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.

[alohart]

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.

When I was a kid, my father had a convention in NYC. Our family decided to make this a vacation so drove to NYC from Texas. After the convention, we continued to Bar Harbor, MN, which I recall being a beautiful setting.

Did you say that the moon roof option is seldom seen with the improved HK sound system?

No, a couple of 2021 i3's I've considered have had both options. I don't want a moonroof and don't care about the HK sound system either way. I believe that a moonroof is more rare than the HK sound system, in general. However, the chip shortage meant that the HK sound system wasn't available during some manufacturing periods.

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

If one enters its VIN at bimmer.work or mdecoder.com, this i3S includes both a moonroof and the HK sound system. But Deka…

 

[Ollie]

I still have a problem with the way dealers list vehicles for sale and I don't understand why we tolerate it. If I was to call and ask what my "out-the-door" price is. It will be no where near a $22,991 price. We have but one dealer in our area that I know of that has what he calls a "No Bull" price.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Almost all the 2021s that I have looked at have the
“Apple CarPlay Compatibility”
Line in their description…
I have seen it said elsewhere that full CarPlay was standard in 2021 on all i3 cars, so I find it a bit confusing that most of the 2021 i3 cars that I have seen listed do not say something like "Apple CarPlay installed."

 

[alohart]

Almost all the 2021s that I have looked at have the
“Apple CarPlay Compatibility”
Line in their description…
I have seen it said elsewhere that full CarPlay was standard in 2021 on all i3 cars, so I find it a bit confusing that most of the 2021 i3 cars that I have seen listed do not say something like "Apple CarPlay installed."

Might be due to a translation from German. The build sheet of our 2019 i3 as generated by mdecoder.com and bimmer.work describes option 6CP as Apple CarPlay Vorbereitung (Apple CarPlay Preparation). "Preparation" might be a bit more reassuring that CarPlay functions as opposed to "compatibility". I doubt that anything has been installed but merely enabled by software.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Thanks, Art
With Apple Car-play an all but essential option for a lot of tech-type shoppers, it does seem an odd lapse: I am seeing in most of the BMW-certified listings that clearly show an Apple Car play screen as active in the interior photos, yet in the options list, you still see it as “Apple CarPlay Compatibility” rather than say “Apple CarPlay” or “Apple CarPlay instaled.”

I will follow your advice and search on cars with the tech package (with the larger central display to avoid a ‘chip shortage edition) Tera Dark Truffle Vernasca Leather (where do they dream up these names for paint and trim colors?) an I do agree the wool blend cloth with leather trim is also very attractive, and the dark brown Terms leather does look to be quite dark. and if a 2021 either a gold or perhaps a grey or white with the intention of doing either a translucent tint wrap on a grey car or a color change paint job on a white car…. How that might affect future value I will leave as a problem for my executor, just not too soon I hope. As we edge closer to 2025 the attraction of a 2021 vintage car will fade along with its remaining new car warranty and perhaps I will expand my search into 2020 or 2019 and a red S will be a possibility for those years.

In any case I am not in a big hurry just an intention to make this change before next winter at the latest and by August with luck. I can wait until I see an i3 S that looks good to me.

 

[mojo]

With Apple Car-play an all but essential option for a lot of tech-type shoppers, it does seem an odd lapse: I am seeing in most of the BMW-certified listings that clearly show an Apple Car play screen as active in the interior photos, yet in the options list, you still see it as “Apple CarPlay Compatibility” rather than say “Apple CarPlay” or “Apple CarPlay instaled.”

I'll take a guess that their legal advisors have warned them that if they say "Apple CarPlay installed" then someone will take them to court because you can't just get in the car and use the facility. The owner has to provide something (the iPhone, obviously) for it to work. Hence the word "Preparation".

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Reference removing the panels of an i3 to either repaint or wrap, there is this excellent video from the UK specialist WISELY

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Every listing I have looked at so far has this as one of the lines like this
Stronger electricity supply
What and why is there a "Stronger electricity supply"?

 

[mojo]

That seems to be a rather odd translation of the (originally German) options list. On my car (European spec) it seems to be translated as

S570 Reinforced power supply

Initially I thought it was related to the charging circuitry but... it seems not! An option with this name and code can be found on many other non-EV BMWs (3-series and 1-series for example). It appears to be linked to multimedia and lighting, so I guess it probably dates from when higher spec options were first added to the cars, and the car's electronics needed to be updated to provide additional power?

In a way it's academic - I don't think it would ever have been possible to buy an i3 without this option!

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Ok here is another one “smokers package”?? Is it something silly like an ash tray rather than one of the cup holders?

