Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Better than expected! - 2015 BMW i3
  By Dave - January 8 - 10:59 am

  We test-drove an i3 during BMWs launch in April 2014. Were impressed but there was no urgency in getting one(yet). Meanwhile, we continued to monitor its progress and other brands offerings. Last year(2015), as my two kids started multiple after-school activities which averaged 45 miles round-trips per day, the carbon footprint (and gasoline bills) started climbing. We decided to look at EV again. With attractive year-end incentives and government rebates, we went out and bought one. The whole family(especially the kids) is enjoying the new ride. We feel less guilty about our carbon footprint with this vehicle. For our use cases, it was the best option. The rear seats are a bit small(compared to our sedan) but for local travel, it was not an issue. The acceleration is good and we like the newer technology that came pretty much standard in this car.

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  I3 the electrical failure - 2014 BMW i3
  By Enrique Llanso - December 23 - 3:13 pm

  Has abundant of electrical issues. Especially with the drive train. The vehicle went to the shop for over four times within a 50 day span and has yet to be resolved. My I3 is a LEMON.

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  Edmunds Lease Help with BMWi3 Lease - 2015 BMW i3
  By Scott Ottersen - December 22 - 10:31 am

  The Edmunds pricing guideline and leasing suggestions really helped us decide between purchase and lease. It also helped us get a fair price on our lease and to make sure we were fully informed when we sat down with what to ask for and what to watch for. Our BMW dealership was helpful and straightforward in their approach. They answered all the questions that the Edmunds guide suggested that we ask. We really love the car and are still learning about all the technical innovations that it has.

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  Outstanding Car - 2015 BMW i3
  By Brad N - November 24 - 4:33 pm

  Seamless performance and comfort. Serenely quiet. The ultimate commuter. Still digesting that there is really no maintenance - just plug it in at home or the office every few days. I drive 20-30 miles/day and it is exceptionally well-suited to my use. I could not be happier the i3 - hard to imagine going back to an ICE after this.

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  Sold the V12 Mercedes to go electric - 2015 BMW i3
  By Michael Chard - November 16 - 6:36 pm

  I hesitantly sold my Mercedes CL600 and decided to lease the i3 REx to replace it. I am not a tree hugger but I am a technology geek and the i3 has some fantastic technology built in. My first impression of the i3 was that this is one ugly car and I did not like the look of the pizza cutter tires. However, after driving it for several weeks, not only have the looks grown on me (as well as the 20 inch skinny tires), but i find it the car extremely enjoyable to drive. In fact, it is so enjoyable that my wife prefers the drive to her Range Rover Sport and is constantly asking me to leave it at home so she can drive it. The off-the-line acceleration is fantastic, which has helped alleviate the sorrow of losing my V12 gasoline engine. The interior room for the front occupants is extremely roomy (I am 61" with a large frame). For a sub-compact car, this feels roomier than most other much larger cars. The user interface took a while to learn, but now that I am familiar with it, I am very impressed. The entertainment options are endless, especially when I connect my iPhone and use all of the music, streaming and pod cast services. I use the car primarily to commute to work, 36 miles round trip. I am also able to charge the car at work. For commuting, the car is ideal. I do have the range extender, but I have never actually used it as I have good charging options between work and home but it does take range anxiety out of the equation. If I had to pick anything that I dont like, it is the placement of the electrical charging port, which is located on the back, passenger side of the car. This requires me to get the charging cable and walk around to the other side. While this is clearly a first-world problem, it would have been much easier to locate the charging port close to the drivers door. The materials inside are excellent and I especially like the wood in the dash. I leased the vehicle because I am not yet comfortable with the residual value of an EV, but given the subsidies available, and the fact that I no longer buy gasoline, this is a very economical vehicle to operate. Overall, I was just looking for a very different car experience from buying another internal combustion car. The experience so far is highly recommended.

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  Horrible experience -returned in one day! - 2014 BMW i3
  By BH - September 15 - 11:21 am

  We purchased this car, I loved the look and everything about it. We were told it would charge over nite in our garage. When we got it home the car showed it wouldnt be charged for 20 hours. Then it runs for about 100 miles on that charge. The BMW chargers are about $6,000 and then it is a shorter charge time. After paying $60,000 for a car we didnt want to spend that. Other chargers can screw up the system. We returned the car and on the way back to the dealership at 45 miles an hour trying to reserve the power to get there, a tire blew out and completely shredded so there was no tire left. After you pay top dollar for the car there are thousands of dollars of upgrades and insurances. Be sure to pay for the tire insurance, they insisted we would need it because of the low profile of the tires they dont last very long but we never dreamed one would blow out the first day we had the car. Wasted two days and will never buy an electric car after this!

