Someone else searching for an 2021 i3 S fully loaded with the all the options that were offered BMW as a part of “ their last year’ program.

[user 9975]

it (above) links to an i4

 

[alohart]

it (above) links to an i4

Confusingly, the photos are of an i4 but the description and everything else is about an i3. I found the photos and produced a build sheet on bimmer.work using its VIN. It's truly fully-loaded with top all-leather Tera World trim, 20" wheels, HK entertainment system, moonroof, Technology & Driving Assist package, wireless telephone charger, WiFi hotspot, and even the fairly useless Park Assistant package. Whoever ordered it must have specified every U.S. option. Unfortunately, it's one of the i3's boring grayscale colors, and it's way overpriced.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

I too wanted the most optioned out 2021 I could find. I searched every site for months and months and found that most sites repeat the same vehicle, but found my best results at CarFax.com. At least there you were able to check the CarFax record of ownership.

I wanted every option, including REX, and "S". It seemed to me that 2 options in the 2021 MY are hard to find together, and they are the sunroof with the HK audio. I found many certified lease returns with either the sunroof and standard audio, or HK audio and no sunroof, so I had to make a choice. They were all in the $30k range. So on CarFax, I always refined my search as either "newest", or "highest priced".

So then it came down to color. Any color other than black or white, like red, blue or gold in a 2021MY are rare. I never liked a white car, but it was the only certified, low mileage, car I could find, and the only thing missing was the HK radio. So I bought it. I just pulled the front door cards and replaced the cheap factory speakers with some Match UP X4 from Crutchfield, and it made a huge difference. They do have a plug-and-play Match amplifier for the i3, so I figured I could get close to HK sound, but I could never cut a hole in the roof for a sunroof.

You may find the right car, but the biggest part of the puzzle is getting it too you. My one owner 2021 was originally bought in Hawaii, and shipped to San Fransisco. You'll probably will end up having to use a shipping service like Driveway from Lithia.

A quick search found this rare one. Keep your eye on it:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/43638d31-9b6b-41c1-a129-e56ac6b3d1b1/

Thanks Dave I will see what its photos look like when they post them.
at this moment Cars.com has
409 i3 models in its listings and
0 blue mountain
Exterior color they do have listed break out as

	Red (18)
	Silver (29)
	• White (118)

Beige (4)
Black (81)
Blue (47)
Brown (1)
Gold (8)
Gray (81)
'Green (4)
Orange (7)
Yellow (4)

 

[TheAirman]

Confusingly, the photos are of an i4 but the description and everything else is about an i3. I found the photos and produced a build sheet on bimmer.work using its VIN. It's truly fully-loaded with top all-leather Tera World trim, 20" wheels, HK entertainment system, moonroof, Technology & Driving Assist package, wireless telephone charger, WiFi hotspot, and even the fairly useless Park Assistant package. Whoever ordered it must have specified every U.S. option. Unfortunately, it's one of the i3's boring grayscale colors, and it's way overpriced.

Yup, a completely loaded i3. If anyone is truly interested in this car, my advise is to call the dealership listed ASAP and put something down on it. It will be snatched up quick, I bet.

If it were a "S" with REX, I would consider getting it for myself.

 

[TheAirman]

Thanks Dave I will see what its photos look like when they post them.
at this moment Cars.com has
409 i3 models in its listings and
0 blue mountain
Exterior color they do have listed break out as

	Red (18)
	Silver (29)
	• White (118)

Beige (4)
Black (81)
Blue (47)
Brown (1)
Gold (8)
Gray (81)
'Green (4)
Orange (7)
Yellow (4)

I don't think you'll find that Blue Ridge Mountain color. Not in the US anyways.

Here's a fun site to read about the colors and options:
https://www.bmw.mu/en/all-models/bmw-i/i3/2021/bmw-i3-highlights.html

 

[Simoni3]

color easiest to change, wrap it

 

[robthebold]

color easiest to change, wrap it

Having ROFL'd at the shelf-paper scene in Johnny Dangerously, I could never "wrap" a car with a straight face. Landau top, maybe . . .

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Having ROFL'd at the shelf-paper scene in Johnny Dangerously, I could never "wrap" a car with a straight face. Landau top, maybe . . .

Yes, the baby room paper was very funny. Has anyone actually done a Modern 'wrap' on an i3? How about a total color change except for the black areas and the roof?

My search has yet to turn up anything that looks good to me within a thousand miles, so I guess I will need to factor in transport costs as well as trusted inspection costs into my cost calculation. Up to 500 or so miles, I could plan a one-way car rental and overnight hotel stay to get there myself, but that is about as far as I would want to go that way.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Yes, the baby room paper was very funny. Has anyone actually done a Modern 'wrap' on an i3? How about a total color change except for the black areas and the roof?

