Buying out of warranty I3

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Xiloh

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
6
Hello to all,

So here's my dilemma, I really want to to be an owner of the I3 but there are enough repetitive posts annotating the shortcomings of this vehicle. I'm quite mechanically familiar with brands of VW including bimmers. At one point it used to be fun to turn wrenches but now that I'm older that fun has fizzled out.

I currently own a 3rd gen Prius and besides the 12v batt going bad after 6 years it has been trouble free just like my 2nd gen Prius. Reliability is really important in my case since my other form of transportation is a motorcycle which is strictly for fun.

I need a Rex since I do travel 200 to 400 miles for vacation to North Florida every other month or so. It seems that no matter whether you code for Hold SOC and run the engine regularly or only when batt is depleted seems to eventually kill the scooter engine. Lack of use or regular use seems end up with a drivetrain error code.

My other option which I'm trying to avoid is keeping my Prius and buying a BEV I3. I'm sticking to the 60ah version since I can buy one cash without financing it. My commute to work is only 19.2 miles (30.8km) round trip so range is not a factor however, insuring 2 vehicles is. I just don't want to own another vehicle as an insurance policy for the lack of range or reliability.
 
1) VW does not own BMW, and there are not many engineering crossovers between the two. Apples and oranges.

2) Can you rent a gas-powered car for those vacation trips every few months for less than insuring/maintaining the Prius?
 
You can code the REX to run at 75% state of charge (SOC) and this will allow you to run it more often to help keep the gremlins out.

Keeping ethanol blended gas out of the tank helps too. Stick with the high test non-ethanol blend.
 
Lack of use or regular use seems end up with a drivetrain error code.

The drivetrain error is kind of a catch-all error which means - "something is wrong propulsion wise, so I'm shutting down systems to prevent damage". Could be the REx miss-firing because of a bad fuel pump relay (a $40 part), a bad cable, bad ECU, etc. etc. The i3 is rated as above average reliability by JD Powers - actually is the most reliable car in the entire BMW lineup. The percentage of i3's that suffer a drivetrain error is pretty small (and most of those happen while still under warranty). There are 150,000-plus i3's on the road, almost all of them trouble free. For every person posting an i3 issue on any board, there are a thousand i3 owners who don't bother to post - " well, another year of ownership, another 20,000 miles, and no problems".

Do a search on places like the FaceBook i3 group for 'high mileage' and you will get long lists of i3's approaching (and passing) 100K miles, all trouble free.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/search/?query=high%20mileage&epa=SEARCH_BOX.

If anyone based their Tesla buying decision on just the complaints posted on the Tesla boards, no one would every buy a Tesla, because they would swear they all either burst into flames at the drop of a hat, or become possessed and drive themselves straight into any white box-trucks that comes within 20 yards.
 
PBNB said:
You can code the REX to run at 75% state of charge (SOC) and this will allow you to run it more often to help keep the gremlins out.

Keeping ethanol blended gas out of the tank helps too. Stick with the high test non-ethanol blend.

Will US BMW dealers code the SOC mod?
 
panamamike said:
PBNB said:
You can code the REX to run at 75% state of charge (SOC) and this will allow you to run it more often to help keep the gremlins out.

Keeping ethanol blended gas out of the tank helps too. Stick with the high test non-ethanol blend.

Will US BMW dealers code the SOC mod?

I am pretty sure they wont change the SOC from the 6% due to EPA and CARB rules.

This can be changed with the bimmercode app and a little bluetooth OBD2 reader (costs about $50). The Euro cars should be able to run the REX when they get below 75% SOC since they don't have the same rules as the US.

I use mine often mainly to see how the SOC is affected. I have been considering a 300 mile trip over our local mountains and limited charging stations.
 
MKH said:
Lack of use or regular use seems end up with a drivetrain error code.

The drivetrain error is kind of a catch-all error which means - "something is wrong propulsion wise, so I'm shutting down systems to prevent damage". Could be the REx miss-firing because of a bad fuel pump relay (a $40 part), a bad cable, bad ECU, etc. etc. The i3 is rated as above average reliability by JD Powers - actually is the most reliable car in the entire BMW lineup. The percentage of i3's that suffer a drivetrain error is pretty small (and most of those happen while still under warranty). There are 150,000-plus i3's on the road, almost all of them trouble free. For every person posting an i3 issue on any board, there are a thousand i3 owners who don't bother to post - " well, another year of ownership, another 20,000 miles, and no problems".

Do a search on places like the FaceBook i3 group for 'high mileage' and you will get long lists of i3's approaching (and passing) 100K miles, all trouble free.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/search/?query=high%20mileage&epa=SEARCH_BOX.

If anyone based their Tesla buying decision on just the complaints posted on the Tesla boards, no one would every buy a Tesla, because they would swear they all either burst into flames at the drop of a hat, or become possessed and drive themselves straight into any white box-trucks that comes within 20 yards.

Your reply is very encouraging and thank you for taking the time to post a reply.
 
Thanks for all the replies.....

I already own an obd2 wireless scanner and I have coded BMW's in the past so that part is easy peasy. The other option would be to invest on a newer I3 with at-least two years of warranty left. There's a 2018 I3s Terra with pretty much everything except sunroof for around $29k with the color that I want. I'm just kinda weary in owning another German car which (ALL) with no exceptions left me stranded.

P.S.
Yeah I got confused with VW owning Audi & Ducati which I have owned in the past.
 
Newer models will give you progressively more range going from 60ah to 94ah to 120ah batteries.

I like the REX as a backup just incase so I don't turn the car into a paperweight by misjudging my distance.

I am sure that even if I had a 120ah battery, I would still want the REX. If all I could pick was a BEV, I would carry a little Honda generator (Frunk sized) as a back up. It would be much slower than the REX for charging and I would have to sit and wait but that's okay. That would be part of the adventure!

Using the bimmercode app or one of the other coding apps, you can easily change the SOC to 75% and make it a menu item in idrive so you can turn it on or off on command. You can increase the available tank size as well to give you access to more of the fuel you would be carrying.

We have had ours used 2015 for 1 1/2 years with no problems at all. This is probably because we got an extended warranty from BMW when we bought it.
 
PBNB said:
This is probably because we got an extended warranty from BMW when we bought it.

Wise choice & a carbon copy answer from every BMW owner I have ever spoken to; "Why would you buy a BMW without warranty?".

The problem is that most of the 2015/2016 I3's from CPO dealers around me want $4800 to $6000 for extended warranties. I would be a better bet to haggle the price on a 2017 or 2018 rather than overpay for a 2015. I live in South Florida & BMW dealers here don't even bother to speak to you. They are so used to people leasing or paying the sticker price that they could care less about moving old inventory. The one I'm eyeballing has sat upstairs in their showroom for 4 months.
 
We added 3 (up to 84 months total) years to the included warranty and up to 100,000 kms. Called a Platinum Warranty This cost us $3885 CDN.

We weren't too concerned about the mileage limit as the car only had 20,000 kms on it when we bought it. It is just our city hoper so the miles aren't going up too fast.
 
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