Absolutely the best video I have seen thus far on understanding the many aspects of this adorable car! You have really taken your time to explain everything clearly and fully. Thank you!
Great video - thanks for making everything so clear and simple to follow. You have told me exactly what I wanted to know and didn't get from other videos. Thank You!!
This video is exactly what I need as I embark on the BEV journey and choose a used i3 from a dealer who could be many miles away from home, and will help prevent me looking a complete idiot on the forecourt! So I anticipate the journey home to be like diving into the deep end in order to learn how to swim!
I hope to be buying mine soon too, having sat in one in 2014 and realised it was the future. I’ve owned 19 BMWs over thirty years, all second hand apart for the last one - a 740 sport individual) and intend to own the i3 for many years. Good luck with your acquisition 👍
One thing that should be pointed out for anyone (like myself) considering buying one of these used (they don't make them anymore). If you're buying them for the US market, they purposely cripple the Rex version. How so? So as was mentioned in this video, once you're below 75% charge, you can put on the Rex and tell it to hold the charge. Say you put it on at 50% and tell it to keep the battery charged there, it will do its best to do so. If you're using power quicker than it can charge the battery, the charge will slowly start to go below what you've set it to. However, you can still get great range this way and drive normally. For the US market, they mess with the software and only allow the Rex to kick in once the charge is at (I believe) 6.5%. Of course, if you're that low, even if it's charging, if you're using power at a higher rate than what the generator can charge the battery, you might still be screwed, so it then starts limiting features. How fast you can drive, etc. Imagine being on the highway and all of a sudden being limited to 40mph, for example. You can think California for this. Thankfully, you can buy an ODBC connector from Amazon for about $70 and iPhone software to remove the cripple and get it back to the European way of operating. It's just something you should know about.
You hit the key points very concisely and easy to understand. I think you covered all the basics and I am ready to drive now……although one problem….I don’t have the car as they are terribly overpriced post Covid and high fuel prices.
A very extensive video. About the only thing you didn't cover (and I haven't seen it covered anywhere) is do you have to use premium gas for the Rex. I looked into it and it appears to be that you use premium, unless you live in a high altitude area. In that case, just use 87 octane.
Brilliant intro Matt to the I3. BMW know how to make good cars. The IDrive is great. Pity about the rear doors, I believe they would sell far more of these with conventional doors.
The rear doors aren't an issue once you get use to them especially if you rarely have back passengers. The issue is range with these older i3s and charging speed. If these i3's had a 200 mile range between charging and charged at 100kw instead of the maximum 50kw, these cars would have sold 400k instead of 200k..
@@mamadouaziza2536 Yes, range and changing speed are some of the main hurdles for this car. I would also like to see softer suspension in the non-Sport model.
I actually like the back doors. They are really practical to put my purchases in the back seat. I should mention that I don't often have back seat passengers. That said,they remind me of the suicide doors from the time of Al Capone.
Thanks for this video - very useful. As an i3 owner, there are two things that I find annoying, and I wonder if you might have a solution... Is it possible to configure the i3 to remember the previous drive mode used? I usually drive in Eco Pro mode, but every time I have to select this, as the car defaults to Comfort mode at start up. Second one is the e-brake/park brake; this auto-releases when you move off, but can it be configured to apply the e-brake automatically when start/stop is used at the end of a journey.
Yes the start up drive mode can be set using software. Its been a while since I did this and now can't remember what I used. Possibly the BimmerCode app. You'll need the app and a cable or dongle to connect to the car. Or ask on the BMW forums or Facebook groups and you might find other local BMW owners who have the software would be willing to do this for you. I can't remember if the auto park brake is an option in the software.
Hello! Thank you for all the videos, there great! I have a few questions I was hoping you could help with. I've been looking at used ev's and narrowed it down to 3 or really 2 since my first choice is the Ioniq Electric but its just outside my price range. so the 2 I'm considering are the 2014/2015 BMW i3 and the Kia Soul Ev. I prefer the i3 but concerned about the range and maintenance costs. Which do you prefer? I will be most likely making the purchase through Carvana and you get a 7 day no cost return/exchange and you can do this up to 3 times. Assuming I go with the i3 what would be the main things I should look at or have looked at during the 7 day trial? What would be or should be the min range I can expect and would I be better off getting the range extender since the used costs are about the same? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks Jim
If you purchase a vehicle remotely without viewing it first from any trader, you get the same as the distance selling rules apply. For further details on these vehicles, see these examples that have previously sold, which should answer your questions... i3 60Ah REX www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-60ah/ow15lpv i3 94Ah REX www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-94ah/bmw-i3-ff16axc Soul 27kWh www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/kia/soul-27kwh/kia-soul-ev-lg64mgy Soul 30kWh www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/kia/soul-30kwh/fh18typ The i3 REX certainly has higher maintenance costs due to having an engine that needs servicing. BMW dealers are very expensive, but cheaper to use a HEVRA garage. The Soul is extremely comfortable and easy to live with. The i3 isn't due to hard suspension and the narrow tyres are prone to punctures/blowouts if you hit potholes.