My search has yet to turn up anything that looks good to me within a thousand miles, so I guess I will need to factor in transport costs as well as trusted inspection costs into my cost calculation. Up to 500 or so miles, I could plan a one-way car rental and overnight hotel stay to get there myself, but that is about as far as I would want to go that way.

Can all the nonblack panels of a "white" or "all black" i3 be easily removed by someone who knows how? Can they be sprayed the color of your choice and reattached?
No matter the method, what is the ballpark number I could expect for a color change in the normal way of the non-Black areas from a decent body shop?

 

[Simoni3]

can remove the panels easily, but wrap rather than paint imo

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

That would open up a huge set of options. If you could assemble a full set of panels in another color (I expect the black and white sets would be the most often seen at the wrecking yards and then learn how to wrap them yourself

 

[Skye2002]

I broke my neck at C2 in July of 2016 and while I have made a good recovery in general I do have some mobility impairment and limited neck rotation is a part of that. I expect that the tech for aftermarket BSM devices will continue to improve and when I hear of a good unit I expect I will try it out.
MR

Sorry to hear of your injury, but I still stand by my assertion that correctly placed mirrors will negate the need for a BSM. I rarely turn my head when changing lanes.

 

[eNate]

The lack of a blind spot warning in the i3 is a worry, and I hope to find an after-market device to address that with the help of the folks here on the forum.

To keep it on topic, I posted a reply to this particular comment in a different thread: https://www.mybmwi3.com/threads/left-aspherical-mirror-part-differ-in-lh-rh-drive-markets.17285/

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Galvanic Gold Metallic and Imperial Blue Metallic are the only non-grayscale colors available on 2021 U.S. i3's. Our 2019 U.S. i3 is Imperial Blue Metallic which is so dark that it appears black in many light conditions. I've been looking for a 2021 i3 BEV for several months but would consider only Galvanic Gold Metallic because I prefer light non-grayscale paint colors.

Art, thanks for being so patient with this hard head. It looks like gold for me as well if I want to find an I3s 2021 that has some warranty left. I may search out the interior and options I want and either paint or wrap it in the color I want. If I let go of wanting a few months of an original warranty, that opens up the 2020s, which had a red option. BMW made some odd choices in what they offered for paint in the North American market, all the more so with the production setup and running an interesting variety of colors in the European market.

What do you think of BMW's certified program? If I end up buying an i3s from 2020 or 2019, it does feel like a bit of a security blanket to buy a certified used car from a BMW dealer.

If you see something on the East Coast that would have too high a shipping charge for you (or would you put such in a 20foot container in or get it on a RO-RO heading your way to the islands.) from what I have seen, shipping on an open carrier runs about $1.00 to $1.25 a mile from the quotes I got on an i3 from the Houston Texas area to my place in midcoast Mane. If I have to ship, I would not want to spend more than about $1,500 max.... and at up to about 500 miles, I would drive my MINI and trade it in as a part of the deal. I would have to think hard about longer than that if I get a BEV, given what I have heard and read about the non-Tesla charging infrastructure. I doubt My max trip length once home will exceed 130 miles, so I don't see the need for the REx.
And I am still a bit confused about what the whole Deka, Giga, and Mega, things are as they relate to trim ... Mega I guess means the full dark brown leather Deka is cloth and Pleather and giga is leather, and a wool blend cloth... but I am not sure about any of that

I am still

 

[mojo]

but I am not sure about any of that

For a simple explanation of what each (Mega, Giga and Tera) means, the i3 Wiki is actually quite good.

But in my experience it doesn't really help a huge amount to know the definitions of each of the interior package names, because (at least in the UK) secondhand sellers don't tend to use them in their adverts. But... generally you know what you're getting once you look at the interior photos.

 

[alohart]

For a simple explanation of what each (Mega, Giga and Tera) means, the i3 Wiki is actually quite good.

But in my experience it doesn't really help a huge amount to know the definitions of each of the interior package names, because (at least in the UK) secondhand sellers don't tend to use them in their adverts. But... generally you know what you're getting once you look at the interior photos.

In the U.S., BMW packaged groups of options with interior trim levels, so a U.K. Lodge interior would not be equivalent to a U.S. Giga World trim level because in addition to the Lodge interior, Giga World included an interior LED lighting package, a universal garage door opener, Comfort Access, Type 429 wheels in early i3's, and maybe other options, depending on the model year. So when I see a Giga World advertised in the U.S., I know that it will have a Lodge interior plus some other options that I prefer.

The Mega description in Wikipedia needs correcting, I think. It lists Atelier or Loft interiors as being included in Mega World. Mega World includes only the Loft interior; the Atelier interior is included in Deka World, the lowest trim level with the fewest included options. However, the table in Wikipedia is based on a BMW brochure for 2014 i3 models when no Deka World/Atelier trim level was available in the U.S. Also, the wheel types were disassociated with trim level not too long after 2014.

