I have had a BMW i3 since December 2014 and my three year lease is almost up. I have taken it to the service station four times in the near three years I have had it. Twice for a flat tire and the other times were for a fuel vent line malfunction and a computer read out on the passenger seat belt. I think that's pretty good going. I have 23,000 miles on the clock.
HI guy, Love your video. I have a 2015 i3. In my first week I was charging @ Electrify America. The plug locked on me I called EA and they had to do a reboot and free at last. When I bought the car the check engine light was on. I took the car to my local BMW. to get it check out. Wow they were just super. ( Jason) They took the car in and fix it. The last BMW place had worked on it and had replaced a Fuel sensor and installed it wrong. I bought the car that day. other than the plug locking I have had no trouble. I hope you are having better luck. David
Sounds like you didn't do enough research. 20" wheels were summer only & the 2014MY cars are riddled with production problems (not a surprise given how advanced this car is). I would be trying to offload it ASAP, but if you like the i3 despite the issues go for a 2015 or 2017 car with the bigger 94Ah battery.
My 2014 BMW i3 was manufactured in December 2014, which so far does not have any active recalls. So even in 2014, I think BMW made some slight adjustments to production to fix the other i3 issues.
I heard something about this with all the sensor fails. It has to do with exposure to salt air / salt water. This guy said if you are close to the ocean or salt road conditions that it wreaks havoc on the i3's sensors. You did say you bought the car in San Francisco. Not saying that was the cause but it does make a little sense.
These car manufacturers have to produce a certain amount of green cars under government legalisation, so they basically throw them together, rush them out into the market and hope for the best. The fact is this, car manufacturers hate EVs, because they generate less money due to less parts being used, it’s also cheaper to produce ICE cars.
My 1 year old i3 is back with the dealer again with a safety fault where the brakes randomly slam on. Today it wouldn't charge from 4 different chargers and left me stranded. Also have the same problem with the door sensor and the cruise control failing. Not what you expect from a 'premium' car company
BMW always have sensor problems. Their wiring is very complex. But hey, free cappuccino and buns and you get to smell a new Mini Cooper and doubt your purchase more. My 3 series had problems as well. Join the party. You know my neighbor's daughter has this car. 2016, 94 ah Rex and she hasn' t had any failure problems at all and she's 6 months deep so far. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, it has been my experience to never argue with BMW employees. They just work there. They did not build the car personally. Don't fix the issues then tell them about it. Contact them while you're having an issue and let them un-bug it. It's the only way they can prevent future models from having these issues. It's your duty as an EV Early Adopter. Luxury brands aren't immune to faulty manufacturing, especially used cars. It's kind of part of the territory. Beautiful car though.
I owned two BMW's, a 325i and X5, both had so many electrical and mechanical issues. I vow never to buy another BMW. Thank you for attesting to BMW issues. I, too, was always often at BMW Service Center and missed so much time from work becuase their cars are unreliable. Get rid of your BMW. Your life will be worry-free without BMW's shi**y cars..
Don't let the dealer push you around - if there's something wrong with your vehicle and it's under warranty, they must fix it. Otherwise, what good is the warranty?! A vehicle is only worth what the purchaser is willing to pay for it, not what the manufacturer or dealer insist it's worth. That's why so many luxury cars, lose so much value after 5-6 years; they aren't worth fixing if something major goes wrong and they're out of warranty!!! Mostly, only people who are well off financially or sacrifice other niceties (or worse), can afford to have a luxury vehicle as the ownership costs can be astronomical compared to Chevy's, Fords, Toyota's, etc. I liken people who have them as more rich than smart. I mean really, who the hell likes being stranded or loves having to take their vehicle to the dealer for repair, five or six times in such a short time span?! Their tactic is to try and not pay or delay until it is out of warranty, in my not so humble opinion.
The lip sync needs to be better because the words don't match your mouth movement. Please fix your computer and/or application. But a great review! Thank you!
The fact BMW installed manual pull tabs for so many actuators suggests BMW knows how unreliable these design components are. Kinda sad and pathetic really.
No position on the Leaf, but the Volts have their own set of problems, most notably the one that tells drivers to put the car in park before it leaves them stranded at the side of the road without warning.
