US version to enable manual engagement of REx?

[I33t]

My car was ordered with a non refundable deposit before the Rex revelation and the gas tank change followed.

Substantially changing the specifications voids most contracts. It's obvious you feel that this is substantial.

True, I think there would be good grounds for getting the deposit back... unless you went ahead and took delivery of the car. Who on earth would do that? It would be much better fighting over a deposit than the whole car!

 

[Chrisn]

I've been a somewhat vocal critic of the U.S. implementation of Rex, and I personally experiences the "limp of shame" (speed reduced to 25 MPH) up a mountain grade in the first couple days of ownership.

I plan on doing the "coding" for maximum control (I have the cable and software-- just need a block of time), but, depending on how BMW does the announced changes, I think the forthcoming software tweaks could address essentially all of my concerns. Conditioning yourself to ALWAYS use GPS for longer trips is a bit of a hassle, but not big deal.

Here's how they should do it:

Primary objective is to intelligently use available fuel (gas and EV) to maintain full speed/performance for entire route. In other words: ICE-equivalent performance consistency.

Secondary objective is to provide as much advanced warning as possible if the Primary objective is impossible.

The car knows your typical driving patterns and it knows your intended route (including elevation changes). The obvious basic function is to switch to a hold mode at higher than 6.5% SOC in advance of a big hill ("smart hold"). But it needs to be smarter than that. It should also take into account your driving habits. If you typically drive 15% above posted limit, it should use the "learned" value instead of posted limit in its calculations. Finally, over and above "smart hold," it should, if needed, run the REx at full load to ADD charge in advance of the hills. Frankly, even in a flat road situation, if I am driving 80MPH on cruise control, it should run the REx at full load well before 6.5% SOC so I can cruise at 80MPH until I simultaneously run out of gas and EV (in concept only-- you'd hope to find gas and/or charging before then).

As noted above, if ICE-equivalent consistency is impossible, it should warn you ASAP. Note that in some cases, it will know this before you even start your journey (e.g., you are at 15% SOC at the base of a hill you are about to climb). Car should then say "insufficient charge for full performance on your journey, charge before departure or drive moderately to avoid significant loss of power." (or whatever)

 

[mindmachine]

Nobody knows how BMW will implement the fix currently promised at this time. And for me the current proposed fix is not the best solution for people who live in states not regulated by CARB. Using the Nav system to determine when and how the Rex should perform is a complicated programming process and only BMW knows how they intend to implement it at this time. How generously they use the Rex is up to them and maybe agreements they have made with the CARB board. Who knows at this time is only BMW and CARB. Government control of our lives, resources and money at it's best.

 

[CMineiro]

I got My i3+rex 3 weeks ago here in France, and the rex engine can be activated manually - I even created a shortcut in the numeric pad...
Don't know why in US they have blocked it... seems stupid...

 

[asterix2112]

People, it is really easy to enable the REx hold feature in US cars. I have had mine enabled for a month now, works just fine. Guide on how to do it is on the Facebook i3 group.

- John

 

[fixedgear]

Here it is. https://word.office.live.com/wv/Wor...=Coding+Tutorial+for+the+BMW+i3+11-16-14.docx

 

[Tobias]

Not sure if this is covered elsewhere, but I took delivery of an i3 Rex two weeks ago and the dealer activated this on one of the pre-programmable buttons. So the capability is already there. No connection to sat nav.

Settings->range extender->hold state of charge

 

[Tobias]

Sorry should have said, I'm in uk.

 

[hrmandell]

If you think BMW screws its customers, maybe you should have bought a Leaf. :lol: The fact that BMW built this car facilitated me being an early adopter, There a few better engineered cars available than BMW and the electronic drive has been tested exhaustively.

 

[WoodlandHills]

If you think BMW screws its customers, maybe you should have bought a Leaf. :lol: The fact that BMW built this car facilitated me being an early adopter, There a few better engineered cars available than BMW and the electronic drive has been tested exhaustively.

So how come they are recalling the entire fleet? Perhaps BMW is no different from any other car company and can actually do a less than perfect job of launching a new vehicle.....

 

[TomMoloughney]

Nobody knows how BMW will implement the fix currently promised at this time. And for me the current proposed fix is not the best solution for people who live in states not regulated by CARB. Using the Nav system to determine when and how the Rex should perform is a complicated programming process and only BMW knows how they intend to implement it at this time. How generously they use the Rex is up to them and maybe agreements they have made with the CARB board. Who knows at this time is only BMW and CARB. Government control of our lives, resources and money at it's best.

Correct mindmachine, the new software isn't going to satisfy many people (Especially those that want a manual hold - that is not happening unless you code your car) but I want you to know, the new software is not navigation related as previously thought. You do not need to use the NAV to have it work. There are people beta testing it now, and details on how it functions will be released within weeks.

 

[mindmachine]

Nobody knows how BMW will implement the fix currently promised at this time. And for me the current proposed fix is not the best solution for people who live in states not regulated by CARB. Using the Nav system to determine when and how the Rex should perform is a complicated programming process and only BMW knows how they intend to implement it at this time. How generously they use the Rex is up to them and maybe agreements they have made with the CARB board. Who knows at this time is only BMW and CARB. Government control of our lives, resources and money at it's best.

Correct mindmachine, the new software isn't going to satisfy many people (Especially those that want a manual hold - that is not happening unless you code your car) but I want you to know, the new software is not navigation related as previously thought. You do not need to use the NAV to have it work. There are people beta testing it now, and details on how it functions will be released within weeks.

Cool, that sounds better to me already. I did not like the navigation solution because with the limited range of the i3 (while I have the Rex and could add gas true) most of my driving is done in familiar areas and so I rarely use the nav unless I am faced with a detour. Also I am retired and many trips are not planned ahead in detail an thus the wife and I just set out to have a day of exploring, again no navigation destination is used and thus a nav based solution would be superfluous.

While I don't quite know how they would do it otherwise at least there is hope that it will be workable for people like me. With a robust solution, I would be more willing to take the car on longer sojourns too.

TOM? What if anything have you heard from any BMW sources about how they (BMW) feels about people who live in non CARB states coding/enabling the Rex hold feature on their cars. Like causing warranty issues or other ramifications....?

 

[WoodlandHills]

I am just looking forwards to the new KLEs arriving so that I can code my car and be done with this CARB mandated REX idiocy.

 

[mindmachine]

I am just looking forwards to the new KLEs arriving so that I can code my car and be done with this CARB mandated REX idiocy.

I will second that for sure, at least though you and Tom benefit from it as you live in a CARB states that rewards you financially ($2500 in Calif and no sales tax in NJ).
I get nothing other than the aggravation here in the (NON_CARB) mid west, and the added cost of all the junk I need to code it over and over again every time there is a software update. It would not piss me off any way nearly as much with a cash advantage of some sort.

PS: March is a long time to wait to code the Rex hold, heck you know it won't be the last update anyway so you may as well do it now and learn how, and then again as needed over the life of the car. I have been told that once you figure it out then doing it over again is a snap.

 

[ocraig1]

Sorry to drop in on this thread but since it's semi related I thought I'd ask. I'm in the process of trying to code my i3 and the links for the PSdZData 53.5 isn't working any longer. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Jeffj]

PM me and I set them up on a google drive for you.