BMW i3, the Wii Mii replacement
Discussion
After almost exactly 1 year I felt the need to replace the Mii (See the lowly Mii thread). The reason was very straight forwards, great wee car, good summer range but not great at the winter range thing and topping up a couple of times a day was becoming very boring indeed.
I looked at MG4's, 500e's and so on but one car kept nipping at the back of my head, the i3. Most owners seemed to report the sort of winter range I needed without faffing about, they don't have all the sign recognition crap or lane change assist nonsense that idiots in Brussels have forced upon us....
I also like the engineering behind the i3 with lots of alloy, carbon and other plastics meaning it doesn't weigh in like the Death Star so should remain quite efficient. The resulting weight is only around 100kgs more than the Mii (38 kw battery) in a bigger car that feels a good step up on the Mii.
Today was it's first proper going to work day, heat pump from the app defrosted everything whilst still on charge. 5 mins later, windows clear and out and about for the next 6/7 hrs with a range of 149 miles showing. Covered 80 miles, heater on 18/19C, Eco Pro mode and returned home with a range of 96 miles left. Average of 4.7 m/kWh and ambient that went from freezing to around 7C over the day. Most chuffed with that, didn't have to mess around with a top up during the day (unlike the Mii just now) so long may that continue!
I looked at MG4's, 500e's and so on but one car kept nipping at the back of my head, the i3. Most owners seemed to report the sort of winter range I needed without faffing about, they don't have all the sign recognition crap or lane change assist nonsense that idiots in Brussels have forced upon us....
I also like the engineering behind the i3 with lots of alloy, carbon and other plastics meaning it doesn't weigh in like the Death Star so should remain quite efficient. The resulting weight is only around 100kgs more than the Mii (38 kw battery) in a bigger car that feels a good step up on the Mii.
Today was it's first proper going to work day, heat pump from the app defrosted everything whilst still on charge. 5 mins later, windows clear and out and about for the next 6/7 hrs with a range of 149 miles showing. Covered 80 miles, heater on 18/19C, Eco Pro mode and returned home with a range of 96 miles left. Average of 4.7 m/kWh and ambient that went from freezing to around 7C over the day. Most chuffed with that, didn't have to mess around with a top up during the day (unlike the Mii just now) so long may that continue!
LordGrover said:
I'm coming up to three years with my i3 and still love it. I've done 24,000 miles at an average of 3.9 mi/kWh which is good but not great.
I rarely if ever need to exceed the predicted range as most of my mileage is 20 mile round trip daily commute. It's charged to 100% most nights for pennies and noticed zero drop in guessometer range.
As above, the cabin preconditioning is a boon especially cold mornings, but also nice to have a cooled interior when it's blistering out. It's nippy, practical enough and fun to drive. One of the best cars I've owned and definitely the cheapest to run.
Thanks, just the sort of info I'm looking for. The last 2 normal working days on eco-pro have yielded 4.7m/kWh during mostly 30/40mph areas with some dual here and there. Heater was usually on 18/19C. Collection from Aberdeen gave 4.1 m/kWh, all dual carriageway, cruise at 60mph except for the last 5 miles or so in comfort mode on country nsl and some err fun to see what was what!I rarely if ever need to exceed the predicted range as most of my mileage is 20 mile round trip daily commute. It's charged to 100% most nights for pennies and noticed zero drop in guessometer range.
As above, the cabin preconditioning is a boon especially cold mornings, but also nice to have a cooled interior when it's blistering out. It's nippy, practical enough and fun to drive. One of the best cars I've owned and definitely the cheapest to run.
The thing is, (I had this chat with the sales guy) I don't really get any kicks from the fast EV thing. Yes, of course, I want some power in reserve for an overtake etc when needed and there is a certain entertainment to be had from instant shove out of junctions when others are still sat there....but for an actual going out for a DRIVE then they do still lack behind an entertaining, characterful, manual ice car. I'm sure that will change over time to a certain extent but revving something out to a crescendo, timing smooth gear changes, rev matching on the way down and so on is still something I want to do on occasion.
The i3 and I have bonded very well this week and I am thoroughly enjoying it as a daily and quite entertaining do everything car but for me the kicks come from the efficiency of it rather than reasonable performance.
Looking forward to 5.0m/kWh + when the weather warms up a bit!
The i3 and I have bonded very well this week and I am thoroughly enjoying it as a daily and quite entertaining do everything car but for me the kicks come from the efficiency of it rather than reasonable performance.
Looking forward to 5.0m/kWh + when the weather warms up a bit!
Thoroughly enjoying the i3 and current range seems to be around 170-185 miles which is better than I was hoping for given the ambient temps just now.
The dealership experience (main dealer) has unfortunately left a very sour impression which has resulted in me having to go to the utter faff of making an official complaint against them through BMW CS (not holding out much hope for that either....) that does somewhat take the shine off the new to me car experience.
Hey-ho and all that, its the car that matters.
The dealership experience (main dealer) has unfortunately left a very sour impression which has resulted in me having to go to the utter faff of making an official complaint against them through BMW CS (not holding out much hope for that either....) that does somewhat take the shine off the new to me car experience.
Hey-ho and all that, its the car that matters.