does that colour have a pinkish hue in person? there's one for sale a long way from me but not real keen if it's like a rose gold and pics of that color vary a lot.
@@B58_BlessIrrelevant really as the market has changed so much in the last 1.5 years and used EVs have gone up in value. But here's the details when it was for sale, see www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-60ah/ow15lpv
It's the old joke : no matter how useless you feel your life is, just remember there is man somewhere in the world currently fitting indicators to BMWs.
Hopefully someone see's this message and can help me out I just got an i3 and arrived home, it's late at night, and it looks like the interior lights stay on. Is that intentional, is that supposed to happen? If not, how do I turn them off? Thanks.
@@joelcarterramadge183 no, not at all. I notice they were still on the next morning. It didn't waste any battery though to be fair so I don't think it's anything to worry about. Thanks
Absolutely the best video I have seen thus far on understanding the many aspects of this adorable car! You have really taken your time to explain everything clearly and fully. Thank you!
This is just the most informative video! Just what I needed to get started with my i3
Great video - thanks for making everything so clear and simple to follow. You have told me exactly what I wanted to know and didn't get from other videos. Thank You!!
EXCELLENT.
10/10
I LEARNT Everything!!!
Thank you.
Great info. Owned my i3 for a year but still learned a lot of things from You. thanks so much.
Thanks so much for all this information. Very thorough. I'm getting one of these in a couple of days and this has helped immensely. Great job!
This is a must see for anyone buying an i3. thanks so much
Just renting this thing for a week, first time driving a hybrid and this is so informative! Thank you.
Really good introductory video.
Thanks - at last a clear vid of what we want to know.
Very quick and detailed information in this video. Good job well done.
Fabulous video, I’ve fancied one of these for a while and now all my concerns how gone👍
Thank you! Excited to drive mine next week. 😍
Thank you.
Very useful.
I wish you all the best.
Excellent, very helpful. Thank you.
Can't wait for Part 2 ... the full Infotainment tour !!!!
That was really great and useful. Thank you for this
THANK YOU very MUCH! Truly appreciate your work! Thank you!
What a wonderful presentations! Thank you.
Thanks
Excellent video for starters and who might be interested in an i3
Thank you for sharing the useful information with me as I am planning to buy a used I3s for daily use.❤❤❤
This video is exactly what I need as I embark on the BEV journey and choose a used i3 from a dealer who could be many miles away from home, and will help prevent me looking a complete idiot on the forecourt! So I anticipate the journey home to be like diving into the deep end in order to learn how to swim!
congrats on the i3. really a fantastic car.
I hope to be buying mine soon too, having sat in one in 2014 and realised it was the future. I’ve owned 19 BMWs over thirty years, all second hand apart for the last one - a 740 sport individual) and intend to own the i3 for many years. Good luck with your acquisition 👍
@@thumper1747 What about the poor range, I think they stopped producing this model....
Great video thank you for the info!!!
Great video! Getting my i3 tomorrow so this video was very appreciated.
Glad it helped.
Good clear explanation, thanks 👍
Amazing and very helpful video! Thanks for putting your time and effort for this.
Glad it was helpful
One thing that should be pointed out for anyone (like myself) considering buying one of these used (they don't make them anymore). If you're buying them for the US market, they purposely cripple the Rex version. How so?
So as was mentioned in this video, once you're below 75% charge, you can put on the Rex and tell it to hold the charge. Say you put it on at 50% and tell it to keep the battery charged there, it will do its best to do so. If you're using power quicker than it can charge the battery, the charge will slowly start to go below what you've set it to. However, you can still get great range this way and drive normally.
