So who's getting an i3?
Discussion
Hello chaps. First post in EV - please be gentle 
Having put 27k(!) on my 550i last year after a house move I'm looking at alternatives. Keeping an eye on the lease thread I see the i3 has popped up in some decent deals. (236+VAT on 6+23 for 15k miles or 263 for the REx version).
http://www.easternwesternfleetservices.co.uk/busin...
I've not sat in one yet (planning to pop into Dick Lovett later) but what are they like to drive? What's the refinement like (wind, tyre noise) on the motorway? Are they like normal BMWs where you have to option everything, like nav or decent audio, bum warmers etc which will probably bump the lease price?
My daily commute is 97 miles 95% motorway. Would that be do-able? There are charge points nearby at work I could use which I'll now keep an eye on to see if they are used.
Cheers
Having put 27k(!) on my 550i last year after a house move I'm looking at alternatives. Keeping an eye on the lease thread I see the i3 has popped up in some decent deals. (236+VAT on 6+23 for 15k miles or 263 for the REx version).
http://www.easternwesternfleetservices.co.uk/busin...
I've not sat in one yet (planning to pop into Dick Lovett later) but what are they like to drive? What's the refinement like (wind, tyre noise) on the motorway? Are they like normal BMWs where you have to option everything, like nav or decent audio, bum warmers etc which will probably bump the lease price?
My daily commute is 97 miles 95% motorway. Would that be do-able? There are charge points nearby at work I could use which I'll now keep an eye on to see if they are used.
Cheers
hornetrider said:
I've not sat in one yet (planning to pop into Dick Lovett later) but what are they like to drive? What's the refinement like (wind, tyre noise) on the motorway? Are they like normal BMWs where you have to option everything, like nav or decent audio, bum warmers etc which will probably bump the lease price?
If that's Dick Lovett Bristol then you'll probably speak to Scott, he's a good lad and will treat you well.My commute is 25 miles each way on the motorway and the wind/tyre noise doesn't bother me at all. Some of the early cars had more tyre noise but that was, of course, due to the tyres themselves. They're well specced as standard with the 'business' satnav, although the standard nav is clearly deliberately inferior looking... I paid the extra and got the professional nav, it's noticeably nicer and IMHO a good upgrade.
There is now a Sport pack which includes a few upgrades (19-inch alloy wheels, tinted windows, LED headlights and Harman/Kardon audio for £1,700, a £610 saving over optioning them separately). Of those, the 19 inch wheels and tinted windows are personal preference but the LED headlights and HK audio are worth having... I got neither of these.
You'll want the DC fast charge option so you can charge at service stations (Ecotricity) and you may decide that the interior is a good upgrade. You CAN get carried away but as minimum I'd go for Pro Nav, Fast charge, upgraded 18" alloys. I'd consider the HK audio upgrade if you like music as the standard one only has 4 front speakers.
hornetrider said:
My daily commute is 97 miles 95% motorway. Would that be do-able? There are charge points nearby at work I could use which I'll now keep an eye on to see if they are used.
In winter the range gets reduced because you're running the heater. On mine it sapped the range by 11 miles so when it was cold I was getting around 60-70miles range on battery. On that basis, you'd want the Range Extender which will see that range doubled on average. In the warm weather, driven carefully then you'll get closer to 80-90 miles range if driven carefully.If you can charge at work, for free, then that's perfect for you.
Don't buy the active cruise control, it's s
t!Is your commute 95 miles one way? I commute 60 miles each way, 30 miles motorway. On some days I don't get to work on one charge and have to use range extender for last couple of miles. I then charge at work.
If you can't charge at work and its 95 miles each way forget it. Even if you can charge at work, dont expect to get more thn 60 miles out of the battery, especially95% on the motorway, unless you want to drive at 60mph.
Best bet is to get a 2 day trial of the car and see how it performs,.
If you can't charge at work and its 95 miles each way forget it. Even if you can charge at work, dont expect to get more thn 60 miles out of the battery, especially95% on the motorway, unless you want to drive at 60mph.
Best bet is to get a 2 day trial of the car and see how it performs,.
MagicalTrevor said:
If that's Dick Lovett Bristol then you'll probably speak to Scott, he's a good lad and will treat you well.
