So who's getting an i3?
Discussion
Going to test drive an i3 tomorrow which might well lead to placing an order.
Can I just check what people think are must have options?
At this stage, we were probably going to go for non-s 120ah, Lodge interior world.
Optional extras:
Aux cabin heating (assume it's worth it for improved range in winter?)
Park assist package (looks like this is the only way to get parking sensors, is that right?)
Apple car play
Comfort access
Is there anything else that we should be considering or do those choice look sensible?
Can I just check what people think are must have options?
At this stage, we were probably going to go for non-s 120ah, Lodge interior world.
Optional extras:
Aux cabin heating (assume it's worth it for improved range in winter?)
Park assist package (looks like this is the only way to get parking sensors, is that right?)
Apple car play
Comfort access
Is there anything else that we should be considering or do those choice look sensible?
Standard wheels are 19" anyway so I don't imagine 20's will affect things too much.
The main thing with the S is that it has a wider track and slightly lower suspension which aids the stability of the car significantly apparently. With it being quite high sided the standard car can feel a little unstable at high speeds especially if there's any wind about in my experience. It can also understeer quite a lot at times especially in the wet under moderate acceleration. The i3S improves things in both these areas.
The main thing with the S is that it has a wider track and slightly lower suspension which aids the stability of the car significantly apparently. With it being quite high sided the standard car can feel a little unstable at high speeds especially if there's any wind about in my experience. It can also understeer quite a lot at times especially in the wet under moderate acceleration. The i3S improves things in both these areas.
Gad-Westy said:
IN51GHT said:
I have the S with Park Asist & Aux climate, perfect little car
Would you mind elaborating a bit on the aux heater thing? I still don't fully understand what it is and its real world benefit.JPJPJP said:
JPJPJP said:
my neighbour has a new i3 120 Ah demonstrator for a couple of days
as he has no charger, it is on mine at the moment: when I plugged it in, it estimated the range when full would be 177 miles
for comparison, my 94Ah variant showed 143 when I moved it off the charger to plug the newer one in
I expect the new one would show more range if it had been driven more conservatively recently - demonstrators get a bit more loud pedal than mine I expect
And here is an eg of real life buying decisionsas he has no charger, it is on mine at the moment: when I plugged it in, it estimated the range when full would be 177 miles
for comparison, my 94Ah variant showed 143 when I moved it off the charger to plug the newer one in
I expect the new one would show more range if it had been driven more conservatively recently - demonstrators get a bit more loud pedal than mine I expect
Neighbours loved the car, but hasn’t ordered one. Can’t get head round the “limited range”
On questioning, the current car (bmw 1 series owned from new on a 56 plate with 33k on it) has never driven as far in a day as the i3 could go on a full battery.. No changes to driving pattern are expected. Charger could be installed at home....
A plug in hybrid mini is a better option apparently
Somewhere in his comparisons of the two products the Mini is cheaper.
In EV world ‘range’ is typically code for something else and outside of political rage/lunacy it invariably is about money. Even irrational fear can be easily overcome by money, you just need to wave a ‘bogoff’ offer on something they don’t even want one of, let alone two and the average consumer will stick their face in a mincer.
I've ordered an S on the basis of better stability on the motorway in wind, as that will be a large part of the use. However, I also look forward the better handling and marginally better performance.
In regards to the parking sensor question, I thought that rear sensors were standard, but adding the "front/rear sensors" added front only. That does seem a bit misleading if I am right.
In regards to the parking sensor question, I thought that rear sensors were standard, but adding the "front/rear sensors" added front only. That does seem a bit misleading if I am right.
Thanks for the input. Drove an 120ah i3s Rex this morning. Think the Rex is now discontinued so I guess that aspect of the spec is moot but the rest of the car might be reasonable representative of what we'd ultimately order, taking on board everyone's suggestions steering us toward the S.
One thing I still don't understand, and something the dealer couldn't clarify either is the aux heating system. He talked about its ability to pre-heat the cabin by programming using app etc but surely that feature is standard anyway and what is actually happening is that the battery itself is also being pre heated if we spec the aux heating option. I'm not sure that the marginal range gains in colder weather is all that important to us.
Otherwise test drive went pretty well. I have to be honest, I wasn't totally bowled over but some aspects were great. It feels like a brilliant city car which I realise is the whole point. Even though we drove the S, it did feel a bit 'nervous' at higher speeds and I thought it would feel a lot faster from standstill than it actually did. Are there different modes that might make it feel more responsive? We only had 30 mins in the car an didn't really fiddle with iDrive etc.
Slight niggles aside, we might well go for one. Numbers look good.