For the US market, they mess with the software and only allow the Rex to kick in once the charge is at (I believe) 6.5%. Of course, if you're that low, even if it's charging, if you're using power at a higher rate than what the generator can charge the battery, you might still be screwed, so it then starts limiting features. How fast you can drive, etc. Imagine being on the highway and all of a sudden being limited to 40mph, for example. You can think California for this.
Thankfully, you can buy an ODBC connector from Amazon for about $70 and iPhone software to remove the cripple and get it back to the European way of operating. It's just something you should know about.
You can run the heat or A/C while charging which is useful.
This is an Excellent Video very informative
Hope you pressed the like button then. 😉
Very informative. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful
Thank you
Thank you very informative :-)
Good video!
Good job.
good one thanks
This is a pre-2018 model before it got some updates. Still has the round fog lights and only some 60 miles range.
Very cool not-so-little PHEV!
Great video, now i whant one 😂✌
You hit the key points very concisely and easy to understand. I think you covered all the basics and I am ready to drive now……although one problem….I don’t have the car as they are terribly overpriced post Covid and high fuel prices.
They stopped production of the i3 a year ago. I have been checking the prices of low mileage used ones & there is good value out there.
A very extensive video. About the only thing you didn't cover (and I haven't seen it covered anywhere) is do you have to use premium gas for the Rex. I looked into it and it appears to be that you use premium, unless you live in a high altitude area. In that case, just use 87 octane.
Brown leather seats, bright colored cockpit and black steering wheel - Perfect combination!
Great video
Thanks!
good info
only one thing im still curious about is the headlights switch mine has 4 settings not sure which is which
Brilliant intro Matt to the I3. BMW know how to make good cars. The IDrive is great. Pity about the rear doors, I believe they would sell far more of these with conventional doors.
The rear doors aren't an issue once you get use to them especially if you rarely have back passengers. The issue is range with these older i3s and charging speed. If these i3's had a 200 mile range between charging and charged at 100kw instead of the maximum 50kw, these cars would have sold 400k instead of 200k..
@@mamadouaziza2536 Yes, range and changing speed are some of the main hurdles for this car. I would also like to see softer suspension in the non-Sport model.
I actually like the back doors. They are really practical to put my purchases in the back seat. I should mention that I don't often have back seat passengers.
That said,they remind me of the suicide doors from the time of Al Capone.
Thanks! :-)
Thanks for this video - very useful. As an i3 owner, there are two things that I find annoying, and I wonder if you might have a solution... Is it possible to configure the i3 to remember the previous drive mode used? I usually drive in Eco Pro mode, but every time I have to select this, as the car defaults to Comfort mode at start up. Second one is the e-brake/park brake; this auto-releases when you move off, but can it be configured to apply the e-brake automatically when start/stop is used at the end of a journey.
Yes the start up drive mode can be set using software. Its been a while since I did this and now can't remember what I used. Possibly the BimmerCode app. You'll need the app and a cable or dongle to connect to the car. Or ask on the BMW forums or Facebook groups and you might find other local BMW owners who have the software would be willing to do this for you.
I can't remember if the auto park brake is an option in the software.
I've learned that I want the key holder. So far it's hard to find, so I may 3d print one. Cheers
And you may provide a link to that 3D design here.
@pw0107 I couldn’t find it on eBay. Did you find one?
Hello! Thank you for all the videos, there great! I have a few questions I was hoping you could help with. I've been looking at used ev's and narrowed it down to 3 or really 2 since my first choice is the Ioniq Electric but its just outside my price range. so the 2 I'm considering are the 2014/2015 BMW i3 and the Kia Soul Ev. I prefer the i3 but concerned about the range and maintenance costs. Which do you prefer? I will be most likely making the purchase through Carvana and you get a 7 day no cost return/exchange and you can do this up to 3 times. Assuming I go with the i3 what would be the main things I should look at or have looked at during the 7 day trial? What would be or should be the min range I can expect and would I be better off getting the range extender since the used costs are about the same? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks Jim
If you purchase a vehicle remotely without viewing it first from any trader, you get the same as the distance selling rules apply. For further details on these vehicles, see these examples that have previously sold, which should answer your questions...
i3 60Ah REX www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-60ah/ow15lpv
i3 94Ah REX www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-94ah/bmw-i3-ff16axc
Soul 27kWh www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/kia/soul-27kwh/kia-soul-ev-lg64mgy
Soul 30kWh www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/kia/soul-30kwh/fh18typ
The i3 REX certainly has higher maintenance costs due to having an engine that needs servicing. BMW dealers are very expensive, but cheaper to use a HEVRA garage. The Soul is extremely comfortable and easy to live with. The i3 isn't due to hard suspension and the narrow tyres are prone to punctures/blowouts if you hit potholes.