Turns out it's Kelly - test drive at 12.MagicalTrevor said:
My commute is 25 miles each way on the motorway and the wind/tyre noise doesn't bother me at all. Some of the early cars had more tyre noise but that was, of course, due to the tyres themselves. They're well specced as standard with the 'business' satnav, although the standard nav is clearly deliberately inferior looking... I paid the extra and got the professional nav, it's noticeably nicer and IMHO a good upgrade.
There is now a Sport pack which includes a few upgrades (19-inch alloy wheels, tinted windows, LED headlights and Harman/Kardon audio for £1,700, a £610 saving over optioning them separately). Of those, the 19 inch wheels and tinted windows are personal preference but the LED headlights and HK audio are worth having... I got neither of these.
You'll want the DC fast charge option so you can charge at service stations (Ecotricity) and you may decide that the interior is a good upgrade. You CAN get carried away but as minimum I'd go for Pro Nav, Fast charge, upgraded 18" alloys. I'd consider the HK audio upgrade if you like music as the standard one only has 4 front speakers.
OK cool thanks, the usual BMW way then. I kind of imagined they'd take a more eco holistic approach with the i3 but then this is BMW There is now a Sport pack which includes a few upgrades (19-inch alloy wheels, tinted windows, LED headlights and Harman/Kardon audio for £1,700, a £610 saving over optioning them separately). Of those, the 19 inch wheels and tinted windows are personal preference but the LED headlights and HK audio are worth having... I got neither of these.
You'll want the DC fast charge option so you can charge at service stations (Ecotricity) and you may decide that the interior is a good upgrade. You CAN get carried away but as minimum I'd go for Pro Nav, Fast charge, upgraded 18" alloys. I'd consider the HK audio upgrade if you like music as the standard one only has 4 front speakers.
MagicalTrevor said:
In winter the range gets reduced because you're running the heater. On mine it sapped the range by 11 miles so when it was cold I was getting around 60-70miles range on battery. On that basis, you'd want the Range Extender which will see that range doubled on average. In the warm weather, driven carefully then you'll get closer to 80-90 miles range if driven carefully.
If you can charge at work, for free, then that's perfect for you.
OK sounds like it's probably just out of range for a round trip on full charge, given heating, wipers, HK use etc. But yes I'll have a poke around the charge points at work and see what's what.If you can charge at work, for free, then that's perfect for you.
MagicalTrevor said:
Don't buy the active cruise control, it's st!
Disappointing!! I quite fancy a car with that, would make the commute easier. How is it st!t?!Active cruise is st from personal experience.
Firstly, you can't have the base interior spec so that means you need to add the £1000/£1500/£2000 interior upgrades to allow you to get it. As it happens, I was happy with the base spec but decided to go for the £2k interior (full leather) because I wanted the ACC. I'm glad I did in retrospect but I'd never have done it if it wasn't for the ACC.
My camera has faulty, it tries to drive into the back of people... which is exciting! However, disregard that fundamental flaw for a moment, it's very weather dependent so glare, sun, or any combination of British weather confuses it because it uses an optical camera instead of radar. When it does that it disables the ACC and the i3 doesn't coast like a normal car, it effectively applies the brakes... which is exciting at 70mph on the motorway with somebody behind you.
When you overtake then it takes a while to realise what you're doing so you have to carefully override the cruise whilst you do it.
Bottom line is, I'd advise you test it a lot before ordering it. When it works, it's superb but when it doesn't then I hate it and generally shout at it ... a lot.
t from personal experience. Firstly, you can't have the base interior spec so that means you need to add the £1000/£1500/£2000 interior upgrades to allow you to get it. As it happens, I was happy with the base spec but decided to go for the £2k interior (full leather) because I wanted the ACC. I'm glad I did in retrospect but I'd never have done it if it wasn't for the ACC.
My camera has faulty, it tries to drive into the back of people... which is exciting! However, disregard that fundamental flaw for a moment, it's very weather dependent so glare, sun, or any combination of British weather confuses it because it uses an optical camera instead of radar. When it does that it disables the ACC and the i3 doesn't coast like a normal car, it effectively applies the brakes... which is exciting at 70mph on the motorway with somebody behind you.
When you overtake then it takes a while to realise what you're doing so you have to carefully override the cruise whilst you do it.
Bottom line is, I'd advise you test it a lot before ordering it. When it works, it's superb but when it doesn't then I hate it and generally shout at it ... a lot.
MagicalTrevor said:
13 amp plug should be fine if you're able to park on site and can access a plug.
