New 2015 REX and iRemote

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Jadam

Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
8
Location
San Francisco
Have had my new i3 for about a week now. Still getting used to things but overall love the car.

Bought it from a private seller as I had the unfortunate timing of having my TDI A3 bought back the day before the recall was announced but prior to receiving funds from VW (a two day gap). So one of the many CPO i3 BEVs that I had been eyeing was no longer an option. And since I was also now without a car, my hand was forced a bit. Rex was the only option from this seller, fully loaded less HK sound in solar orange (not my first choice either but it’s growing on me).

Have gleaned a ton of great info from here (thanks!) and have a few questions, hopefully can get some quick answers!

- why is that iRemote NEVER can tell me my battery or gas levels? Whether plugged in or not, driving, parked, etc. the info is always showing as n/a? My last trip info shows up though...

- sometimes I’ve seen pics of the instrument cluster showing the battery charge %, but not on mine. I just have the mile range. Is there a setting I need to change?

- is there a way to have the trip computer reset each time the car starts? Or only thru coding?

- I have two more years on the factory warranty but the maintenance is no longer free since I didn’t buy it from a dealer. I’ve been told that I can pay a 775 maintenance xfer fee and have “free” maintenance until the four years is up. With the Rex, will the total of any normal routine service visits exceed that amount in the next two years? I’m suspecting not.

Thanks!
 
The car is likely still registered to the previous owner and you'll need to call the BMW I-team to get it transferred, or possibly, the dealership can do it for you. Then, you should have full access and status on the car.

Often, failures tend to happen in the first year or so, and then, there's a lull for quite awhile until things wear out verses break. But, any foreign luxury car is expensive to maintain and a failure could easily exceed the cost of the warranty transfer. It's pot luck...think of it as insurance, without the factory coverage, you're self-insured. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Depending on how many miles you put on the REx, at a minimum, it would likely call for an oil and filter change annually. Other than the bi-annual brake fluid service (do not ignore this...it's from the date of manufacture, not date of first sale), about an $80-90 service at the dealer, there isn't much more. A cabin air filter and maybe an engine one, but you'll probably not get enough mileage to need one while the warranty is valid. They'll replace the wiper blades annually, and if you bought OEM ones, that's about $70 for all three. It's doubtful that the REx would need a tuneup.
 
Thanks for the quick response.

I had registered with ConnectedDrive online - my name and my i3 are now connected to to my name but maybe something else is not carrying over as the battery and gas status are always n/a. I will call and try to sort it out.

On the maintenance, 775 for two years and potentially not a lot of need for service (hopefully) seems like the cost is more than the value. I am still covered under the factory warranty until 2019 should anything catastrophic occur (knock on wood). I have a service appt. tomorrow and will discuss with them and report back here for posterity.
 
So this came as a surprise but my service appt turned out to be free!

Apparently I am still covered on a new vehicle warranty even though I bought the car used from a private seller. Everything I’ve read here led me to believe that maintenance would not be covered - but apparently it is! Very pleasant surprise!

Still trying to sort out the iRemote status not showing up. Bmw genius tried a few things but after none of those worked, he told me to use the SOS function and see if the admins could help. Will report back.
 
IRemote has been deprecated and has not been updated in over a year. BMW Connected is the supported i3 smartphone app. However, BMW Connected wouldn't work any better than iRemote if your BMW Connected account has problems/doesn't exist.
 
Jadam said:
- sometimes I’ve seen pics of the instrument cluster showing the battery charge %, but not on mine. I just have the mile range. Is there a setting I need to change?

Thanks!
If I understood you correctly, you can replace the mile range with other metrics including batter % by simply pressing on the BC button located on the left indicator stalk. Pressing on the BC button will toggle through different metrics.
 
You have to configure at least some of the possible data you want displayed while in the I-drive menus. If your vehicle has the latest software, you can view the percentage charge left once done.
 
Jadam said:
- sometimes I’ve seen pics of the instrument cluster showing the battery charge %, but not on mine.
BMW must have felt the same as I did when early i3's did not display charge % as a decimal number (this capability was added in a software update after complaints by i3 drivers). No ICE vehicle owner requests a full tank % displayed as a decimal number, so why should charge % be displayed as a decimal number to a 0.5% precision when it is displayed graphically in the bar across the bottom of the display similar to ICE vehicle fuel gauges? The ends of the bar are 0% and 100% with the 3 lines between being 25%, 50%, and 75%. It's easy to visually interpolate between these values to know the charge % with an precision of <5%. Because we don't accurately know how many usable kWh are available in total, knowing the charge % to 0.5% likely doesn't convey how much energy is remaining any more accurately than using the charge % bar. The charge % is a computed value anyway since it cannot be measured directly, so it's probably not accurate to 0.5% anyway.

Oh well, some people must prefer decimal numbers that appear to be precise than they really are rather than a bar gauge that seems less precise due to the required visual interpolation.
 
For our 2014 BMW i3-REx, I use L1 adds 5%/hr, and, L2 adds 20%/hr. So this lets me plan my errands better.

Our 2017 Prius is L1 takes 5 hours, 20%/hr and L2 takes just over 2 hours, 50%/hr. Again letting me plan my trips.

Bob Wilson
 
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