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  i3 VS 2013 Chevy Volt - 2015 BMW i3
  By Bruce M. - August 29 - 12:01 am

  My volt lease was up and I couldnt extend to wait for the 16 volt. So I wanted to stay electric and this was the only other choice with "range extending" capabilities. So as a VERY happy Volt owner I was very worried about changing. So here is the deal. Had the car a week with a mix of city and freeway driving at speeds up to 75 mph. BMW -the plusses: way faster acceleration . Way quieter ride. Better road feel and solid feeling. Perfect regenerative braking. Much roomier cabin and comfort for tall folks ( Im 63). Better/Great turning radius. Perfect higher but not to high seating/drivin position. Easy In&Out. Considerably better battery range - about 72 miles / compared to 38 miles. Better regenerative battery charging in city driving. Able to extend mileage better. Much better BMW 4 year full maintenance warranty. Love the "coast" mode when you just ease off the gas just right. One pedal driving!! Love that! Easier access to rear seats. Better safety features ( adaptive cruise control with city stop start is awesome). Have not seen this on another car. Set it for 40 mph. Brings you to a stop in traffic and stays engaged. Then starts you up again when the light changes. Pretty much auto pilot driving. Auto magic Parallel parking mode. (Have not tried this yet so cant say if it actually works well or not). Traffic nav system included with best energy routes based on traffic. Better solid German build quality compared to volt. Switch gear , fit and finish. So whats not to like that the Volt does better? Ride still to "stiff" and I have the 19" wheels. Its on the border of being the perfect balance. The 20" wheels have a lower profile tire so I am sure they would make the ride even more stiff which would not be good. I dont know why so many car manufacturers keep making such stiff suspensions when most americans like a softer ride. Cant you find the right balance? Some cars do, but a lot dont. (Rumor is the new 2016 volt will have a better ride quality than the current model). Also not good in the BMW is the car is a bit "skittery" on broken pavement when taking a turn. Especially the back can kick out. This is because it is very light and the tires are very thin. But the regular handling on decent roads feels good but the steering is very "sensitive. Especially at freeway speeds. The slightest movement of the wheel really moves the car. I may get used to this but for now I have a harder time keeping the car in a straight line. Dont know if this is the thin tires or light weight or weight of the electric steering or a combination of all three but this is where the volt drives much better. User customization of the many features of the car is lacking and much better in the Volt. Range extender engine is much quieter in the BMW but has only a 1.9 gallon tank which will get you about 60 miles more if full. Volt holds 8 gallons so gets you the range of a regular car. So the BMW is really a city car with the bonus of if you need to make a ton of trips across town in one day, you can do it. So if you are cool with just a city car you should not have any concerns about the BMW. Larger side mirrors on the volt are better. New volt will have lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring. BMW doesnt have that. Kind of baffling as this is tech that many cheap american cars now have. In particular blind spot monitoring is a very worthwhile feature in my opinion. Oh forgot. Volt radio , even the high end Bose upgrade is not that good. Its OK but The BMW with the upgraded Harmon radio is great in comparison. Big beef. Charging port on the BMW is on the passenger side REAR of the car! So pretty much you need to back in to any parking space or your home if you want to charge. The volt is just in front of the drivers door. Perfect spot. Not sure I understand the logic of the rear charging door. But the BMW has a lighted charging port that changes colors. cool. Also BMW has super fast Tesla like DC charging built in at no extra cost. Now if only you can find a DC charging station. Someday. Some of the interior "eco" materials used on the BMW make it feel weird and cheap. It is recycled material but it looks like crap. Im sure the germans can figure out a way to make recycled material look nice and have a soft finish which would make the car even quieter. Cost. Volt is 10,000 cheaper for the loaded model. Thats a big difference. The volt in three years has been almost 100% trouble free. A very rare thing for a high tech car. i give GM very high kudos for building such a high quality car that has not needed to be in the shop. Summary? Im liking the much quieter ride and super power acceleration and better comfort of the Beemer. The unique styling can be a turn off for some but I think it grows on most people. Now lets see if it is as reliable and trouble free as the volt. I hope so. Ill report back after more driving.

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  Shockingly wunderbar! - 2015 BMW i3
  By Ted H - August 19 - 5:55 pm

  I have had my i3 for just one week and I am in love with it. I was impressed with the interior passenger space. More interior storage space would have been helpful. I moved into the i3 from a Chrysler Town and Country so the transition was difficult. But, the driving fun is worth the loss of cubicles. I have had no problems with the car and typically drive it about 60 miles a day. The Level 1 charger that came with the car is more than adequate to fill it up overnight. Living on the east coast, there are many charging stations nearby, most of them FREE! And, I didnt get the gas engine option because I wanted to just go plug-in. My one criticism would be the manual. It seems to be written in a computer translated English. I asked a friend from the UK about some of the terms and he couldnt identify them either. Further, the entertainment center has a handbook on-line but it should come with the car in print form. Have fun driving electrically!

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  BMW i3 Breaks first week - 2015 BMW i3
  By bmw_junk - June 5 - 9:51 pm

  Our BMW i3 broke and is in the shop after only 1 week. The car is now going on 3 weeks in the shop for repair of AirBag, Restraint issues. We are being told Germany Tech is working with the USA Tech. Unbelievable a 50K car that is broke, takes this long to repair and requires the help of Germany to repair. I can only imagine how long this is going to take.

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  Charging Issues - 2014 BMW i3
  By bigv2 - May 18 - 2:24 am

  First, the good: Averages about 80 miles/charge, 3,000 miles on 1/4 gallon of gas. Now the bad: charging faults when using delayed charge program after 2 months, took in for service, and was told there was a "customer satisfaction bulletin" posted that involved new hardware and programming. Five days later the parts were installed, but charging fault still existed. Returned to dealer for another week, this time got a loaner car. Service department said faults were cleared, and the problem was caused by my using a level 2 charger for our Chevy Volt, rather than the BMW charger...although it worked fine for two months! Delayed charging with the Volt charger is working after the second service.