One thing I still don't understand, and something the dealer couldn't clarify either is the aux heating system. He talked about its ability to pre-heat the cabin by programming using app etc but surely that feature is standard anyway and what is actually happening is that the battery itself is also being pre heated if we spec the aux heating option. I'm not sure that the marginal range gains in colder weather is all that important to us.
Otherwise test drive went pretty well. I have to be honest, I wasn't totally bowled over but some aspects were great. It feels like a brilliant city car which I realise is the whole point. Even though we drove the S, it did feel a bit 'nervous' at higher speeds and I thought it would feel a lot faster from standstill than it actually did. Are there different modes that might make it feel more responsive? We only had 30 mins in the car an didn't really fiddle with iDrive etc.
Slight niggles aside, we might well go for one. Numbers look good.
Assuming it was in either sport or comfort mode that will be as quick as it is, putting it in eco or eco+ does blunt response quite a bit though. What car are you coming from out of interest as surprised it didn't feel quick off the mark?
You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
SWoll said:
Assuming it was in either sport or comfort mode that will be as quick as it is, putting it in eco or eco+ does blunt response quite a bit though. What car are you coming from out of interest as surprised it didn't feel quick off the mark?
You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
Cheers SWolf. Probably inclined to knock the aux heating on the head then. Sounds like the standard setup would sere us just fine. You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though. Maybe it was in an eco mode, it certainly had very strong regen braking when coming off the accelerator,
Gad-Westy said:
Cheers SWolf. Probably inclined to knock the aux heating on the head then. Sounds like the standard setup would sere us just fine.
Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though. Maybe it was in an eco mode, it certainly had very strong regen braking when coming off the accelerator,
The smoothness & lack of noise is deceptive. You soon realise up to 50-60mph it's a properly nippy little car, even SWMBO admits to taking part in the odd traffic light grand prix & she has never, ever done that before.Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though. Maybe it was in an eco mode, it certainly had very strong regen braking when coming off the accelerator,
Gad-Westy said:
SWoll said:
Assuming it was in either sport or comfort mode that will be as quick as it is, putting it in eco or eco+ does blunt response quite a bit though. What car are you coming from out of interest as surprised it didn't feel quick off the mark?
You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
Cheers SWolf. Probably inclined to knock the aux heating on the head then. Sounds like the standard setup would sere us just fine. You can 'climatise' the car as the app puts it without the aux heater and if you do it whilst the car is charging it won't rob any range. We do it quite regularly and works a treat. I'm sure the aux heater will aid efficiency but all dependent on what that additional few miles of absolute range in the winter is worth to you as you say. Doesn't affect us personally as our average daily mileage is < 40 and we can charge overnight whenever required.
Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though. Maybe it was in an eco mode, it certainly had very strong regen braking when coming off the accelerator,
Definitely not M3 humbling but I've has some fun with 330i/d drivers over the past 6 months who were surprised to see me stuck to their back bumpers on a B road.
If the regen was super strong that does sound like a car in eco-pro which blunts all responses very heavily and makes the regen feel like you've hit the brake pedal quite hard every time you back of the throttle.
I can drive with eco mode on but eco-pro is a nightmare.
Gad-Westy said:
<snip>
Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though.
I had an i3s for a weekend test drive last month, so I was able to drive it over an extended period and compare it to my 30kwh leaf and the i-pace. The initial 'launch' when you floor the accelerator is a little subdued which I think affects the initial feel of the acceleration. Once you are moving though, I thought the acceleration from say 30 - 60mph was actually pretty strong.Regarding the performance, I don't want to paint a picture of suggesting it felt slow because it didn't but I'd read a lot about M3 humbling performance from short standing starts and it never really felt anything like that to me. I wasn't really comparing it to anything in particular but the last electric car I drove was the current shape Leaf and to me it didn't feel all that much faster, though clearly it should be. It definitely felt more responsive at higher speeds than other EV's I've driven though.
It does have that problem which affects all short wheelbase cars when going over speed humps etc that the rear axle is quite close to your seating position, which limits the extent to which it can smooth out bumps. Still, it's a good car and definitely pretty good value if you pick up one a few months old.
I only have the non-S 120Ah, however acceleration wise it is very nippy. It doesn't launch particularly hard from a standstill (presumably all in the mapping for traction), but once rolling ~10mph, the shove up to 40-50 is quite amusing for a 'noddy car' While it doesn't launch hard, it does have instant response and no gear changes to slow you down, hence being good at the traffic light GP!
While it doesn't launch hard, it does have instant response and no gear changes to slow you down, hence being good at the traffic light GP!modeller said:
BMW toned down the initial launch due to it snapping the motor mount bolts. The 64Ah were much quicker from 0mph.
That makes sense and would explain the original i3 vs M3 videos up to 30 mph. Certainly on the i3s I test drove, the initial launch felt limited by mapping rather than lack of torque.Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff