BMW i3 REX - any deals out there for cash buyer ?

[autofocus]

Hi there,

Took a BMW i3 for a 30 min test drive on Friday, and was quite simply blown away.
Picking another one up on Tuesday for a 48 hour test drive and if all goes well I will be looking to place an order in the next couple of weeks.

Anyone know of any deals out there on these ? Nissan are giving Leaf's away like sweets and I know BMW deals are notoriously thin on the ground but for a cash buyer could I expect to get anything off ?

Any contacts much appreciated.

Regards

Tim

[autofocus]

Hi there,

Will be able to give full impressions on Wednesday after I have driven the car for a couple of days but the one thing that impressed me more than anything else was the petrol engine.

Having driven Toyota Prius and other hybrids and seen the way the petrol engine is used as the main driving engine it was a revelation to me the way BMW have engineered the i3.

The main drive in the i3 is the electric power train, the petrol engine is used purely as a generator to maintain the charge in the battery and not to drive the wheels (so I am told by the dealer anyway). This for me is a completely different way of thinking.

I was not aware of the way it worked until I drove it briefly and had it explained to me.

Regards

Tim

[autofocus]

Hi there,

OK day one with the car and it really is a little gem



This one is really well spec'd with it being a demo so has Leather, enhanced Sat Nav, Internet (surfing Pistonheads from the car is certainly an experience), Harman Kardon sound system etc etc. I think it would be around £40k out of the showroom (before the grant)

Only done around 75 miles in it today on a mixture of electric and petrol via the REX. I have tended to use the electric on country roads/pottering in town and then the REX on the M6. Certainly handles it will and pretty much no range anxiety which was the biggest drawback of the Leaf.

Got around 130 miles to do tomorrow and have no on street charging cable (it was stuck in the dealerships machine and they couldn't release it) so will rely on rapid chargers and REX which will be fine.

Will take a few more pics tomorrow.

Regards

Tim

[autofocus]

Hi there,

OK lets move the thread back on topic. The i3 is plenty fast enough for me

Charged the i3 overnight, left home this morning with 68 miles of electric charge (and a petrol range of 23 miles)



Headed for Manchester across the hills rather than the motorway due to an accident in Stoke. Arrived with 14 miles of charge left having not used the petrol engine at all. I stopped en route to fill the petrol tank up (£7.20/6.5 litres filled it) just in case. Manchester is 54 miles from the front door for reference



Left the car for most of the day (not on charge as the dealer could not supply a cable for the on street chargers).

Headed back from Manchester with 11 miles of electric range showing. My plan was to stop at Knutsford services and use the rapid charger so use the petrol engine out of Manchester to the M6. Pulled into the services and the charger was not working. Headed back to the dealers using just the petrol engine and got back with 9 miles left on the electric gauge and 40 miles of petrol. This thing is very economical, I am hugely impressed.



Love the way the i3 looks and the doors are mega very easy to live with.





Even found time to surf the net for my favourite site



Probably going to order one quite soon, just need to finalise the spec. The one I borrowed had a list of £42k (before the £5k grant) so a little bit OTT for me.

Regards

Tim

Edited by autofocus on Wednesday 1st April 21:17

Edited by autofocus on Wednesday 1st April 21:24