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Seriously starting to dislike the i3-please skip if disagree
- Thread starter epirali
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PluviaPlumbum
Well-known member
Can I stop skipping now? I'm getting tired 
Love my i3, only negatives for me is winter range, side wind sensitivity and public charging rapid reliability in UK.
All other points too minor to be a problem.
The EV grin and after several test drives I kept coming to conclusion I wanted i3 over others.
No regrets and I would now only get another next time.
All other points too minor to be a problem.
The EV grin and after several test drives I kept coming to conclusion I wanted i3 over others.
No regrets and I would now only get another next time.
cab
Well-known member
We did a three day test drive in the i3 and agree with the OP's assessment of the ride quality. We've owned an E39 M5, 530i, and still own an E36 M3. BMW, quite simply, got the suspension tuning wrong. This isn't the first time either. The E90 3 series was introduced with runflats and it was painfully apparent BMW struggled to get thei magic ride/handling balance back as they dealt with the harsh riding tires. Indeed many owners routinely switched to non runflats to try and smooth things out (back to E46 levels).
While there isn't anything that can be done about the short wheelbase, the good news is that this felt less like a tire or spring issue and more like a shock dampening problem. HOPEFULLY, BMW will tweak the shock tuning in the next year or so, or the aftermarket will assist - perhaps Koni will release their FSD series shocks/struts. With our own Volvo XC60 R-Design I climbed underneath it at the 90 day mark and swapped the rear shock and spring for the softer base suspension...Volvo just got it wrong.
BMW will be releasing an improved suspension for the F30 this next year as an example.
Anyway, the "all BMWs ride like this" is patently untrue, and BMW (and other manufacturers) routinely make suspension updates. The i3 is actually one of the only BMWs released without seperate sport and non-sport suspensions....they may have tried to split the difference and simply missed the mark on both ends.
While there isn't anything that can be done about the short wheelbase, the good news is that this felt less like a tire or spring issue and more like a shock dampening problem. HOPEFULLY, BMW will tweak the shock tuning in the next year or so, or the aftermarket will assist - perhaps Koni will release their FSD series shocks/struts. With our own Volvo XC60 R-Design I climbed underneath it at the 90 day mark and swapped the rear shock and spring for the softer base suspension...Volvo just got it wrong.
BMW will be releasing an improved suspension for the F30 this next year as an example.
Anyway, the "all BMWs ride like this" is patently untrue, and BMW (and other manufacturers) routinely make suspension updates. The i3 is actually one of the only BMWs released without seperate sport and non-sport suspensions....they may have tried to split the difference and simply missed the mark on both ends.
jadnashuanh
Well-known member
FWIW, the car with the best suspension I've ever owned, at least to absorbing bumps, was a 1971 Citroen ID19...you could drive that thing over a rutted dirt road and it would stay level and other than the noise, you could not tell it was on anything other than a smooth highway. Course, the pitch and yaw were something to behold! It begged for smoothness, and if you had it, it was great.
Personally, I don't have major issues with the i3's suspension. You certainly can't blame it on RFT, as it doesn't have them.
From some recent tests at TireRack.com, they had trouble differentiating the RFT equivalent of some of the 'normal' tire's from the same manufacturer. THey are getting better. On my ICE with RFT, I've gotten used to it, and no longer really notice.
I feel sorry for people that do not do their research before spending big bucks on something like an i3, but do not feel their justification to beat on it over and over...it is what it is...point out what you don't like, but you bought it - you should have known.
Personally, I don't have major issues with the i3's suspension. You certainly can't blame it on RFT, as it doesn't have them.
From some recent tests at TireRack.com, they had trouble differentiating the RFT equivalent of some of the 'normal' tire's from the same manufacturer. THey are getting better. On my ICE with RFT, I've gotten used to it, and no longer really notice.
I feel sorry for people that do not do their research before spending big bucks on something like an i3, but do not feel their justification to beat on it over and over...it is what it is...point out what you don't like, but you bought it - you should have known.
cab said:
All non sport BMW's have a firm but not harsh ride. Yes, every car (and every BMW) rides slightly different due to the weight, wheelbase, track, F/R weight balance, spring rates, shock rates. geometry etc. I have been in plenty of BMW's and they all send me a seat of the pants message: you're in a BMW, the ride is firm but not harsh.
Guess what, if BMW retunes the i3 suspension, I bet you it will still be firm but not harsh.
Was your test car on 20's?
We do research, don't feel sorry us. Some of us are capable of honest assessment and admit flaws and don't feel we need to cover up issues.
In my case it's not the road feel that I don't like, road feel is great in a car. It is the lateral sway and the one hop bounce of the i3 that makes it unpleasant. I have only experienced this before in American rental cars. But to be fair the i3 dampens the hop/roll quickly.
Mine are stock wheels. Over inflating them helped a little bit. But suspension needs to be re-thought.
In my case it's not the road feel that I don't like, road feel is great in a car. It is the lateral sway and the one hop bounce of the i3 that makes it unpleasant. I have only experienced this before in American rental cars. But to be fair the i3 dampens the hop/roll quickly.
