Annoyingly short central console....seriously??

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jaimero

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
Messages
6
So If you are a little short, you scooch up closer to the brake/accelerator pedal-which means the center console is mostly behind you and your freaken forearm get to ride on the front tip of the console edge! THIS IS HELL OF UNCOMFORTABLE! Seriously????? This is a fail on a 50K dollar vehicle.

Sorry for the rant. :cry:
 
On the other hand the space between the front seats makes a lovely change from conventional cars bulbous transmission tunnels and gives a sense of a much more spacious interior, the i3 feels much larger inside than any other car close to its size that i have sat in. Cant please everyone i suppose.
 
If this is true, the i3 is the first luxury vehicle I've driven that does not have accommodative arm rest. Our arm rest is padded, it flips up just like other arm rests to access the lower chambers. This padded "arm rest" is meant to be an arm rest. Respectfully disagree with your opinion. As such, in my opinion, BMW should have at least have a locking sliding mechanism to push and lock the pad forward to a comfortable position.
 
You're free to disagree but that doesn't make your driving style correct or safe. They may call it an arm rest but it's not designed, nor intended for you to rest your arm on whilst driving. Rest your amor whilst using drive perhaps yes, but otherwise your hands should be on the steering wheel where they belong.
 
FWIW, the console was purposely made short so that you had a chance of gracefully exiting the car towards the opposite side which might be useful when parking in close quarters, or to avoid exiting (or entering) the car from the busy street side. The flat floor plays a part in that, since the vehicle does not have or need a tunnel for rigidity or a driveshaft. There's a reason why it is like it is...you may not agree with it, but it was a conscious decision.
 
If the car is going straight, you usually put both hands on the lower part of the steering wheel, and if you are turning then you should have a 10 and 2 oclock hands on the steering wheel so the armrest means nothing really!
 
Surely this 'issue' is evident on test drive?

It is clearly a part of a clear design decision to have a spacious cabin with the possibility of getting out from either side (as others have noted) personally i find the advantages more than outweigh the (minor) inconvenience. So much so that when i had a BMW loan ICE (a 420i coupe) i found it very cramped indeed in the footwell and this is common even in some fairly high end cars i have driven (Jaguar XJ, Audi A8 etc).

Really the answer is dont buy an i3 if its such a big issue for you?
 
barrychan said:
If the car is going straight, you usually put both hands on the lower part of the steering wheel, and if you are turning then you should have a 10 and 2 oclock hands on the steering wheel so the armrest means nothing really!
It's 9 and 3 now. Ten and two puts your hands in the path of the airbag.
 
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