Not sure I can at a big corporate site. I'll start looking into this though, some colleagues have PHEVs so I'll ask them.So - test drive thoughts. Jesus, it's brilliant, I was very surprised. Such a nice car to drive.
The regen braking takes a bit to get used to, it's fairly aggressive. One negative is I understand the brake lights come on with the regenerative braking whereas I do lift/coast a lot in heavy traffic and try to avoid using brakes, so an awful lot of advance thought is required - nice challenge to have though.
Otherwise I thought the road noise was fine at motorway speeds, really really liked the interior design, such a nice place to be even in standard cloth trim. I liked the cabin materials, very well put together and thoughtful design.
There's an upgraded i3 due to be announced with apparently 50% longer battery range in the coming months. I suspect that the logic behind the special deals at the moment is to clear old stock before the new one is available. Here in Switzerland the deal on a new one is 1.9% interest and the option to hand the car back within the first 6 months if it doesn't work. This offer is until the end of March indicating that details might be public in the coming weeks. Geneva motor show?
Get a 24 hour test drive next. You get used to still pressing the accelerator whilst decelerating (which you'll understand now you've driven one) and makes it very smooth to move around.
Consider looking at the BMW 330e as well, it may well suit your commute length a little move conveniently
Consider looking at the BMW 330e as well, it may well suit your commute length a little move conveniently
Yes I'm sure I'd get used to it relatively quickly, just requires a different thought process.
One concern is the range. The car was fully charged and as we started off it showed 60 mile range on battery only. When we flicked it to Eco mode it went up to 64. This was using windscreen demist and wipers, but nothing else. Now, I understand this may go up due to regenerative braking but on a mainly motorway commute I'm not sure how much that would add.
If I needed to use the REx then the figures would start to make a little less sense - fag packet says it's 2 gallons and would add another 70 odd miles? So... if you used a full charge and full REx tank you're looking at 150 miles range and the equivalent of about 75 to the gallon? Would that be about the ballpark?
I quite like the idea of running on electricity only and the cost savings that would bring me. Thoughts?
One concern is the range. The car was fully charged and as we started off it showed 60 mile range on battery only. When we flicked it to Eco mode it went up to 64. This was using windscreen demist and wipers, but nothing else. Now, I understand this may go up due to regenerative braking but on a mainly motorway commute I'm not sure how much that would add.
If I needed to use the REx then the figures would start to make a little less sense - fag packet says it's 2 gallons and would add another 70 odd miles? So... if you used a full charge and full REx tank you're looking at 150 miles range and the equivalent of about 75 to the gallon? Would that be about the ballpark?
I quite like the idea of running on electricity only and the cost savings that would bring me. Thoughts?
As others have said, get an extended test drive. If your decision does hinge on the free work charging, then what happens if it changes? Rumour has it Ecotricity will charge soon.
It does seem there will be a longer range vehicle coming this year, likely after the summer .. But only BMW knows!
There were some really good lease deals end of last year, so these new deals doesn't mean there's anything imminent.
I'm counting down the days till mine arrives, it's the most fun vehicle I've driven in a long line (and that includes two M's)
It does seem there will be a longer range vehicle coming this year, likely after the summer .. But only BMW knows!
There were some really good lease deals end of last year, so these new deals doesn't mean there's anything imminent.
I'm counting down the days till mine arrives, it's the most fun vehicle I've driven in a long line (and that includes two M's)
I've just enquired about the rapid charger and heard back from the council who manage it.
Bit disappointed really. Fiver to charge the car and get 50/60 miles of range doesn't seem like value to me. In fact it's about the same cost as petrol!
Council guy said:
Many thanks for your enquiry. The rapid chargers are not set up to be a daily charging option, they are geared towards allowing people to continue on a journey – much like stopping at a service station on the motorway. The other factor involved in the charge is the fact that rapid chargers cost 10 x the amount of a normal 7kW fast charger and we don’t have the resources to put these in and facilitate a free charge. I hope this goes some way to answering your question.
Bit disappointed really. Fiver to charge the car and get 50/60 miles of range doesn't seem like value to me. In fact it's about the same cost as petrol!
Currently the best source of i3 info in the UK is here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwi3uk/
RossP said:
Currently the best source of i3 info in the UK is here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwi3uk/
Cheers Ross. I've popped in a join request.Lease quote has come in, very tempting!
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