An i3 Grows in Brooklyn

[brooklynI3]

Hey All! My family and I are now the proud owner of a brand new BMW i3 REx. I found this forum and the various blogs invaluable to deciding on our purchase and am happy to finally be apart of this enhusiastic and and thoughtful community.

While I dont have the time or diligance to curate a blog, i am very interested in sharing our experiences with this car with fellow i3 owners and hopefully provide practical insight for the BMW i program and electric vehicles as a whole. It is an experiment of sorts, but we are attempting to take the i3 at its word as a Mega City Vehicle. We live here in Brooklyn and do not have a garage or parking space as many other EV owners do around here. It is our only vehicle replacing our aging '93 Camry, so she will have to perform 100% of the time for us. It will be parked on the street and has already gotten plenty of looks and photos taken of her. But more importantly we will be at the mercy of New York's nascent vehicle charging infrastructure. Hence the REx designation.

We are cheating a bit, as the recently built Whole Foods nearby has free wind powered EV charging stations and will be our primary source of energy whenever we go grocery shopping. I fully expect our grocery bill to offset any savings we have on fuel.

I'm hoping to update this thread with our experiences and reactions over time and see if it lives up to its name!

 

[mindmachine]

Good luck on your purchase.

 

[bdman]

I'll be seeing you there soon probably, I pick up my i3 REx on the 1st. I live in an apartment and have no other means to charge other than the same Whole Foods (I'm in Columbia Waterfront -- I guess that's what they're calling it now).

If you don't mind my asking did you get a ridiculous quote for your insurance? Mine is almost $50 more than my GT and $80 more than I ever paid for 2 M3 convertibles (E46, E93). I'm going to call the Liberty Mutual backed BMW performance insurance and see if I can get a cheaper quote.

I'm sure we'll see each other at that Whole Foods charging it will be my first time going here since I prefer to support Fairway but they don't offer free charging.

 

[brooklynI3]

That's awesome, you're going to love it! There will be no shortage of people walking circles around your car while it's charging in that lot. And the fact that those stations are wind turbines is an added bonus to say that your i3 is powered by the wind.

One of the guys that stopped to chat with me about the car, later revealed that his wife worked on the marketing campaign for the i3. I didnt get into details, but I'll find out more next time I run into him or his wife.

Regarding insurance, we're paying $1912.68 a year through Geico for 3 drivers. I dont know how that fares on the scale of New York insurance rates, because our previous car was down to the bare minimum of coverage, so it didn't seem crazy to pay double a month for a brand new car.

I read this after I already signed up for my policy, but Tom mentioned on his blog to ask for a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle discount:
http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/bmw-i3-delivery-tips.html

Would love to hear what Liberty Mutual has to offer. Their representative called me literally as I was driving off the lot with the REx and I havent had a chance to call him back since.

Looking forward to seeing you around, definitely don't hesitate to stop me if you see another i3 rolling about the neighborhood!

 

[brooklynI3]

Some initial reactions on the first month of ownership in regards to living in the city:

Manueverability. Really fantastic. Its nimble and easy to drive through the slalom of double parked cars and construction that is the New York grid. U-turns never become cumbersome K-Turns or 5-point turns on our narrow double parked streets. Stopped at a light, it is a joy to take any other car off the line to get to the side of the street I need to be on, all the while feeling smooth and never drag-racey.

Parking. Parallel parking is a simple and spaces that i would have otherwise passed on fit the i3 perfectly. The parking assist package is nice but we opted out after the extended test drive. If you cant parallel park, you shouldnt have a car in new york and no camera or sensor will fix that. The sensors are a bit conservative, blaring when we had plenty of room to spare, so we turned the volume way down. I've found the sweet spot to be about 1/4 of the way into the red, which leaves plenty of room to walk between you and the car behind you.

Urban Accessability. Sliding across the seats to exit curbside works great in both the front and the rear and I do this now on almost a daily basis. It will definitely be hard to switch back to a conventional car after having this luxury. Even with a carseat installed in the rear, the cabin is open enough that you can almost "walk" across the length of the car to exit where you'd like once the seats are pushed forward. That said, the reversed rear doors would be more practical as standard forward facing one because we often have to squeeze out next to parking meters, other cars or buildings and you end up trapped between the front and rear door.

Milage. So far we've only put two hundred or so miles on her, and have not had to put a drop of gas in her, though we came close on a round trip to New Jersey. For general usage during the week, I find we can get away with only charging once or twice for our basic errands. Something this car made me keenly aware of is that while we may spend hours in our cars in New York, the distance that we drive are relatively short and since the charge is (controversially) measured in miles, that meter does not go down very quickly. So while we may not be saving huge on fuel costs and driving distance, we are definitely cutting back on the immense waste that is created by all of the idleing cars in the city.