I came down the dual carriageway from Aberdeen after collecting. I stuck in on cruise at 60mph and it gave 4.1 m/kWh average on a cold (6C ambient dry day). Left with 98% charge, did 77 miles and had 54% battery (86 miles) left so I was pleased with that compared to the Mii. I am now averaging 4.6 m/kWh over the last 2 weeks of general running around.
It moves around a touch in side winds but nothing sinister so far and certainly no worse than other higher sided stuff I've driven.
It moves around a touch in side winds but nothing sinister so far and certainly no worse than other higher sided stuff I've driven.
Gradually making it 'mine', 15 mins with some furniture clinic leather cleaner and the steering wheel (after {and I kid you not} literally turning brown and running down onto a cloth I had handy) is now cream again. The main dealer was unable to manage that....tossers. Did the same to the pleather sides of the seats and arm rests. Proper wash revealing dulled area of bodywork that I had mentioned twice to the dealer. Infinity dark glaze hand polish and within minutes marks were gone, AG HD wax to keep it shiny and some AG glass polish to remove the streaks they were incapable of removing. Looks much better!
I want to shampoo the seat fabric but need a warmer day, I suspect a similar result there too.....
Cream! (not mottled brown...)
I want to shampoo the seat fabric but need a warmer day, I suspect a similar result there too.....
Cream! (not mottled brown...)
Yes, think its called loft!! Nearly bought an S, but preferred this to the grey interior. Having said that, it would have hidden their utter lack of care, cleaning & 'presentation'....
A pic of the new cotton cloth I used to clean the wheel, looks more like something I used to check the oil level if it had one.....
A pic of the new cotton cloth I used to clean the wheel, looks more like something I used to check the oil level if it had one.....
Morning chaps! Miss Daisy reporting back.....(smiley face etc)...
Glad you enjoyed the test drive, they just seem to be good bit of kit in a quirky well engineered sort of way.
Most of my usage is in eco pro, (not + that is lethargic) which for general Daisy duties works for me. Unlike the Mii, the heater etc still works fine in that mode but if you do give the pedal a proper press down it will still get off down the road just fine. I think they should have made that the default with the standard 'comfort' more of a semi-sporty mode.
The 3.8 reported seems to tally with my 4.1 coming down the dual set at 60mph on cruise with I suspect the difference being S and non-S if the stats are to be believed. Not been on the M'way with it yet just all around the 'burbs but I might get around to it eventually, its been 20 years since junction 9 on the m40 was my stomp down to London village, I seem to remember average speeds being quite brisk when quiet!
Glad you enjoyed the test drive, they just seem to be good bit of kit in a quirky well engineered sort of way.
Most of my usage is in eco pro, (not + that is lethargic) which for general Daisy duties works for me. Unlike the Mii, the heater etc still works fine in that mode but if you do give the pedal a proper press down it will still get off down the road just fine. I think they should have made that the default with the standard 'comfort' more of a semi-sporty mode.
The 3.8 reported seems to tally with my 4.1 coming down the dual set at 60mph on cruise with I suspect the difference being S and non-S if the stats are to be believed. Not been on the M'way with it yet just all around the 'burbs but I might get around to it eventually, its been 20 years since junction 9 on the m40 was my stomp down to London village, I seem to remember average speeds being quite brisk when quiet!
Mine is a '20 plate (42kw battery) and I use my 7kw wall charger all the time. If you watch some of the Wisely automotive YT vids, you will see Martin on the M'way getting almost 50kw charge rate when the car is between 20-80%. From memory, he was managing that much charge in around 20-25 mins or so.
te eh?Discombobulate said:
You won't unless driving in Eco pro at slow speeds with everything shut down.
These cars are so efficient it makes no sense to go to great lengths to maximise efficiency unless desperate for a bit longer range. The financial savings are tiny.
Challenge accepted! I'll need to get my special driving Miss Daisy shoes on tho........These cars are so efficient it makes no sense to go to great lengths to maximise efficiency unless desperate for a bit longer range. The financial savings are tiny.
Now completed 2k miles. The average efficiency had settled at 4.5 m/kWh but the last couple of weeks has seen that creep up to 4.6 & now 4.7 m/kWh so very happy with that considering its still not exactly warm here yet. It was claiming 210 miles range the other day.
Managed to get a self tapper in the nearside front which was thankfully repairable. Once the Bridgestones are knackered, they will be replaced with something else as the fronts show cracking which apparently isn't a fault........
Managed to get a self tapper in the nearside front which was thankfully repairable. Once the Bridgestones are knackered, they will be replaced with something else as the fronts show cracking which apparently isn't a fault........
Heh-heh, just normal eco mode, mostly burbs stuff with some country roads and little dual carriageway. Heater was on 16C, even switched the a/c on later on to check if it actually works....!
As per earlier post, efficiency had slowly climbed from a pretty steadfast 4.5 up to 4.7. This weeks running around has brought it up to 4.8 m/kWh. That's just over 2k miles since purchase and it's slowly getting warmer-ish which is helping.
Even got some tunes onto the built in hard drive which is a first for me!
As per earlier post, efficiency had slowly climbed from a pretty steadfast 4.5 up to 4.7. This weeks running around has brought it up to 4.8 m/kWh. That's just over 2k miles since purchase and it's slowly getting warmer-ish which is helping.
Even got some tunes onto the built in hard drive which is a first for me!
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