It is on this car which is also called out as a “RoadStyle” edition with that logo embroidered into the front headrests sadly it seems to have the business nav small screen first of any sort of ‘edition nonsense I have run across so far. Being sold at

Santa Monica BMW for $26,777 with 20,818 miles​

1127 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401​

2020 i3 sport
WBY8P6C04L7G28962
Fluid Black with E-Copper
Tera World
Edition RoadStyle
Tera (Full Leather)


https://www.bmwusa.com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C04L7G28962

 

[robthebold]

Ok here is another one “smokers package”?? Is it something silly like an ash tray rather than one of the cup holders?

Yes.

Might even be a lighter, too . . .

 

[alohart]

Ok here is another one “smokers package”?? Is it something silly like an ash tray rather than one of the cup holders?

It's standard on all U.S. i3's which I thought was ironic when we bought our 2014 i3 new in the U.S. where smoking rates were likely lower than in many European countries.

It includes a cup with a metal top that could hold a cigarette. The cup can fit in a cup holder. I wonder whether the plastic cup would be damaged by a particularly hot ash that had fallen into it.

It also includes a cigarette lighter that is normally in the auxiliary power port in the center console. I've replaced the lighter with an adapter that includes a couple of USB A ports that provide more power for smartphone charging than the i3's standard USB A port.

 

[TheAirman]

Ok here is another one “smokers package”?? Is it something silly like an ash tray rather than one of the cup holders?

It is on this car which is also called out as a “RoadStyle” edition with that logo embroidered into the front headrests sadly it seems to have the business nav small screen first of any sort of ‘edition nonsense I have run across so far. Being sold at

Santa Monica BMW for $26,777 with 20,818 miles​

1127 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401​

2020 i3 sport
WBY8P6C04L7G28962
Fluid Black with E-Copper
Tera World
Edition RoadStyle
Tera (Full Leather)

View attachment 665
https://www.bmwusa.com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C04L7G28962

That is a super nice car you found. Do it. You might not have another chance.

 

[alohart]

That is a super nice car you found. Do it. You might not have another chance.

It does appear to be a nice car, but I wouldn't buy an i3 without the Tech Package which this one doesn't have. However, I'm not in the market for a 2020 i3S, and Mustrum might feel differently.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

It also includes a cigarette lighter that is normally in the auxiliary power port in the center console. I've replaced the lighter with an adapter that includes a couple of USB A ports that provide more power for smartphone charging than the i3's standard USB A port.

I have the same thing in my 04 MINI Cooper S, and I did the same USB A double-port plug where the cigarette lighter was under the center stack that I use for my iPhone and dash camera. The wire for the cell splits to a mini phono jack that plugs into the (provided by BMW) aux input of the HK sat radio. When I bought it, I could never get my Nokia phone to work with it, but I have an iPod that the salesman arranged to be painted with the same BRG metal flake paint as the car. If I end up with a private sale, I ought to pass on the iPad to the new owner... it is just a paperweight

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

It does appear to be a nice car, but I wouldn't buy an i3 without the Tech Package which this one doesn't have. However, I'm not in the market for a 2020 i3S, and Mustrum might feel differently.

Nope, that is exactly how I feel. I am looking for a Tera s, or Giga with part leather, with tech, and a 2020 in red would be nice... oh well, they will have 2021 cars coming off of lease every month for the rest of the year or longer. I could get lucky. Add in that I would have to either paint or wrap that black paint, and the fact that it is 2,700+ miles away is too far for my first BEV car with 140 stage lengths (if I push my luck), even if my health was up to such a long road trip. I am guessing that the transportation fee would be in the neighborhood of $3K so add on $???? for a quality color change paint job or wrap, and it is tough to make a certified car from the West Coast work for me here in the frozen world of mid-coast Maine where we had our power down for 46 hours starting Saturday evening due to a bad ice storm..

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

I still am coming up empty on the "Edition RoadStyle" feature. BMW Seems to have created dozens of sometimes eccentric special editions in other parts of the world, but I have not found very much on i3 cars in North America marketing programs of this sort.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Is there a “Bently” shop manual sold for the i3? I bought one for my MINI Cooper S when I got the car 20 years ago the $60 price has been replayed many times in the absence of such a tome what do you folks recommend? Is there a Haynes manual? Nope just went to their website and nothing about any i3

 

[alohart]

Is there a “Bently” shop manual sold for the i3? I bought one for my MINI Cooper S when I got the car 20 years ago the $60 price has been replayed many times in the absence of such a tome what do you folks recommend? Is there a Haynes manual? Nope just went to their website and nothing about any i3

I've been on the lookout for an i3 "shop manual" since 2014 but have found nothing except BMW's i3 Technical Training manuals which help but aren't shop manuals (i.e., no instructions for diagnosing or fixing problems).

 

[TheAirman]

Is there a “Bently” shop manual sold for the i3? I bought one for my MINI Cooper S when I got the car 20 years ago the $60 price has been replayed many times in the absence of such a tome what do you folks recommend? Is there a Haynes manual? Nope just went to their website and nothing about any i3

When you post up pictures of the new i3 you just bought, I'll try make sure that you have access to the repair manual.