Ive looked into this previously and have been told that the lights only come with the leather interior. I have the same as you and have been unable to activate them - i think there's a post on here somewhere from someone who discussed BMW building the items in as standard but deactivating them on "lower" models as its cheaper to do it that way ?!?
It's possible that on the models that dont' get that feature, they may use the same handle but eliminate the bulb and the wiring. I do not know for sure.
For what it is worth, our i3 has the Mega interior(base) and the door handle lights on the outside of the doors come on when I unlock or lock the doors with the remote.