Maintenance cost on used BMW I3

[jadnashuanh]

My dealer runs a special once in awhile where they'll do the brake flush for like $99 or sometimes, even less. FWIW, tires at a BMW dealership are often a bargain, but having them install them isn't. Same is true for a battery. When I needed to change the battery on my ICE, the battery they had at the dealership was both cheaper and a higher capacity than I could find locally everywhere I looked. If I'd had them install it, it would have been MUCH more expensive. Sometimes, BMW parts are quite expensive, but not always.

[JASmith]

My maintenance experience with my CPO 2015 BMW i3 has been disappointing. I've spent $5,200 (that's $2600/year) in repairs after 2 years. Despite having CPO, all the major costs charged by the dealer have been labeled as 'wear and tear' which is excluded from CPO coverage (don't miss this). Compared to the Bolt, the tire wear seems excessively (15-20K miles vs. 60K miles for the Bolt). Each time you change your tire at the dealer, they require a 'Computerized Wheel Alignment' of $270. Here are some examples of my major expenses:

-Replaced both LEFT and RIGHT engine mounts for REX = $1,627
-Tires = $1,600
-Broken camber arm = $572
-Wheel alignment = $270
-Brake fluid service = $248

My i3 has 70K miles right now and yes, I'm driving 20K miles/year, but I'm also benching my cost against other non-I3 high mileage EV drivers and I'm coming up 3 to 4 times higher in maintenance costs. To ensure the viability of the i3 in the used car market, independent mechanics will have to takeover servicing these cars (more reasonably we hope), as the dealer repair option simply erodes the fuel savings from going electric with BMW.

Wow, sorry to hear that, although really I would have fought the engine mounts (not a wear item), bled the brakes yourself as its painfully simple to do, and although the BMW wheels are unusually skinny, I'd still think any shop could do that for you.

If driving 20K miles a year though, it might be wise to skip EV entirely and just go with a hybrid like a Ioniq, since you mention it from a pure economic standpoint. A lot of people say "I saved $X in fuel over Y miles!" and forget that electric miles also have a cost associated with them. Rule of thumb at least in Texas seems to be that an "electric gallon" of fuel is about half the cost of regular gas. So over the lifetime of 70K miles, an ionic at 55mpg would be around $3200 in fuel cost in Texas, but even though our electricity is also very cheap, it still has a cost so the savings are around $1600. Ioniq doesn't have performance tires on it, so the traction is miserable but they do tend to wear out from UV damage to the sidewall with hairline cracks and just worse performance with age than actually wearing out for most people so you'd likely get 60K miles out of them, so you'd have the cost of two sets of tires probably $600 or so.

[Dynamic76]

Ok so the bolt on my 2014 I3 came out of my rear motor Mount do I have to replace the mount or just the bolt

[Dynamic76]

Has anyone had the bolts of the motor mounts come out because I believe that’s what’s happened to mine does that mean the Mount is broken and needs to be replaced?

[alohart]

Ok so the bolt on my 2014 I3 came out of my rear motor Mount do I have to replace the mount or just the bolt

Have you verified that a bolt is missing? A bolt securing the motor mount bracket, not the motor mount itself, was subject to sheering on early i3's with polymer motor mount brackets. When a bolt sheers, the bolt head and part of the shaft could fall out which would look like the bolt was missing.

[Dynamic76]

Yes i heard when it fell out and picked it up. 1/3 of it was broken off

[Dynamic76]

Unfortunately I can’t can’t afford to pay $2700 to have the dealership replace it I don’t know if the mount itself is broken or just the bolt, I’m hoping to find out tomorrow a friend of mine is gonna see if he and his buddy can take it down and do it for me

[agzand]

See if there is an open recall on your car. You can check this using your VIN. If not I would still check with a nice dealer. This is a well known defect with early i3s and BMW could fix it out of warranty.

[Dynamic76]

Hi yeah I did check no recall but I have good news my friend was able to do it lift the engine remove the brace that the mount is on and I was able to get the other half of the bolt out and nothing else was broken and the mount is back in place so now i have my car back I didn’t need to pay $2500 it’s so sad how they make it seem like it’s impossible to do and my only choice is to pay so much

[johnmotor]

Hello. I bought a used BMW i3 0.6 with an engine defect. I am looking for an engine for this model, but this is my first BMW car and naturally there are many questions. When it comes to used engines, what do I need to look for before buying one and what is the price of such an engine? Also, will the same engine produced since 2013 really be suitable for 2018 and vice versa, as it says here https://orbimotors.com/used-car-engines ... e-w20k06a/