW are ramping up production so it may come earlier. :D
 
Derby dealer was a bit of a let down. I wanted to place an order around bonfire night having been convinced that there would be a stock shortfall. Salesman suggested I wait till the car was revealed on the 14th November and after a test drive the following weekend.

By the time I was ready to order I was told that the Proff Sat Nav was not a free option.
Was told that the cut off date was November 16th. As no effort was made to reverse this I abandoned my interest in the car. I've since learnt that the cut off date was January 9th. Obviously I was aggrieved at having lost out on a £950 option.
Never have I experienced a salesman discourage a car sale!
 
Same here in Brighton UK. The salespeople here had a good knowledge of the car and had all driven it for some time.
 
There is clearly a difference between the training in the US vs. Europe.

I spoke to a another dealership's Manager and she was so frustrated with the lack of information and training. They've been getting their info from sites like this.

I'm still hoping they come out with a decent lease program here in the US. We get a little bit more incentive here in CA than your UK lease example, $10,000 USD when you combine state and Federal. And it should yield similar payments, but unfortunately it doesn't. Problem is the residual values, they're dismal, less than 40% on 36 mo.
 
PipPip said:
What is going on in the States? My experience in the UK was so different.

The difference is that the i3 has launched in the UK but is still pre-launch in the US. BMW has dispatched the fleet it shipped in for the LA Auto Show and CES to dealers with i representatives from an events management vendor. The cars at my dealer in SF had the same vinyl letter signs and numbers atop passenger side of the windshield that you see in the numerous video test drives from LA and CES. I suspect it's a bit of market research because after the drives we were asked to complete a survey on stuff like the doors, ease of rear seat entry and other silliness. The only redeeming feature of the event (besides driving the i3 for the first time) is that no one did a ride along. They just sent us out unaccompanied to play.
 
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