 

[alohart]

What do you think of BMW's certified program? If I end up buying an i3s from 2020 or 2019, it does feel like a bit of a security blanket to buy a certified used car from a BMW dealer.

A BMW certified used i3 costs more than one without certification. The general warranty is extended for 1 year and the tires would have been replaced if they were significantly worn. Having owned i3's for more than 9 years, I would prefer not to pay the extra cost for BMW certification because I have never had an unexpected warranty repair. However, there weren't very many 2021 i3's sold in the U.S., so you might have to pay for the certification to get the i3 equipped as you prefer.

If you see something on the East Coast that would have too high a shipping charge for you (or would you put such in a 20foot container in or get it on a RO-RO heading your way to the islands.) from what I have seen, shipping on an open carrier runs about $1.00 to $1.25 a mile from the quotes I got on an i3 from the Houston Texas area to my place in midcoast Mane.

I talked to a BMW dealer in Massachusetts a used 2021 i3 BEV. When I learned that it had to have some brake work done due to significant corrosion after less than 30k miles, I remembered why I had always avoided buying any car that had been driven on salted winter roads. Fortunately, salt wouldn't corrode an i3's body, and its aluminum frame would be less susceptible than steel, but there's some steel underneath that could corrode.

I also talked to a Houston BMW dealer about a used 2021 i3 BEV. I prefer the brighter Giga World/Lodge leather/wool trim level to the dark Tera World/Suite all-leather trim level, but I would have considered his Tera World i3 had the shipping cost not been so high, $2,090 to San Diego plus ~$1,900 to Honolulu. I discovered that since I last shipped an i3 to Honolulu from the West Coast in 2022 for $1,500, shippers have required the charge level of EV's to be <30% and have added an EV surcharge of ~$300 :-( Rumors that an EV battery fire sank the car carrier in the Atlantic Ocean must have spooked shippers.

And I am still a bit confused about what the whole Deka, Giga, and Mega, things are as they relate to trim ... Mega I guess means the full dark brown leather Deka is cloth and Pleather and giga is leather, and a wool blend cloth... but I am not sure about any of that

I believe that all 2021 trim levels include either Type 428 or 429 19" wheels with all-season tires. I haven't seen Type 427 19" "pizza slice" wheels on any recent U.S. i3, so these lightest, most aerodynamic of all i3 wheels might not have been available in the U.S., maybe starting in 2018. Rougher riding 20" wheels with faster-wearing summer tires are optional on all trim levels. All i3S trim levels include ½" wider 20" wheels with wider summer tires.

The trim levels from lowest to highest are Deka (Atelier), Mega (Loft), Giga (Lodge), and Tera (Suite). More Deka World i3's seem to have been sent to the U.S. than any other trim level, maybe to keep the M.S.R.P. as low as possible. I've never read a full description of these trim levels including what's bundled with each, so don't consider what I'll write to be totally correct.

Deka World includes a very dark cloth upholstery with a blue stripe along the edges of the front seat backs. Many of the LED interior lights that are included in higher trim levels aren't included in Deka World. I believe that the map lights are incandescent bulbs unlike LED's in higher trim levels. The dashboard trim isn't wood as in Giga and Tera World trim levels. The steering wheel is wrapped in dark leather or synthetic leather, not sure.

Mega World includes a gray synthetic leather upholstery with gray cloth inserts with some brown highlights. The dashboard trim isn't wood. The steering wheel is wrapped in dark leather or synthetic leather. I looked at a used 2021 Mega World i3 here in Honolulu. Its seats were stained, and the dealer hadn't been able to remove the stains.

Giga World, my favorite, has beige and light brown wool upholstery and light brown leather trim. Starting in 2018, Giga World upholstery is darker than previously. I considered swapping the Giga World interior between our 2014 and 2019 i3's because I much prefer the original lighter version. Giga World includes either light eucalyptus or dark oak dashboard trim. Eucalyptus looks better with pre-LCI Giga World interiors whereas dark oak looks better with the current darker Giga World interior. Giga World includes more LED lights than Mega or Deka World trim levels.

Tera World has brown all-leather upholstery with wood dashboard trim. Dark oak would look much better than eucalyptus which might not be an option. Tera World includes LED's that illuminate the front door pockets and that aren't included in lower trim levels.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Thanks Art and Mojo, if I read that right my minimum search will be for a 2020-21 Tera (world?) with the tech and drive assist option? What are the standard set of packages that are found with the tera world? What does the world after feature key word mean? I am considering that this may in fact be the last car I will be able to drive. As a retired professional pilot, I am realistic about my skills and I have an acquaintance who is retired driving instructor and I have him judge my driving after any major health or medication change and if he ever advises my to stop driving I would.