Mine are stock wheels. Over inflating them helped a little bit. But suspension needs to be re-thought.
cab
Well-known member
I33t said:
With the i3, the issue seems to be all the general tossing about. I think both the rebound and compression settings for the shocks are simply off. Our test car had the 20s, but larger rims are typically paired with lower profile tires. I've found this generally affects impact harshness more than anything. Indeed in an earlier test drive event we tested cars with 19 and 20 inch rims back to back on crappy roads...impact harshness was the most noticeable difference, but "bounciness" was about the same.
On the aforementioned Volvo, I am now seeing a few folks switching to Koni's FSD shocks over the factory sport shocks with good results. I had surprisingly good results switching to Koni sports on our 2005 GTO...the handling improvement was negligible, but the ride control improvement was very noticeable. It's not rocket science.
With our own Volt, I find it to be a tad underdamped on compression as a comparison.
General tossing about is a well known suspension measurement.
I suspect we are dealing with a light short wheelbase car that may be walking the line between carry capacity and less general tossing about.
20" wheels will give more impact harshness, but the narrower sidewall also requires the tyre to have less give than the 19's (they're the same overall diameter) so the 19's will likely increase general tossing about.
I have the 19's and I don't find a problem with general tossing about, in fact I find it a delight to toss about.
Putting performance shocks on will likely reduce general tossing about, but probably at the expense of comfort, especially the fore/aft pitching with the short wheelbase. If anyone makes this mod I'll be interested to hear the results.
I suspect we are dealing with a light short wheelbase car that may be walking the line between carry capacity and less general tossing about.
20" wheels will give more impact harshness, but the narrower sidewall also requires the tyre to have less give than the 19's (they're the same overall diameter) so the 19's will likely increase general tossing about.
I have the 19's and I don't find a problem with general tossing about, in fact I find it a delight to toss about.
Putting performance shocks on will likely reduce general tossing about, but probably at the expense of comfort, especially the fore/aft pitching with the short wheelbase. If anyone makes this mod I'll be interested to hear the results.
So quick update. Finally coded the car to "fix" some of the issues and obviously doing this helps with some of the irritations.
1) Trunk now unlocks with the doors when you stop (it didn't before), so if you have this selected you just stop the car and can open your trunk without remembering to unlock. So much more intuitive.
2) Changed the useless "frunk" to unlock/open trunk when car is locked. Wow is it useful. You only realize it when you don't have it.
These were issues that in my opinion there was no excuse or "regulatory" reason for that were just bad. The "regulatory" fixes which are great are obviously the Hold State of Charge and full Rex capacity. The other nice part is that there is a percentage display for battery in the Hold SOC page, which is great for monitoring the battery charge before the roll out of the firmware update.
I still see less than ideal rain sensor behavior (been through a few light and heavy rains where I just go manual). And I am hoping they change the adaptive cruise control behavior to coast not kick in full regen when the system gets confused and decides to just turn off. This wasn't on my original list but is a doozy, specially when it suddenly decides to do this at 60 MPH in commute traffic.
Over inflating the tire and cycling the battery a few times have both helped increase the actual BEV range to much closer to what I would have expected (more in line with the Leaf). So interestingly it seems the battery does manage more range when it is cycled occasionally (which I had seen with the Leaf too, both in range and in measurement, but with i3 I have no measured capacity readout). 5 psi over have taken my efficiency from 4.0 (in line with the Leaf) to more like 4.3-4.4 which does show the car overall to be more efficient on the same routes I use. And I can manage almost 80 miles on warm days with pre-conditioning before Rex kicks in.
Anyone know if there is any way to enable "normal" cruise control with adaptive feature when the adaptive can't work?
1) Trunk now unlocks with the doors when you stop (it didn't before), so if you have this selected you just stop the car and can open your trunk without remembering to unlock. So much more intuitive.
2) Changed the useless "frunk" to unlock/open trunk when car is locked. Wow is it useful. You only realize it when you don't have it.
These were issues that in my opinion there was no excuse or "regulatory" reason for that were just bad. The "regulatory" fixes which are great are obviously the Hold State of Charge and full Rex capacity. The other nice part is that there is a percentage display for battery in the Hold SOC page, which is great for monitoring the battery charge before the roll out of the firmware update.
I still see less than ideal rain sensor behavior (been through a few light and heavy rains where I just go manual). And I am hoping they change the adaptive cruise control behavior to coast not kick in full regen when the system gets confused and decides to just turn off. This wasn't on my original list but is a doozy, specially when it suddenly decides to do this at 60 MPH in commute traffic.
Over inflating the tire and cycling the battery a few times have both helped increase the actual BEV range to much closer to what I would have expected (more in line with the Leaf). So interestingly it seems the battery does manage more range when it is cycled occasionally (which I had seen with the Leaf too, both in range and in measurement, but with i3 I have no measured capacity readout). 5 psi over have taken my efficiency from 4.0 (in line with the Leaf) to more like 4.3-4.4 which does show the car overall to be more efficient on the same routes I use. And I can manage almost 80 miles on warm days with pre-conditioning before Rex kicks in.
Anyone know if there is any way to enable "normal" cruise control with adaptive feature when the adaptive can't work?
i3atl
Well-known member
epirali said:
Hold down either of the buttons that adjust the following distance - this will cancel ACC and revert to "standard" cruise.
