What an odd situation I find myself in right now. It’s 1 AM, and I’m sitting in a motel near Carlsbad, California. I just drove 2.5 hours to test-drive the cheapest BMW i3 I could find, after having fallen head-over-heels in love with the one I rented last weekend. I didn’t immediately buy the i3 I just test drove due to some concerns, which is why I’m in this motel; allow me to elaborate.
First, let me just say that the 2014 BMW i3 that I rented last weekend had me absolutely smitten. I realize that you all know me as a man who daily-drives $500 shitboxes, but you also know me as an engineer who likes state-of-the-art tech, and that side of me cannot resist the lure of the BMW i3 — possibly the greatest small-car of this millennium.
Many of you might be thinking I’ve gone full Hollywood, forgoing daily-driving cheap junkers in favor of a luxury BMW. I reject this notion; the i3 just makes a ton of sense for me right now for the following reasons:
- I run a car website in 2023. I should have first-hand experience owning an EV.
- Driving an old junker on Michigan roads is no problem; driving them on LA highways is a different ballgame. I need something safe and comfortable that can hang with the rest of traffic.
- I could use a modern, reliable daily driver; time is more important now that I’m running a company. I can no longer wrench 24/7. (This one’s a bit dubious, I’ll admit, given that we’re talking about an old BMW).
- I have a commute; people should commute in EVs if they can — it’s good for the environment.
- I’m getting older, and my older friends aren’t necessarily going to want to ride in my old cars. Having something comfortable and safe can put people at ease.
- I have chargers at my apartment and at work.
- Fuel in California is about $5 a gallon.
Before actually considering buying one, I drove the i3 you see in the Turo listing above. I piloted it on the highway from Studio City to Santa Monica, cruised around that area, charged it at a friend’s place using the standard 110V cable, and charged it at work with a Level 2 charger.
I fell in love, but not for any exciting reason. It wasn’t amazing to drive and it’s not that beautiful, but it is unbelievably well executed. And that is hard to ignore.
.
I don’t have time to really get into a full review since, as I mentioned, it’s 1 A.M. and my eyelids are getting all Gm_1m_2/r^2 on my ass. But it’s a carbon fiber electric car with 50+ miles of electric-only range, a little twin-cylinder motorcycle out back to keep you going when the small battery goes low, heated seats, adaptive cruise control, a backup camera, navigation, an utterly stunning interior, LED headlights, and on and on. It’s modern, it’s comfortable, and it’ll get me to work and to friends’ houses and back without using any gas.
Plus, the electric motor feels lively and fun, the steering radius is wonderfully small, and there’s a lot more room inside this tiny, lightweight electric car than you’d think.
The i3 that I rented was in really nice shape overall. It was a 2014 (the first model-year), and I never did see more than 50 miles of range on the screen, but it was still totally usable given my access to chargers. I’m not a huge fan of the dark brown interior compared to the lighter ones, but it was still such a nice place to spend time:
The i3 isn’t more fun to drive than my 1966 Ford Mustang or my 1985 Jeep J10, but it fulfills the role I need. It’s safe, comfortable, and electric. In my eyes, it is the only cool enthusiast’s electric car that one can buy on a budget today (again, that’s just my opinion. I appreciate the Fiat 500E and Volt and others, I’m just not interested in owning one).
The day I turned the i3 rental in, I began looking to buy one, in earnest. Naturally, my criteria was: Cheapest one possible. Does this make sense entirely? No. But I’m the “save money on the front end, get burned on the back end” kind of man; I’m sure you all know this by now.
Anyway, that brought me to this listing — a 135,000 mile i3 for sale for $10,499 by a reputable (according to Google reviews) BMW dealer in Vista (1.5 hours south of LA, or, during the rush-hour that I drove, closer to three):
I set up an appointment with the dealer, slogged through the river-shaped parking lot, and eventually arrived at the car:
From a distance, it looks decent. The paint shines, and the panels still look to assume roughly their correct shapes. A closer look does reveal some scuffs, scratches, and chips:
I didn’t get a great photo of the interior, but it’s the “Giga World” cabin, and it’s absolutely fantastic. A few of the buttons have some scratches on them, but the seats and dash and doorcards look beautiful:
Anyway, the car drove nicely. It started out with three bars out of four and 39 miles of range, that dropped to 32 rather quickly on the freeway, but jumped back up to 37 once I got off the freeway and started driving around town a bit. Maybe the computer was adjusting for my driving style, or maybe the battery just can’t handle highway cruising (something that, in general, we know to be true — highway driving tends to eat up battery juice).
