help me not buy a dud

[MachineGunArms]

Hi all, i recently decided the public transportation in my city sucks more and more every day so I decided to get an electric car. I was intrigued by the bmw i3 especially with the range extender. I came across this listing which has most of my wants aside from the interior color. The main problem is that one of the pictures seems to depict the battery as hold a full charge and reading 70 miles of range. Im pretty new to this so many im wrong. Was hoping someone with a bit more knowledge could chime in. Is the battery dying? Here is the listing.
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d2263&zip=94131#listing=367678425/NONE/DEFAULT

 

[SSi3]

Well lots of factors there... it has quite a lot of miles on it, brand new it was rated for 97 miles on a full charge.

That range number is an estimate by the cars computer based on the recent history of driving style/temp/etc, and in the pics they have the car powered on with the AC going. so that would affect the range number while sitting there. It's also not in the ECO PRO mode, which would bump that range number up.

If the car was heavily used for roadtrips and regularly DC fast charged then that could have taken a toll on the battery too.

If you really wanted to be sure of the batteries health then you could pay the dealer to test it.

I would also add, that if you want an i3 with less chance of being a dud, avoid the range extender... it's just more complex and more maintenance.

 

[EvanstonI3]

What is the ambient temperature where this is located? My 2017 will get maybe 80 miles max when it is 20F outside.
If the car has been sitting awhile and not driven much, that affects the "Guess-O-Meter" range. If the car sat "ON" with the heater or A/C going for some extended period of time, that will decrease the "guessed" range available. It seems to be calculated on the last 18 miles of driving.

I have a 2017 BEV with the same battery. When I bought it from CarMax 3 years ago it had something like 12 miles left on the range. I was about 12 miles from home. After carefully driving it home, I had 18 miles of range left. I think that many of these on dealer lots will have an initial low range but that will change when you actually drive it.

 

[alohart]

In general, the 94 Ah battery pack in this 2017 i3 has been very resistant to degradation unlike many of the 60 Ah battery packs in 2014-2016 i3's. I wouldn't be too concerned about the battery pack in this i3.

As others have mentioned, the REx system can be troublesome. If you don't need to extra range that the REx provides, it's best not to buy that model. A REx adds ~300 lb (~10%) to the BEV model which decreases the electric range, the acceleration, etc., a bit. It also worsens the BEV's 2-year maintenance schedule to 1 year due to the oil and filter change requirement. It's nice to get rid of an internal combustion engine if you don't need the extra range.

 

[MachineGunArms]

Thank you all so much for the input! Sounds like I shouldnt really worry about that reading. Its about 3 hours away from me. Im in San Francisco and the car is in Fresno. I dont believe it gets too cold there but I could be wrong. Im really trying to find a model that Im in love with but need to be a bit thrifty as well so I know I will have to make some compromises. I will likely make a new thread for that but so far I would like a black or white exterior with a white interior, the upgraded nav and HK sound. I found one 30 min away that is a 2015 with silver exterior and cream interior, rex, with upgraded nav and HK sound for 13k. Going to test drive it this weekend.

I hear you mostly saying not the get a rex and that was something I was also not sure about but I like the idea of being able to throw a couple gallons of gas in just in case there is an emergency. Still not settled on that as apposed to all electric. Again thanks for the input, I have a lot to think about. Any extra input will always be welcome, im excited to dig thru this forum and learn as much as I can.

 

[EvanstonI3]

You will have less range with the 2015 vs the 2017 as the 2014-2016 have the 22kWh/60ah battery and the 2017-2018 have the 33kWh/94ah battery. I think the price was lower on the link you posted because it just looks so grubby inside and they didn't bother cleaning it at all.

 

[MachineGunArms]

Yeah I agree, the inside was a bit beat up. I would rather save a bit and detail it myself. So I guess that car is back in the running, will probably just drive out to take a look at it. One red flag, I couldnt find it on many car sales websites, only autotrader. But I did find it on carfax and it seems to checkout. Im also looking at cars in other states to have shipped so if anyone has experience with that let me know. I would rather get it as local as possible in case anything goes wrong.

I also noticed the white one has moon roofs which I would like but I read it adds weight and decreases mileage. Surely it has to be a negligible amount. I would really like a 2019 or higher but I think the 2017 is the sweet spot for now.

 

[SSi3]

Thank you all so much for the input! Sounds like I shouldnt really worry about that reading. Its about 3 hours away from me. Im in San Francisco and the car is in Fresno. I dont believe it gets too cold there but I could be wrong. Im really trying to find a model that Im in love with but need to be a bit thrifty as well so I know I will have to make some compromises. I will likely make a new thread for that but so far I would like a black or white exterior with a white interior, the upgraded nav and HK sound. I found one 30 min away that is a 2015 with silver exterior and cream interior, rex, with upgraded nav and HK sound for 13k. Going to test drive it this weekend.

I hear you mostly saying not the get a rex and that was something I was also not sure about but I like the idea of being able to throw a couple gallons of gas in just in case there is an emergency. Still not settled on that as apposed to all electric. Again thanks for the input, I have a lot to think about. Any extra input will always be welcome, im excited to dig thru this forum and learn as much as I can.

Welcome to the forum and the weird i3 world! Good luck!

 

[MachineGunArms]

Thank you all so much for the input! Sounds like I shouldnt really worry about that reading. Its about 3 hours away from me. Im in San Francisco and the car is in Fresno. I dont believe it gets too cold there but I could be wrong. Im really trying to find a model that Im in love with but need to be a bit thrifty as well so I know I will have to make some compromises. I will likely make a new thread for that but so far I would like a black or white exterior with a white interior, the upgraded nav and HK sound. I found one 30 min away that is a 2015 with silver exterior and cream interior, rex, with upgraded nav and HK sound for 13k. Going to test drive it this weekend.

I hear you mostly saying not the get a rex and that was something I was also not sure about but I like the idea of being able to throw a couple gallons of gas in just in case there is an emergency. Still not settled on that as apposed to all electric. Again thanks for the input, I have a lot to think about. Any extra input will always be welcome, im excited to dig thru this forum and learn as much as I can.

Welcome to the forum and the weird i3 world! Good luck!

Thank you! I just went to the main page and noticed it seems to be dead. Thats a bummer, are there other places to talk about the i3 as well? I will check reddit.

 

[alohart]

Thank you! I just went to the main page and noticed it seems to be dead. Thats a bummer, are there other places to talk about the i3 as well? I will check reddit.

There are several very active Facebook groups. Unfortunately, there's no organization into topics, so finding past discussions can be challenging. I hate to suggest Facebook, but I think it can be configured and used in a way that avoids most of its pitfalls.

 

[SSi3]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/