So given all that I do want a car that has Most of the options. My car lives in a basement heated garage and I have a spray bar rig that I use to spray off the underside when I return from a winter drive… one reason my 2004 Mini Cooper S looks and drives like almost new. The other reason is my meticulous adherence to things like regular brake fluid changes.

This winter my front brake discs were below minimum spec and replaced for example. It is a good old horse but its 6-speed manual is becoming a workout driving around town so I hope it will find a good home. I ordered all the options I wanted all the “sport’ options like suspension. The the nav system I learned from someone who played around with the way the electric buss worked was the same as the 2002 BMW 3 series and I was able to change the ‘bitching Betty’ new jersey accent to a a British accent which seemed to fit the car better. He also ran up a ciccut board that modified the way things like the anti-skid worked as well as enable the one touch window up function which was turned off in the USA cars.

One last (for now) quick question. And many thanks for explaining things for me. Tomorrow I will get back to swing if I can unearth the BMW i3 brochure for 2020 or 21 via the way back web site
Many listings say things like “Apple Car Play available” even when the pictures show the small central nav screen [it is even smaller than the screen in my mini]. Is the larger screen part of a particular package is it expensive to enable car play?

 

[alohart]

Thanks Art and Mojo, if I read that right my minimum search will be for a 2020-21 Tera (world?) with the tech and drive assist option?

I wouldn't buy an i3 without the Tech Package. It's a package of options that includes the Driving Assistant Plus option (Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning, Parking Assistant), wonderful adaptive LED headlights with cornering LED's, and high-beam headlights that can turn on and off automatically. It should include the wider center screen, but chip shortages might have resulted in some 2021 i3's with the Tech Package having the standard narrow screen.

Adaptive LED headlights have individually-controllable LED segments. This functionality isn't approved by the U.S.D.O.T., so BMW has disabled it, but the BimmerCode app can enable it. On dark roads, the high beams can remain on even when approaching a vehicle ahead or when a vehicle in the opposite lane is approaching. To avoid dazzling these drivers, individual LED segments are turned off automatically while leaving strong high-beam illumination on the shoulders and empty lanes.

What are the standard set of packages that are found with the tera world?

No packages are included with any trim level. Each trim level ("World") bundles various features that are optional in some markets. The higher the trim level, the more features are bundled. Early U.S. i3's included Comfort Access, universal garage door opener, a compass in the rear-view mirror, and probably other features in higher but not lower trim levels. I think that all of these features are now included in all trim levels but maybe Deka World.

What does the world after feature key word mean?

It's just a bundled set of features in addition to the interior itself.

So given all that I do want a car that has Most of the options.

Living in Maine, you should get an i3 BEV with the Heat Pump option (not available on REx models). The heat pump option was included in all U.S. BEV's during early model years, but for some reason, became an extra-cost option in later years. Heating the cabin with the heat pump is much more efficient than the electric resistance heater, so range is less affected when heating the cabin.

Many listings say things like “Apple Car Play available” even when the pictures show the small central nav screen [it is even smaller than the screen in my mini]. Is the larger screen part of a particular package is it expensive to enable car play?

Just say, "No", to any i3 with the narrower screen. Apple CarPlay was an extra-cost option at some point but might be included with all 2021 i3's with the wider screen (i.e., the Tech Package). Hopefully, someone else will clarify whether Apple CarPlay is available without the Tech Package.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Gosh Art if you ever find yourself in Maine (perhaps for leaf peeping but why anyone who has made it to your beautiful islands would want to ever leave is beyond me) I would be happy to give you a tour of the. Mid coast area and put you up of course.

Thank you so much for making all of this clear. By the way, the full glass moon roof on my Mini has never leaked, but I am careful To apply compressed air to the sunroof drain tubes when I wash and wax it.
Did you say that the moon roof option is seldom seen with the improved HK sound system? Thinking back, I doubt I would open mine on the mini perhaps half a dozen times a year. I have thought a bout ordering a 2025 BEV Mini and getting exactly what I want option and color wise on a three year lease but the nearest mini dealer to me is about 120 miles away they have never had a dealer anywhere in Maine.

Just say, "No", to any i3 with the narrower screen. Apple CarPlay was an extra-cost option at some point but might be included with all 2021 i3's with the wider screen (i.e., the Tech Package).

this listing is fresh today for a 2021 i3s that has just come off of lease. It has the tech package, yet it has this line in its detail listing: it is a deka world in fluid black, asking
PRICE $22,991 MILES 32,614 from: Bob Smith BMW , 24500 Calabasas Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 346-3144
WBY8P6C03M7H80913 so not of major interest to me)

Apple CarPlay Compatibility
no photos yet