I did hear a clunk from the rear end of the car, though the dealer seemed to be entirely deaf to it when I pointed it out a few times. “Could just be something in the trunk” he told me later, though I slid under the car and quickly pointed out that the range extender’s exhaust pipe was totally loose. He said he’d fix that and the unclipped front bumper, and that the vehicle had just gotten to the dealer a week prior. It didn’t give me confidence in his team’s inspection skills.
But the car still remained the cheapest i3 out there, especially sold by an actual BMW dealer, and I do love cheap. What I don’t like is not understanding risks, and that’s really my main problem right now.
With an ICE car, I can drive it, look at it, maybe take some measurements, maybe wiggle a few things, and get a pretty damn good idea for what shape the car is in, and what I’ll have to replace. But a plug-in hybrid like the i3 is the most difficult car to test drive, possibly lever.
In the 20 miles I whipped the little car I was unable to assess the health of the two most important components bolted to that CFRP tub: The battery and the range extender. The battery I was unable to assess because I need to drive the car more to really see what type of range it has left after 135,000 miles and 9 years, and the range extender ICE engine I never even heard run! That little motorcycle V-twin only springs to life once the battery is closer to empty.
So when the dealer asked me if I want the car, I told him: I don’t have enough info. I don’t know if the battery is crap, and I don’t know if the engine is crap. This test drive was largely pointless, other than it allowed me to find an exhaust issue.
The dealer agreed to charge the car to 100 percent overnight, and let me drive it around on an extended test drive the following morning, which is why I’m sitting here in this cheap motel in Carlsbad:
Should I risk it? The dealelr did say I had a five day, 250 mile money-back guarantee, so in addition to my extended test drive, I could throw the car around for a few days to test that battery. Hmm.
Should I?
— David Tracy (@davidntracy) March 1, 2023
As much as I feel I’ve become a new, more refined, hybrid-driving, apartment-dwelling, recycling, less-meat-eating man here in LA, my old “Buy First, Think Later” adage is threatening to win out yet again. Oh boy.
I think this is cheap for a reason. 3-5% capacity reduction per year is normal, so after 9 years, 70% of original capacity is to be expected. Problem is, the early i3 model years had a rather small battery to begin with (18 kWh usable). As the range shrinks further, it will just become annoying in day-to-day use.
At some point (2017 or 18), the i3 started shipping with 50% larger battery capacity. I’d suggest you buy the cheapest one of those.
I worked at a BMW dealer (as a service porter) when these were being sold, and I can tell you some things I noticed:
1) They are absolutely a hoot to drive.
2) The interiors are lovely
3) Make sure you run down the battery and use the REX gas engine with some regularity. Those had issues in cars where they were never used, sometimes involving wholesale replacement. The gas motor, btw, is a 35-ish HP inline 2-cyl scooter engine based on the one in BMW C650 scooters, made by Rotax, I think.
4) If you plan to do your own work, GET A BMW COMPATIBLE OBD-2 ENCODER. Any time you do ANYTHING in a BMW, it must be programmed. Window motor changes, for example, due to anti-finger pinch motor force regulators. Brake pad changes. etc etc.
5) Be aware that the head unit is too early for modern phone integration like CarPlay. i-Drive by that time is fine, but may have connectivity issues if 4g gets shut off, and is nigh impossible to upgrade or swap.
When I had the REX version, I recall the engine turning on automatically once in a while even when the battery was full, just to keep things moving. I think most of the gas I used was from those manteniance cycles.
Interesting that it still might not have been enough action for the engine…
1st Gen Chevy Bolt. 1st Gen Chevy Bolt. 1st Gen Chevy Bolt! (Or the 2nd gen with the $7500 tax credit.) It gets amazing range, has good tech for the price point and is a pretty problem free vehicle. If you get the 1st gen, you might even find one in a fun color like “Shock”, which is the color of my Chevy Bolt. My neighbor has an i3 and I’m thankful for my funky Bolt every day I pass it.
