Buying a 2017 i3

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az1k

New member
Joined
Apr 1, 2021
Messages
1
I am looking to buy a 2017 i3 Giga with 43,000 miles. The car is in Las Vegas. A few questions:

1) Do I need to do anything special for the remaining factory warranty to transfer? It is valid till 12/2021.
2) I will be going away for the summer for 2 months. Is it safe to leave the vehicle like this for so long, given the 12V battery issues.
3) is there anything else I need to watch out for, given the car’s life in the hot weather?

Thanks.
 
az1k said:
2) I will be going away for the summer for 2 months. Is it safe to leave the vehicle like this for so long, given the 12V battery issues.
After two months, the 12 V battery might be discharged too much to boot the electronic modules necessary to drive. Remaining at a low charge level for an extended period could also reduce the battery's life. Despite the Owner's Manual recommending leaving an EVSE plugged in for up to 3 months of storage, there's almost no evidence that the 12 V battery's charge level would be maintained and quite a bit of evidence that it would not be maintained.

I have stored our i3 4 times for periods ranging from 3 to 9 months based on the recommendations of the shop manager of the local BMW dealer. Stored an i3 with its high-voltage battery pack's charge level at ~50% and with the negative cable of the 12 V battery disconnected. Before disconnecting the battery, back up the driver profiles to a USB flash drive using iDrive commands and disconnect the high-voltage disconnect under the cover to the left side of the frunk box. This is a 12 V plug and receptacle, so there's no high voltage to be concerned about. This disconnect prevents the high-voltage system from turning on, so the high-voltage battery pack's charge level would drop only ~1%/month due to self-discharge. Pro tip: don't disconnect the 12 V battery's negative cable with the doors locked if you value your hearing because doing so would cause the burglar alarm siren to activate. Lock the driver's door with the physical key in your fob after carefully popping the cover off the lock. I fully charged the 12 V battery with a battery charger as the final step, but this probably isn't necessary for only 2 months of storage. Shut but don't lock the frunk. If the frunk is locked, the cable release in the driver's door jam would need to be used to open the frunk.

To put your i3 back on the road, just reverse the steps used to store it.

The 12 V battery in our 2014 i3 is the original battery, so the storage procedure I have followed hasn't decreased the 12 V battery's life.

az1k said:
3) is there anything else I need to watch out for, given the car’s life in the hot weather?
In very hot weather, try to avoid parking in the sun over hot pavement for an extended period of time. When an i3 is off, isn't charging, or isn't preconditioning, the battery pack's temperature won't be controlled which could allow the battery cells to overheat. When this occurs, its output power would be reduced until the battery pack cooling system cools the battery pack. This could prevent an i3 from being driven as fast as one would want and could damage the battery cells a bit despite their output being reduced to protect them from more damage.
 
Quite a bit of information in that post Art. Thanks for this.

I'd also like to add to what you have said to check the health of the main battery before you purchase this or any electric powered car.

My 2017 has 22,000 miles.
 
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