Nail Biting Right About Now

[arlorose]

My i3 gets handed over to me this evening (or tomorrow ), and I'm freaking out a little about owning this as my primary car.

I don't commute far, we have a '13 328i we can use for long trips, but moving from a fully loaded '11 550i to this is going to be nail-biting. From a distance perspective, from a luxury perspective, a cargo space perspective, and a being able to punch it while already doing 90mph to get around someone on the freeway perspective.

My car history has been - '91 Acura Integra GS, '92 BMW 325is, '93 BMW M3, '99 BMW M3, '05 MB E500, '08 BMW 650i, '11 BMW 550i. I love driving, but I hate dependency on gas, the wastefulness of it, and I want to be environmentally clean. I've wanted to go electric for a long time, and as a huge BMW fan, I thought this would be the car to make the move with. I hope I don't regret it!

Anyone else here make a similar move?

 

[stumbledotcom]

I suspect it will come down to where and how you drive. The i3 is superb in urban environments. I live and work in San Francisco so 90% of my miles are surface streets at 45mph or less. Going from stoplight to stoplight, few cars can keep up.

At speed on the freeway though, the i3 is clearly out of its element. It will keep up with traffic flow, particularly in comfort, but it doesn't feel better as it goes faster in that typical, bred-on-the-autobahn BMW manner. I've found the best strategy is to stay out of the left lane, set the cruise control at 5 to 10 mph over the speed limit and let the computer flow it along with traffic.

One month in, I'm still excited every morning as I pull the i3 out of the parking space. But I'm happy I've still got my E90 for those occasional high-speed, long distance trips.

 

[pdurham]

I agree with the preceding comment. You might be expecting too much from the i3. I suspect that the i3 can be an only car for a minority of people We don't have a similar BMW ownership history (have only owned one before our current i3 REx, a 1992 535), but we decided to keep our VW Golf TDI for a while so that we could gain experience with the i3 first. I see the i3 as extremely practical and very well executed with many thoughtful and luxury touches, primarily urban-oriented, with a fun spark. I'm not sure that's consistent with your BMW ownership history.

 

[jadnashuanh]

You've probably figured this out by now, but the acceleration rate starts to noticeably fall off at maybe around 75mph. Keep in mind, at 90mph, the thing is only governed to go 93-mph max...you're not going to sprint out and pass anyone if you're going 90, and if you're going that fast in GB, you shouldn't be!?

 

[arlorose]

I've had it for a few days now and the only real concern is stability and safety at fast speeds. These are obviously not Z rated tires.

It's insanely zippy, and if I keep it in Comfort and just make sure I land at a Level 2 charger somewhere halfway through the day, I'm fine.

Love this car so far!

And yea, I'm in California, not the UK, but I still shouldn't have been flooring it at 90mph. I actually had the speed chime on at 92 the week before the i3 arrived, and it went off non-stop on the freeway. The i3 feels unstable enough past 80 that common sense won't let me do it.