Anyone else having a lot of issues?

[lownoterider]

Hi, I'm new here. I usually read, and don't post, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else was as frustrated as I am. I've had my REX for 7 months, 8000 miles. Issues so far-

1- Wouldn't charge at full rate, wouldn't allow the app to control the car, was getting very short range in good weather. 2 trips to the dealer. New main computer eventually solved the issue. This was when it was brand new.
2- Creaking, rattling right rear suspension. When turning left it creaks, rattles and groans like it's got a bad bushing. Started a couple of months ago. Dealer can't find the issue. Concerned it may be structural.
3- Check Engine Light. Apparently this will be remedied with a software update coming in November. Dealer recommends I tape over it until then. Awesome. This started 2 weeks ago.
4- AirBag Malfunction Alarm. "Leave your safety belts on and proceed to the nearest dealer". Diagnosis is that it's a signal from an explosive charge that cinches the seatbelt in an accident. Dealer says it's "fine to drive". Um, no. I am not driving a tiny plastic car with a potentially malfunctioning safety restraint. Been at the dealer for a few days, they've decided it's either a bad wiring harness, or a loose wire. They'll do some more tests in a couple of days and let me know.
5- Tire availability. I hit a screw in the road, and the tire went flat so quickly by the time I got pulled over, the rim was damaged. Dealer had to move heaven and earth to get a tire in 5 days. Between the new tire and the rim repair, I was out $420. Mechanic says flats are very common on these tires, and they often come with rim damage because of how totally flat the tires go when punctured.

So, like 20 days in the shop so far. I am asking BMW NA to take the car back.

Dealer says I am the only one with this list of issues that they have. Lucky, lucky me. Am I alone?

 

[barrychan]

Sorry to hear about all those issues, i just got mine 3 weeks ago but so far so good!

 

[lownoterider]

So.... The Airbag light was dye to a "Corroded Connector" which they cleaned up. I have a few questions about that, like how does that happen on a modern car? But, theoretically, that's the issue.

The other one is more interesting. I though the creak and rattle in the rear of the car was from the right rear suspension. Well, guess what else is in the right rear of the car? The motor! It's a broken motor mount. So they need a couple days to get a part.

But at least that only leaves me with a check engine light. Until the next thing happens. On the upside, another week in the spa, and I'll meet the qualifications for Wisconsin's lemon law. At that point, they're getting this thing back. Too bad. Great idea, poorly executed.

 

[peteinlongbeach]

Not poorly executed for the majority of us.
Sorry for your issues, but the airbag connector seems to be the only unusual one. The motor mount is a known issue, has been upgraded, and the CEL light could be connected to that.

 

[Blue20]

Here are my problems so far:
- couldn't connect to phone app. This may not be the car, but the app server. This problem disappeared.
- slow charge rate. This was fixed with the KLE upgrade.
- Window squeak intermittently when roll down. My dealer refuses to fix and said it is because of dirt. It is funny that somehow BMW is able to make the other side works just fine.

Tire availability....5 days...Your dealer did really good job. I ordered (and paid for) a set of snow tires back in Oct. After 9 weeks, it still didn't arrive. At the end, even my dealer felt it is ridiculous to wait that long. They took a set from somewhere else for me.

 

[lownoterider]

"Not poorly executed for the majority of us.
Sorry for your issues, but the airbag connector seems to be the only unusual one. The motor mount is a known issue, has been upgraded, and the CEL light could be connected to that."

I fail to see why I should feel better about the reliability of the car, or BMW's support of it based on that. There are plenty of people reporting Air Bag warnings. Broken Motor Mounts (That took 2 trips to the dealer to diagnose), bad computers, unavailable tires, airbag faults, charging issues, connectivity issues. Am I describing a new BMW or a Kia?

I view it this way- My dealer didn't know about these issues, or at least claimed not to, and took quite a while to diagnose them all. This is no typically the case with this dealer. Tells me they aren't getting the support they need from BMW.

With a premium brand like BMW, I don't expect the car to be in the garage 21 days in 6 months. In fact, I wouldn't expect that out of any brand. I've purchased over 20 cars new (I do a lot of miles), and had only one approach this level of reliability issues, and that was a first year Chrysler 300M. Eventually they took it back to avoid a Lemon Law situation. I don't think that's the quality benchmark BMW is looking for.