 

[gregb31]

Many factors determine insurance premiums but my rex i3 cost is $93 per month with State Farm Insurance.

 

[Ed B]

Welcome to the future, I want to go to that Whole Foods! With 2 i3s there I may have a bigger reason to go! I will keep an eye on your Brooklyn posts, I am on Long Island and have been in my i3 since May.

 

[bdman]

brooklynI3 I know I'm going to love it!!! I've been leasing BMWs since 1999 and every car with the exception of my current car (although I test drove the 535 not the 550) I picked up the vehicle without a test drive.

I grew up in Brooklyn and one of my best friend's fathers had a body shop in Red Hook and he only drove BMWs (320s) my dad had a 1983 633csi Silver/Blue (like Bruce Willis' car in Moonlighting) I borrowed throughout high school and college. We grew a deep connection with BMWs early on and as soon as I could afford to I began leasing and switching up the body type every lease term (I will never get an SUV/SAV whatever you want to call it though).

From a 2000 328ci manual to a 2003 E46 M3 SMG cab w/hardtop followed by a 4-door 2006 330xi manual then a 2008 E93 M3 manual (got a great deal on a leftover over the 2009 M3 4-door I had ordered) and now a 2012 550xDrive GT M-Sport package. I'm used to people walking up to the car and smiling or giving thumbs up.

The baby stroller scene that my neighborhood has turned into loved watching the transformer like E93 M3 (grey w/imola red seats) open and close with toddlers often staring mesmerized and clapping. I've had grandmothers come up to me in the West Village while driving my GT and ask me what kind of car I'm driving because they've never seen anything like it and love it; or this summer on the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard for a wedding I had the entire family of a Benz ML class staring and pointing at my GT until I finished my sandwich and gave them an impromptu tour.

I actually got the GT to attract less attention and instead I attracted a very distinctive group of admirers. I fully expect the same of the i3. Some see it as ugly and ungainly, I think of it like a person, it's what's on the inside and under the hood that counts most. It took me a while to grasp that as I moved from car to car but the GT has been my favorite (and first automatic) car.

Too often people complain that the car doesn't do what they want it to do or drive the way they want it to in a specific situation, the mistake those people are making, in my opinion, is that they need to understand how the car needs to be driven and not constantly pit their expectations against the reality of their vehicle's capabilities.

As far as insurance goes Geico quoted me $2427/year! I was paying $2362.60 for my 550GT which they raised in the last year of the lease $20/month because they claimed they reassessed repair costs, told me I was lucky they didn't try to retroactively raise my rate!

I have a perfect driving record for my entire 24 years of driving, very close to perfect credit score and have been a no claims filed customer of Geico's for 16 years now. None of my other vehicles to date have been as expensive to insure as the GT and now the i3 and both of my M3s MSRP were over $90k.

I've been procrastinating getting other quotes because I hate change and if you treat me right I will remain a customer, case in point I've had the same Sales Advisor since 1999 and he moved to his 3rd dealership before my current lease.

gregb31 what state are you in if you don't mind my asking, living in the NY/NJ area you get used to high insurance premiums but the quote they gave me at Geico, and for a $1500 deductible (which incidentally you can't do for BMW leases must be $1k deductible max), is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[mjk]

I live in California—Silicon Valley.

I bought my i3 ReX last week. I'm insured with the California arm of AAA. I replaced a 2012 Prius Plug-In with the i3 ReX, and my total insurance cost went DOWN $3 a year.

 

[stumbledotcom]

I've been procrastinating getting other quotes because I hate change and if you treat me right I will remain a customer…

Definitely understand the mindset. I stayed with Nationwide for years. As soon as I started getting quotes, I regretted my inertia. I won't bother quoting dollar amounts since California and NY rates won't be comparable but moving to the BMW-sponsored program through Liberty Mutual cut our premiums by about 50%. And you could argue the coverage is better because the BMW plan specifies BMW OEM replacement parts.

 

[bdman]

Just an update, I called Liberty Mutual today and got a quote that is basically the same as Geico a little cheaper but not much, I also have to have a device in my car for the first 90 days that logs my driving style and can provide me with up to 25% savings (said 18% is mostly what people get). I don't understand how I can get quoted $500 more a year than other people in Brooklyn with the same car. Very frustrating...

 

[brooklynI3]

That's definitely a steep premium, especially for a car that has so many active and passive safety features built in. Not to mention the fact that no one would steal a car that is so easily identifiable and can only go 80 miles from the scene of the crime.