Is the indicators on a bmw a new thing?
Comfort isn't sport mode because sport mode is exclusive to the i3S
What year I3 please?
WOW ! what a great informative video, i`d like to get 1 of these 1 day when the prices get really low, why on earth did BMW stop making them ?????
Thank you
7:06 I call it the "ammeter". The manufacturer doesn't call it that, as the word has no referent for most people, and may intimidate them a bit.
I need you to narrate my life.
Is there a cruise control setting for continuous highway commutes?
Yes.
does that colour have a pinkish hue in person? there's one for sale a long way from me but not real keen if it's like a rose gold and pics of that color vary a lot.
No, its more of a bronze.
Hi thanks for sharing. Currently how many miles do you now have on this vehicle?? Any issues and what's the life expectancy on these I3?
It had done 128,000 miles when we sold it about 1.5 years ago. No issues with it at all.
@@GoGreenAutos oh good to hear. What was the selling price if you don't mind me asking?
@@B58_BlessIrrelevant really as the market has changed so much in the last 1.5 years and used EVs have gone up in value. But here's the details when it was for sale, see www.gogreenautos.co.uk/for-sale/bmw/i3-60ah/ow15lpv
Very low range on that one, is it an older i3 or is that expected from the 2020 model? I thought they put in a bigger battery
Yes this one was the 60Ah version. Then they did the 94Ah. Now they have a 120Ah battery.
@@GoGreenAutos Annoying they use that Ah terminology that no other manufactures use.
Thanks for the video. Where did you get that key holder from?
It was in one of my previous i3's. I think you can get them on eBay. They are 3D printed.
@@GoGreenAutos ahh thank you👍🏼😄
✅
I believe you can tap the indicator the same way it's already going to turn it off so you don't accidentally switch it the other way
Yes I think you can. But its been a few years now since I've driven an i3.
However, the Tesla indicator stalk works the same.
Isn't cameras in front and back sides?
Optional extra.
Ah, that explains why BMW drivers struggle so much to indicate.
Very good!
It's the old joke : no matter how useless you feel your life is, just remember there is man somewhere in the world currently fitting indicators to BMWs.
Who can finish the joke about the difference between BMWs and hedgehogs?
What's the gas mileage on gas? And it seems that it can barely keep my battery at 7% while driving even if I'm only driving 35 40mph
It's about 45 mpg.
Another channel did a test on all three models of i3 and the 90Ah-rex version drove the furthest totalling 225 miles (battery + engine)
I am planning to buy around 2017 model. Can anyone please tell me average and average charging time please.
EV Database is a good source for all the facts & figures. See ev-database.org/uk/car/1104/BMW-i3
Has the car really done 128,000 miles? How is the battery operation after this sort of mileage?
Yes it had and the battery pack was still at 90% SoH.
128k miles!? These cars really last a long time!
Some Toyota taxis have 1M miles. 128k miles isn't crazy for a car.
@@savedfaves I know. I've doubled that in my Prius alone. You have to admit, for a BMW i3 it's pretty crazy.
Just as a word of warning on the brake usage: if you NEVER use your normal brakes you run the risk of brake pad corrosion.
55 miles (almost full charged batt???)is that real?
This is the older model, now you get 125-130 miles
"One thing you may not be familiar with if you've driven a BMW before is the indicator stalk.."
Yes, and he proceeded to explain why.
Hopefully someone see's this message and can help me out
I just got an i3 and arrived home, it's late at night, and it looks like the interior lights stay on. Is that intentional, is that supposed to happen? If not, how do I turn them off?
Thanks.
@KingJimO8 Do they turn off after a few minutes and after the car has been locked? I don't own one so I can't help you anymore than that!
@@joelcarterramadge183 no, not at all. I notice they were still on the next morning. It didn't waste any battery though to be fair so I don't think it's anything to worry about. Thanks
@@KingJimO8 I still don’t think they should permanently say on though. I would not have thought it was a feature!
The selector really spoils the whole car look
Soycar
I like both EVs and gas cars. But this car is nice.