The BMW i3 first came out in the UK in 2014 and was potentially a little before its time. A premium city car, with a high price and a relatively small range, it was answering questions, people just weren’t asking at the time. However the demand for these cars has increased over the years and BMW has kept pace by improving the range and offering an life cycle update to address some other issues, including its stability on the motorway.
The car itself is pretty amazing, having a carbon fibre core, and being made in a brand new factory powered by renewable energy. It’s shorter than a Fiesta, but you sit high like in an SUV and it handles like a go kart. It also has an amazing step off acceleration which makes it feel pretty unbeatable around town.
Yes, there are some flaws, the coach rear doors cannot be opened without the front doors being opened first, and they make it quite easy to box yourself in when in a tight space. The range on the early models is not great, and the REX option is pretty noisy when in use, and not that reliable. On to reliability and BMWs generally. I am a big fan of BMW, but I accept that usually these cars have some reliability problems, and i3s are no different. Even though there is not much to go wrong, it is possible to get some issues with various systems and especially with the REX especially on older models.
So, why do I rate them so highly? Well, once you have driven an I3, nothing else will do, and with cars having seemingly less character all the time, an electric city car which is so much fun is really something special to be enjoyed. The later models even have enough range for longer journeys, with a max range of around 160 – 170 miles on a charge. Also, although they seem very expensive new, depreciation is your friend and nearly new models can be had at well below those initial prices.
In September of 2020 we bought Jonno a replacement for his diesel Golf which was not ULEZ compliant. Since he drives into central London very regularly the Congestion charge free EV was the ideal choice. We found Jonno a 1 owner 2019 120 ah i3 (the latest model, with the longest range) with only 3,000 miles on the clock. The car was as new and had not become due for its first service and was still under BMW warranty. The price for this car new, would have been approximately £ 36,500 with options, however we were able to have the car delivered and cleaned, ready to go for less than £ 22,000. A really great deal.
We have also since bought a slightly older 94 ah model for Anthony, which had just fallen out of BMW warranty. The car was an excellent specification, with upgraded HK hifi, professional navigation and some other choice options. This car was under 40% of its original price, and on checking the battery condition, we found that there had been no noticeable degradation. The car did have a very unfortunate and rare problem with the transmission, however we successfully pursued the seller as the fault had not been declared and had the problem rectified by BMW.
The final i3 we have bought in the last few months is my car. This is an i3s 94ah again with some great options, including leather, and hi fi upgrade. I have also chosen to fit a subwoofer under the floor of the boot, where the REX would go, and to add some spacers to the wheels to improve high speed stability, as well as programming in Apple Car Play, which can be done at home without paying the ludicrous BMW subscription costs.
I took the car to BMW for its final check before the warranty expired and asked them to check the shock absorber boots at the front (a known weak point) and also correct the loose door handles (again a typical issue). The BMW main dealer said the door handles could not be tightened (it was a job which can be done by anyone in about 5 minutes, and I was able to easily do with some Youtube instructions). They also told me the shock absorber boots were fine. I decided to check for myself and found the following, which is clearly a very split boot. The other side was the same.
After questioning them on this, they suggested it must have happened after I left their workshop, ie during my 3 mile journey home. Eventually of course they agreed to replace them under the now expired warranty.
The point of the story is that as consumers we expect that by purchasing from a main dealer we get a level of service, which although expensive is a reassurance of the quality. In this instance it was anything but. Simple issues which were highlighted to them were ignored and they aimed to deceive the consumer into believing faults were either not there, or could not be solved.
So what is the lesson? It is that a garage or subject matter expert that you can trust and has your interests at heart can be worth more than simply paying the extra a dealer maybe charging. At MyCarMatch we aim to always do the best for our clients. We cannot promise there will never be problems, but we will address any issues no matter where they stem from as though they were our own and work diligently to solve them in the best way possible. We seek deserved loyalty from our customers and take pleasure in a job well done,