Since you’ve made the move to LA, buy yourself a new Bolt. You’ll have an EV, a warranty, and a small car payment, which I’m sure the company will pay for and write off. Don’t buy a 9 year old EV, unless your plan is to write a series of “woe is me” articles about how the car failed you.
If you want to get burned on the back end, this is the car for you. It will, ahem, TORCH you in the ass and leave you with a bricked turd if you don’t watch it.
If you want the car to actually save you money over the long term, I’d find the cheapest one where the battery still delivers full range, and opt for the range extender. Then I’d always keep the battery between 40-80% charge. You can get mid six-figure mileage out of an EV battery if you take care of it, and in the meantime, the car will require very little maintenance.
That carbon fiber body, barring accident, will last you the rest of your life.
In the future, as more software gets cracked, the car may become repairable. You might even be able to de-CAN it and make the car dumb, and have it run on a different type of battery altogether. But doing that is probably a decade or more away.
Jokes aside, this is a bit of a different car purchase for you, so it’s worthwhile to ask yourself some questions about your own priorities. It’s highly possible that this i3 is a “good” car but not the right one for your situation.
– You mentioned that one of the reasons for buying the i3 is that you now have a commute, but you also stated that the car is known to struggle on the highway. I won’t pretend to know your route, but is it the right tool for the job?
– What’s so appealing about the i3 in particular (you dismissed the similar BEV/REX setup Volt in your writeup)? Is it just the carbon fiber construction that sets it apart? Or…
– Are you just impressed by any modern (made in the past ~10 years) car after years of driving rusty heaps? You are the guy who was recently gushing over the luxury found in a UHaul truck, after all. Might a different car other than the i3 provide you the comfort, modernity, and reliability that you’re looking for? Is it worthwhile to expand your search outside of this one model?
– Is the price of gas really a factor? Even with CA gas at the $5 you quoted, you can buy over 2,000 gallons of fuel for the $10,500 price tag of the i3. That’ll take you over 25,000 miles in your Mustang or over 60,000 miles in your Nash Metropolitan (according to the 12 mpg for the Mustang and 30 mpg for the Nash that I found in a quick Google search, which is always 100% reliable). In my experience, when someone buys a new car to “save on gas” they really just want a new car, and that’s ok, but just embrace it!
– Speaking of the Nash, what happened to it? Wasn’t it supposed to become your west coast daily driver? If you buy an i3 (or any modern new-to-you car for use as a commute car) do you intend to keep it?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to talk you out of the purchase. Getting a new car is fun! You’re the last person who needs to be told that. But buyer’s remorse is very real and gets even more intense the more you spend. That means that it’s vitally important to be thorough and honest in your assessment of all the pros and cons. As an engineer, I’m sure you can respect a good cost/benefit analysis.
Right idea, wrong vehicle, IMHO. I’d keep looking. The battery has only 66% of its original range, which is pretty sad. I suspect the previous owner didn’t take good care of it and perhaps overused DC Fast Charging which will degrade the battery faster than normal. The exterior condition seems to bear this out as well.
Buy it for the articles!
I knew these were a great value used, but never considered an i3 until I started reading about them after your article a few weeks back. An i3 seems like it could be a great fit for our second car, though previous much-older BMW experience (E12, E30, E34) has me a bit nervous. I’d love to read more about what it takes to own and care for an i3 before moving forward.
Feels like they took this in on trade and are planning to send it to auction, but just threw it on the website to see if anyone bites before it gets picked up.
I agree.
Some things I’ve read about early i3s:
The range extender is quite loud (which was largely remedied in later models).
The car goes into an eco-mode when using the range extender, so expect a performance hit.
Even though EVs are supposed to be easier/cheaper to maintain, it’s a BMW and therefore things do break with regularity and are not cheap to fix (although you’re a wrencher, so that could curb costs).
