i3 Test Drive

I had a start to my i3 2 day test drive today and have to admit my comments 18 months ago saying it wasn't for me were wrong as my thoughts are now totally opposite.

I totally enjoyed my test drive tonight and still have tomorrow to go. The car is parked up in our garage slowly charging for the night.

I was going to just buy the standard model but I'm ordering a 2017 with all options except tyre pressure indicator, alarm and rex engine. The car is going be a very long term ownership so I might as well enjoy the comforts.

The only negative was the lights and shows LED are not as good as Bi-Xenon lights on my 1 series or my 2 series Bi-Xenon adaptive lights with high beam assistant as they are much better than my 1 series.

I did keep heading for the normal gear stick which may be a problem as I'm keeping my 2 series convertible.

I absolutely enjoyed regenerative braking and hardly touched the brake peddle. Cops will have to see me coming as they will not hear me coming. Acceleration is unbelievably fast with no lag at all from start off.

It's going to be a 5 month wait so i'll install the wall-box charger before the i3 arrives.

Good on you Kiwi.

So no REX. Are you getting the larger battery pack?

I didn't go for led headlights. I guess it depends on where you drive and how much night driving you do. The advantage of the leds is low power consumption. Not sure bi-xenons will improve things in that area.

What wall charger are you going to install? The BMW unit isn't the best of the bunch, and it isn't the best deal either...

Yes larger battery option I'm buying

I am looking and BMW's charger for home which charger would you recommend

No choice in lights as led lights is standard

What I do want to try today is self parking as it's a new toy for me.

We have a Juicebox charger. It has higher (40A) capacity than the i3 can take, so it is a little future proof. It's waterproof if it matters, it has a very long charge cable (I can park a car in front of the charger and still reach the i3 charge port). It has a choice of wifi integration if you want so you can monitor or control it from your desk/phone/etc. On top of that, it is a lot smaller and cheaper than the factory unit. Would buy it again.

You can buy direct from JB, or there is a local distributor: http://www.egodock.com.au/ I bought mine direct, but that was before egodock started. I'd probably buy from them now for local support. Our JB has been installed since July last year, zero issues.

Be careful with the self parking. It can get too close to the kerb and crunch the alloys.

Also, have a look at Tom's report on the JuiceBox. He has lots of chargers in his garage!

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/featured-ev-product-juicebox-pro-40-evse.html

Bad news as the i3 drivers seat is the deal breaker due to the slope of the bottom seat courses a lot of pain to my upper back and lower neck. The bottom seat slopes back and I need the seat bottom to be totally flat or slopped forward a little. I did notice this yesterday but I thought I could adjust the seat enough to make it work.

I had to move out of economy plus as the i3 it was like driving a boat in a rough sea around our tight hilly corners I was driving today. Comfort was a lot better and would not have stopped me buying the i3.

I've moved to an Active Tourer 225xe the car is roughly the same as the i8 but with 10% of the power. The petrol engine is in the front and battery engine in the back and 1 second faster than the i3 0-100kph being 6.8.

The main reason for purchasing the i3 is being able to use the i3 in all bus only lanes as well all car pool lanes with only a driver in the car. It has been confirmed today the Active Tourer is the same as it's a plug into mains power to charge the battery. Hybrid type cars are classed as a fully petrol or diesel car so has no advantage to buy.

Interesting flip flops going on here, Kiwi.

I'd prefer the i3 seat to be more raked than it is but I guess we are all different. The seat surely can be modded if that is the only issue.

The i3 BEV is a 7.2 second car. has that changed with the new model?

What is the price diff between i3 BEV and the Active Tourer 225xe ?