A co-worker mentioned that his insurance is $180 a month/$2160 a year on a 1986 volvo wagon out in Bed-Stuy, but that he paid nearly half that when he was living in Greenpoint. It makes sense, but I didnt think that their data was so localized and then Gowanus vs Columbia Waterfront is less than a mile's difference. Not that location is the only factor between our two rates.

Now I'm just curious as to what Liberty Mutual will quote me. I'm not particularly interested in having their device in my car for three months, but I'd like to hear what they have to say... for science.

 

[bdman]

Just picked my i3 today! Drove back to Brooklyn from Westchester and had to use REx for the last third. The dealership didn't even deliver the car fully charged! It had 41 mile range when I left and 50 predicted for the REx range. My initial thoughts on driving the i3 for the first time is whoa! This car is fun. The sales manager at my BMW dealer came into the finance guy's office while I was signing the deal and told me he just got one too. Even after I parked my car at Whole Foods and left it charging I walked home with a smile on my face

 

[brooklynI3]

Glad you're digging the car! I have the same feeling still every time I get in. Even now that I'm over the thrill of zipping between cars off of each traffic stop and mostly keep her in EcoPro+, I still find it a light and enjoyable ride. Something about the immediacy of it turning on and going makes it feel more akin to my phone or computer which I use all the time compared to our old car which always just seemed like such a chore.

We also just took our first long trip in our i3 to Philadelphia and back. We made it there with about 10 miles to spare on our REx and was the first time the engine has kicked in thus far. Only got a 10 mile trickle charge while we were eating Thanksgiving dinner and were on REx pretty much the whole ride back. That said, we made it with only one 2 minute fuel stop on the Turnpike and a total of 3.5 gallons of gas for the whole trip. The REx seemed a bit less punchy, but I was also consciously conserving gas at that point and overall it was a very smooth transition. I was surprised to see how often it turned itself off completely whenever stopped for more than a few seconds. Either way, definitely glad to have it, but it feels good to be back driving on electrons.

I would say that 85% of our car usage is in and around the city. 10% is for slightly longer trips such as this, mostly around the holidays. And the remaining 5% if we decide to take longer trips. Combined with the loaner program which I'm eager to try, we could not have a more perfect car for our family's car usage.

 

[JoeKirdahy]

Hi Brooklyn,
Staten Island here. As soon as my son gets his license we are considering an i3. he will drive the Subaru.
I will be driving in Brooklyn and Manhattan when I'm not on my bicycle.
Where did you purchase your i3? Been to a few dealers in NJ and when you start checking out the i3 they avoid you like the plague.
BMW of Manhattan has the most in their inventory and you would think that a dealer owned by BMW would be the best but it wasn't in my case with our Mini. If I see you in Brooklyn I will say Hi.

 

[brooklynI3]

Hey there! I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the car, but would definitely take it out for one of the extend test drives to get a feel for if it will work for you. We got ours through BMW of Manhattan on 57th st. working with Chris Gonzalez and Greg Pol over there. I've read some negative reviews about that dealership, but I a great experience working with them. I think it helped to have contacted Chris first who helped to setup any appointments with the extended test drive and other meetings with them, so i'd definitely recommend going that route.

I'm surprised they so shy of the i3 in New Jersey, especially with Tom Moloughney in the area! We checked out the i3 first up in Albany and then again in Manhattan and they were both super eager to get us in the car to try it out. No hard sell, just get in and take it for a spin and it will sell itself. Everyone at the dealerships we talked to said they were going to or had already gotten one for themselves, though I suppose they are paid to say that. But it also makes sense since they have a dc charger at their office and space to park it. Chris was also great about following up after our test drive to answer any questions. I knew a lot about the car going in (after our first test drive) but they seemed to be very cognizant that it is a very unique car and to make sure that I was aware of its pros and cons.

Would love to hear what you think! Both of the i3 and the dealership if you decide to make it there. If you would like Chris' contact, you can probably find it on their site, but otherwise just PM me.

 

[i3MK]

Hey guys, I feel like I'm intruding in this thread, but here in the UK, I'm happy to report my i3 gets daily thumbs up, especially from younger folk. Kids in particular really seem to love the unusual and striking looks. Older guys = a so-so reaction from what I've seen here, but it appears to be definitely "down with the kids"!

That's pretty encouraging for the future of EV's I'd say..
Could turn out to be a future classic ... Or am I off the mark?

A hearts and minds game though for sure.

As a side note I'm planning a trip to Paris via the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France when the weather gets better. Every now and again we need to push those limits!