I'm glad some of you are having a trouble free experience. Me? I'm studying the Wisconsin Lemon Law. It's changed a little since that Chrysler.

 

[barrychan]

Monkeys do fall off trees, you may have a lemon, i would consider talking to the dealer to exchange.

 

[lownoterider]

Well, Hats off to BMW NA. My dealer talked to their rep today, and they agreed that there have been too many issues with the car, and they are going to just take it back, no strings attached.

Wow. We're not defined by how we react when times are good. My car is an anomaly, and they just flat out dealt with it. No BS, no arguing, they dealt with it.

When a company does that, you know you are buying from the right company. Makes you feel a lot better about buying cars from them. I'm picking up a 550i xDrive tomorrow.....This reaction to those issues is amazing. Customer for life.

 

[MikeS]

Glad you got a good result.

However, I would challenge your statement that 'There are plenty of people reporting Air Bag warnings. Broken Motor Mounts (That took 2 trips to the dealer to diagnose), bad computers, unavailable tires, airbag faults, charging issues, connectivity issues.” On forums you typically see more people reporting bad things than good things - its just a fact of life that people are more willing to spend time complaining then congratulating. I suspect that the issues mentioned are relatively few compared to the number of cars sold. We will know for sure once the reliability data is collected for long enough.

 

[lownoterider]

You can challenge it all you want, it doesn't change my situation one bit. My car sucked. BMW acknowledged it. They admit they see all of these issues, they just rarely see them ALL on one car, like mine. So challenge away, you didn't have to live with it. It's true, even if you're a fan of the car. Period. If it was just one issue, I would have understood. It wasn't.

And I never said the problem was widespread, I said plenty of people are reporting the issue. So don't read things into what I said. This happened to ME. Even if it's a .0001% problem, it's still a problem.

What EVERYONE here can feel good about, is that they stand behind their product when one of these shows up. They stepped up in a powerful way. They backed their product. They made sure they didn't have an unhappy customer.

I like the i3. I just didn't like mine, because it spent nearly a month in the garage, in 6 months of ownership.

I'm out. Good luck, I hope you all do better than I did.

 

[Sparky]

I totally understand, I'd have done the same. A $50k car shouldn't be in the garage that much.

 

[barrychan]

Price we pay for buying the first year of their EV, hopefully they will iron out the kinks like most makes did!

 

[Sparky]

Mine has been faultless. December purchase, 3000 miles.

 

[jadnashuanh]

No amount of prototype testing will catch everything. In general, other than preference differences in what people think the car should be/have/do, there really haven't been many actual generic design issues. The KLE was one, but that may have been some little thing that the supplier did that the prototypes did not exhibit. The engine mount issue appears to be having a wheel go airborne over a curb or other severe bump and while accelerating, and the instant torque on the electric motor, winding things up, then quickly slowing when it hits the ground again. Unless you experience that situation, you'd probably get many, many years driving without any issues with it. Germany, in general, takes much better care of their roads, and at least while there, they may never have experienced that issue. The KLE issue was with heat, and only under certain circumstances. Germany rarely gets as hot as say our desert southwest, although they do test in extreme conditions. ANy car's first year is more of a risk than subsequent ones. Most people are not experiencing issues, but then, everyone's not the same! While much of the i3 is put together with robots, people are still involved, in both the design, and assembly. You can't catch everything on all vehicles, especially since it may not show up for awhile and only under certain circumstances. One of the risks of buying a totally new car, and in the case of the i3, there's LOTS of new things, rather than being an evolution of stuff they've been doing for decades.

 

[justanotherdrunk]

3 months
3k miles
0 issues

 

[BMW1639]

I purchased my car on April 28. My Airbag light went on May 1 ( 4 days after I purchased it ). Its been in the shop for 10 days and they still haven't fixed the car. They just changed the Wiring Harness yesterday and are hoping that will solve the problem. They aren't going to return the car to me till they drive and test the car 2 charging cycles to make sure its fixed. I absolutely love the car and just want it fixed. But its no excuse for it to be in the shop longer than I have owned it.

 

[dorowe]

Re the rattle from rear RH. See post re broken bolt. Check your RH mounting bolt still present. Easy to see if you look just above rear wheel. There should be the head of a bolt not a hole in the chassis. Look on LH rear to see how it should look.