The battery is getting long in the tooth, so will likely have a noticeable range hit from its original specs (which were poor to begin with). Also, with that in mind, might be good to find out what a replacement battery costs for when it becomes necessary. (Hopefully battery costs will have come down a bit when that time comes, fwiw.)
What’s going on here. Can’t your co-founder set you up with a smokin’ deal on a new or used car?
Definitely can! And I’d love to buy from Galpin!
But I want an i3 REX!
Also, it’s probably just better that I buy from elsewhere given that I’m looking for a rough-around-the-edges, higher-mileage car.
Seems like a plug in hybrid maverick would be a better fit for your lifestyle imo. Can haul car parts or engines around as needed for the fun cars, has room for 4 adults and would still do all the commute stuff rather well.
This is the answer, but I think the Maverick is just regular hybrid at the moment, not plug in? Still seems perfect though.
I think they are coming out with a plug in soon. I said on the og jeep versus bmw article that he should get the jeep and a cheap electric motorcycle for the commute. My guesses are he doesn’t feel comfortable learning to ride or PTSD from Michigan weather has him wanting a car. I get both as I’m in that same boat.
You have to be very brave or very stupid to commute on 2 wheels in LA.
Sigh. Our David is growing up. I’m happy, but a little sad as well.
As for the car, this is not the one, drive others. Look at Mark Miller’s comment, and at v10omous as well. They make good points. MrCanoeHead did good analysis as well.
If you want to get a better look at potential battery degradation, there is a hidden menu that shows the current capacity of the battery. This is what BMW had you check if you approached them with potential battery degradation issues during the warranty period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw5i1Ki-RpY
As you guessed, the range estimate is just a guess. I will change depending on driving style of the most recent drivers, your current driving style, temperature, star alignment and Bundesliga scoring averages.
It read 14.5 kWh
Not terrible for the asking price. When new it was 18.8 kWh, so it is still within expected degradation. The battery replacement warranty covered the battery dipping below 70% of the original nominal value.
Also, in theory most of the battery degradation for lithium-ion batteries tends to happen in the first few years. So the battery health on this one might get a pass.
I’d try to find one with a bit of warranty left on the battery (and this one may). That’s your biggest replacement cost. If it was sold originally and remained in a CARB state, they have a longer 150,000 mile, 10 year warranty on the battery instead of the 100,000 mile, 8 year warranty if it was sold or moved out of a CARB state. If this one qualifies, it may have a bit of warranty left, but you’d have to check something like the Carfax to see if it was originally sold and has always remained in a CARB state. My understanding is that once it’s registered outside a CARB state the warranty shortens. Good move on getting one with the REX… I think that’s a must have. My understanding is that they can also be re-programmed to give you a slightly larger fuel capacity (the tank is larger, but US usable capacity was lowered through programming).
Looks like you can program in a “Hold mode” too, which was really useful in my Volt. If you know you are going to have to use all your range, you can choose when to use the engine and save the electric for places where it might be more efficient (like stop and go driving). https://www.motortrend.com/features/how-to-hack-a-bmw-i3-for-more-driving-range/
The California warranty on the battery is 10 yrs, 150k miles.
Not sure if you took my advice on renting one of them, or if you had done that before I had suggested it, but I’m glad you did.
I think a 5 day return window would be more than enough to allow you to figure it all out, just get a lawyer to review that portion of the contract before you sign anything.
$10k buys a lot of gas, even at $5 a gallon.
ya nobody but you and the 17 other likes ever see it that way.
Given how fuel thirsty his vehicle fleet is, and depending upon how much he drives it, if that i3 can be made to last him 3-4 years without failing, it could pay for itself in savings.
Still a gamble though.
And I neglected to consider the Nash Metropolitan in this equation.
2000 gallons, he uses 20 gallons/week on average (total guess, but look at his cars!), so figure 2 years worth of gas to break even. The lower maintenance cost of engine and brakes are a wash with the higher tire cost. Question is, will David not just be adding/rotating other vehicles within the next 2 years?
Do it david! get an i3. theyre cool, practical, and it makes sense for the reasons you listed. i do feel like you’d regret not getting a range extender model
I bought a ’14 i3 with the REX two years ago now for $12k, best decision of my life. Knock on wood but only maintenance it’s needed so far was a new 12v battery
Knock on dash!
