Is the BMW i3 a decent city commuter EV?
I see a couple of i3s in buy&sell sites in my city. They're usually 2016-2018 models selling from $9k to $15k and mileage ranging from 40k to 80k. Some of them are pure EVs and others have the range extender (~80 miles of gas range). Some have upgraded infotainment that supports wireless Apple carplay, and some have only like 80 miles of range left.
Just from the visual POV, it looks like a fun little car to use for general city driving (work, groceries, errands, etc.). An EV for less than $15k that isn't an older generation Nissan Leaf is pretty rare to find too. Are these models any good?
33 replies
I'd go for the range extender option if you can. 2016 and older didn't have the longest lasting batteries.
Be prepared to pay luxury car maintenance prices, it's a bmw
Good summary. Also, the “S” versions have a bigger battery. These were very advanced, basically a test bed for EV tech for BMW and they sold every one at a loss. The chassis is molded carbon fiber, unfortunately, if that gets damaged in an accident, it can’t be repaired.
I am a BMW tech, and always wanted one. Unfortunately they are only RWD, and thus would be far from ideal in my area that sees heavy snow/ice.
Isn't RWD less of a problem on an EV than with ICE vehicles? The vehicle's mass is more evenly distributed across the vehicle instead of being concentrated under the hood, thus moving the vehicle's center of mass closer to the driven axle.
You still have only two wheels for acceleration. Two extremely narrow wheels.
It's not a dragster.
… ok. But they’re talking about in snow/ice. Have you ever driven a rwd car on ice up a hill? It’s not fun. You need all the grip you can get.
Because RWD ICE cars have poor weight distribution and most morons don't fit winter tires.
I've been driving 2WD vehicles in CDN winters for decades. The tires are 100x more important than the drive wheels.
That's no different than a FWD vehicle. The grip difference between the front and real axles (assuming you don't have staggered or different wheel sizes) is primarily going to be a function of of the weight distribution.
A FWD car is going to understeer, a RWD car is going to oversteer. As I mentioned in the other comment if you need to climb an icy hill in a rwd car it’s a nightmare. EVs make it better, but that doesn’t solve the problem.
Great for salted roads, I guess... As it delivers all it's EV torque to the rear axle...
Because it’s a fraction of the weight. The main chassis only weighs 150 kg.
And it can't be repaired in a minor collision. Those integrated rear wings are poor design for crashes. See insurance premiums.
We had one in Edmonton and it was great in the winter with proper tires. Heavy and low set weight did well. Unfortunately, that carbon fiber frame resulted in a write off after a fairly minor collision.
I've got a RWD i4 going into my fourth winter and it's amazing in the winter.
If you tried an Xdrive version, you would probably be shocked at how much better it is. I am actually surprised BMW even sells a RWD version in Canada. Like the SUVs, here in Canada you can only buy an Xdrive version, while in the US, you can get RWD only versions. We almost never sell RWD anything anymore. Even the 3 series and 2 series are AWD only now.
Edit: and the i4 is being discontinued, and the new i3 is coming out, which I believe will be AWD only here.
I have no doubt AWD would be even better, but the weight of the i4, low centre of gravity, and traction control make it surprisingly excellent in the winter. Not sure if I'll ever buy new again (depreciation is a bitch), but I'd definitely look to jump to AWD electric. Plan right now is to drive this one for another ~6 years at least. The new i3 looks pretty damn nice.
Ya, we just had a really nice loaded i4 M50 traded in that I tried to buy, but a customer scooped it up before I got the chance. The i3 is a giant leap in EV tech over all our current offerings. Be a while before I can get one though. 😉
I did see some reviews saying to avoid the gas range extender because that requires exclusive BMW maintenance that gets expensive. So the pure EV is a better choice, and yeah I also saw recommendations to get a 2017 or newer for the bigger battery.
BMW is only luxury in north american markets. In europe most of them are economy cars, which mostly aren't sold over here.
i3 is definitely not a luxury car.
To be fair, I said the maintenance charges would be luxury, not that bmw or the i3 were luxury.
I don't think the i3 has worse maintenance costs over other EVs. Depends on your shop rate.
The luxury tax of the i3 though is those weird ass tires that are hard to source
I had a 2017 i3 for about 5 years. LOVED it. I recommend avoiding the range extender, just get the full electric, 2017 or newer with more range (and a heat pump!).
Super lightweight, rear wheel drive, actually exhilarating 0-30 (mph) and more than enough power for freeway driving.
If you can charge at work or at home and the range is sufficient, they are lovely and fun things.
With any EV that old you'll need to check the battery state of health. Batteries degrade from charging, from sitting at very low or high charges (the nmc cells at least) and time. Take the range left, divide it by half and if that still fits your needs, you should be good to go over next few years. Be sure to be able to charge at home or at work as those commuters with their smaller batteries usually won't have the range to get you through the week without recharging.
That's all pretty central EV advice and applies to the i3 just as it would apply to an older leaf, e-up or zoe. Other than that, what I've heard about the i3 was exclusively good and I don't see how it wouldn't be a great commuter. Haven't driven one yet though.
Technically, anything that isn't the latest year is an older gen Leaf. They just got a refresh.
I got a 2021 Kona Electric for $16.5k before any taxes and fees and it was not the cheapest you could get. If you're looking for $15k out the door cost though you'd probably have to get an older year.
I seriously considered one but I was just coming off of owning a car with low production numbers and the tires alone told me I was in the wrong spot. They’re staggered (so can’t be rotated) and there’s one summer and one winter model available in that size. For tires. So there’s a lot of dealer-only parts and getting people to work on it might be a challenge.
That aside, it seems form reviews that they’re pretty good cars in a lot of ways and some of the quirks can be adjusted in software with a phone app and dongle.
Some are staggered, but most are not. Depends how it was ordered. The factory winter set is not staggered.
Hm til. The tires are, still, unicorn levels of rarity so it’s a potential issue.
They're awful.
It's cheap because it's total junk
Source: bmw nerd for over 2 decades. Bmw has great petrol options but wouldn't touch their EVs yet.
I would avoid any BMW built after 2005.
I've had my 2011 335i for 11 years now, it's an excellent car
my 5 years with a 2017 i3 strongly disagrees with you.
The iX, i4, and i5 are reliable with minimal battery degradation. I drove the two latter for a year each.
Any car is great for a year.