Don’t you indirectly work for Galpin? Just wait for a trade in and get anything you want with 0% markup.
I am not saying anything but… I am sure these guys are willing to negotiate the price a bit.
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?shopperListingsSearch=99151467#listing=351144654/NONE
“I’m the ‘save money on the front end, get burned on the back end’ kind of man; I’m sure you all know this by now.”
Me too. Especially that time I bought sunscreen from the dollar store before visiting the clothing-optional beach.
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Me too. Especially that time I bought sunscreen at the dollar store before visiting the clothing-optional beach.
You’re a Hopeless cheap car romantic wrapped in a scientific engineers body seeking a single nerdy I3 for a long term relationship…
A friend once gave me this advice on a warm summer’s evening on a train bound for nowhere…
“Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep because every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser, and the best that you can hope for is die in your sleep.”
Would you say you’ve got to know when to hold ’em but also know when to fold ’em?
“Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose, you and I might spend some time wondering what to choose…”
Jerry Garcia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-RJFSxgrGQ
Quite seriously – as a serial BMW owner, I don’t think this us the right car for your situation. Owning a 10 year old (okay 9 years old for a few more months) BMW -let alone an electric BMW- is not a car for someone who positively, absolutely, has to get there every day, on time. Things break on old BMWs and on an EV it’s not automatically a given you can wrench on it yourself.
You live in apartment. What are your charging arrangements? A cord out the window? At work, for free?
Your battery is 9 years old. Assuming that it lasts 2 more years, -maybe you get 3- what will a replacement, installed, cost you? Here’s a guess from an old article
“In 2016, BMW reported that replacing an i3 battery would cost about $16,000. This was for the 2013-2016 model years which have 22 kWh packs…”
What’s your $10K car worth when it needs another battery?
Why on earth would you gamble on this?
“Watch each card you play, and play it slow…”
Just ordered you the bumper sticker: “My Other Car is a Matcha Lattte”
They’re kind of neat, but they’re expensive and their range still sucks. They’re also sort of boring.
I still say 1g Honda Insight. It’s an aluminum CRX with a hybrid system & a manual transmission and UNLIMITED RANGE.
It fulfills all the requirements you mentioned above, but it costs less than half, will likely stay the same or appreciate in the future, and unlike the i3, you can drive it long distances if you need to. If you get reimbursed for mileage or write it off, this is even more important, because suddenly that mini roadtrip to an interesting area the southwest will cost you like nothing to get there and back.
In 2014, I drove mine from WI to CO, went skiing at Mary Jane 3 days, and drove it back to Wisconsin, for under $100 in fuel, WITH SNOW TIRES. That BMW can never do anything remotely like that, which means on any long distance trip you’re automatically taking one of your gas sucking Jeeps. With summer tires I get 70mpg, my record is 84mpg.
Currently have 285k on it. Bought it with 180k on it. So far have replaced a temp sensor on the head ($8), 2 control arms ($180) and installed a grid charger to balance the IMA battery. The battery is the weak point on these cars, but only because they become imbalanced. A grid charger and a deep discharge keeps them running almost indefinitely.
I bought my car for $3000 in 2013. It’s still worth around $3000 10 years and 100k miles later.
It has paid for itself so many times at this point, and allowed me to blow all that saved money on fast cars/boats/snowmobiles/vacation property/stupid things
I love the 1G insight, but I want something newer.
It is relatively boring, I suppose, but I have five exciting cars! I’ll augment them with a comfortable, safe, weird futuristic little hybrid for a bit and see how I like it.
Newer for the sake of newer alone does not sound like a valid reason.
I think this is the right path Mr. Tracy – and here is the car for you!
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/sacramento-2001-honda-insight-civic/7593887871.html
Get the refund promise in writing (and read the fine, fine, fine print), then go for it. Use that time to drive the shit out of it and get an independent PPI from someone who knows things.
“I realize that you all know me as a man who daily-drives $500 shitboxes, but you also know me as an engineer who likes state-of-the-art tech”
David give it a couple of years and the VW iD.4 will check both of those boxes for you.