The average person probably believes that the first model year of a car is the worst, and in many ways: That is correct. As much theory/simulation/validation testing that automakers do before rolling a car off the assembly line, the truth is that the Day 1 product is rarely the optimal one — it is simply the one that could be built in the allotted time. But what if you extend that timeline beyond the vehicle’s start-of-production (SOP)? Does the car get optimized by an automaker and just become better? The answer is: Yes and no. Allow me to explain.
Oftentimes, the first model-year car has significant mechanical/electrical issues that weren’t caught by engineers (sometimes all use cases weren’t considered, sometimes it’s just a matter of insufficient validation testing, sometimes it’s poor quality control, etc.), and oftentimes the cost of the car is higher than it needs to be. These are the downsides of having a three-year timeline — SOP is SOP. The train doesn’t stop.
The second bit about cost is sometimes kind of intentional — I’ve heard of automakers including a feature in the first model year specifically to win over Consumer Reports, only to ditch that feature after all the initial first-year reviews have been written. The concept of slicing cost out of a vehicle program with each passing model year is called (at least at Chrysler, where I worked formerly) “Technical Cost Reduction,” and one of the greatest recent cars to demonstrate the concept is the BMW i3.
I’ve already written an article titled “Seeing How Much BMW Cheapened The BMW i3 Over The Years Is Driving Me Crazy,” so much of this will be a recap, but shortly afterward that story I made aware of other ways BMW managed to make the car cheaper over the years, and I just cannot resist writing this exhaustive list of all the ways the BMW i3 became “cheaper” after the first model-year, and yet also better.
Before I start, allow me to point out that the two cars shown above may technically be the same model of car, but in terms of what they meant to BMW, they are totally different. The 2014 BMW i3 represented optimism to an automaker that was strutting its stuff, throwing the kitchen sink at what would arguably be its most innovative car ever. When the production BMW i3 debuted in 2013, BMW was excited to show the carbon fiber structure, the incredible electric drive system, the suicide doors, the incredibly skinny low-rolling-resistance tires, and the sustainable interior materials. This vehicle was, to BMW, a world-beater. A true giant of engineering.
The 2021 BMW i3 was totally different. It represented seven years of failure — poor sales of a car that, though innovative, was considered unsightly, overpriced, and impractical. The 2014 BMW i3 was an amazing engineering masterpiece; by 2021 it was BMW’s black sheep, and the company was trying to pinch every last penny out of its $3 billion program investment.
As such, the cost-saving mechanisms BMW employed after 2014 were numerous. The body-colored mirrors were gone after 2014:
The five-spoke forged aluminum wheels, which were specific to each corner of the car for 2014, were instead made the same for each axle. What this meant is that, on 2015 and newer i3s, the wheels looked to be “facing” a different direction depending upon if you were looking at the car’s left side or right side.
Here’s what I mean; see how my 2014’s wheels appear to spin the same direction?:
Now here’s a 2015:
What’s funny is that BMW itself was clearly ashamed of this change, because on the infotainment system of my 2021 i3 — a system that was changed in 2018, well after the left and right-side wheels had been made common — the wheels appear like 2014-only cars: They are “facing” the same direction on each side of the car:
The rear hatch of my 2014 BMW i3 has little rubber closure bumpers that are fairly common in hatchbacks:
My 2021 just has blanking plates:
On the inside, my 2014 i3 has a compass in its mirror:
My 2021 does not:
My 2014 has netting on the back of its front seats:
Those went away in 2015:
My 2014 i3 had a net where the center stack meets the front floorboard:
My 2021 has just a strap:
The leather armrests were replaced with white ones that I’m fairly sure are vinyl. Here are the 2014 armrests:
Here are the 2021 armrests:
The iDrive wrist pad on my 2014 went away in 2015. Here’s my 2014:
Here’s my 2021:
The glovebox lock turned from metal:
Into plastic:
My 2014 has a carbon fiber engine cover:
BMW replaced that with aluminum in 2015:
My 2014 has a fill plug for its differential, while starting in 2015, the fill plug went away, making filling the differential insanely hard, requiring removal of an axle shaft:
And those are just the Technical Cost Reductions that I noticed. I haven’t even discussed the decrease in quality over time; this can be a result of tooling wearing down over time, or just a result of the automaker caring less about getting the car just right as it ages.
Take the gap in the eucalyptus wood glovebox lid; it is perfect on my 2014:
It might not be obvious in this picture, but the gap is totally uneven on my 2021, with the front edge having a significantly larger gap than the rear:
Then there’s the center armrest; look at how perfectly the leather stretches over that 2014 armrest:
The white vinyl on the 2021 is wavy and looks cheap:
Where the headliner ends in the cargo area is nice on my 2014:
On my 2021, you can see that the fabric wasn’t stretched high enough, so the rubber seal only barely covers it:
The rear hatch has two pieces of glass (the bottom glass and then the glass that you look out of in your rearview) that are joined by a rubber seal. My 2014’s seal fits perfectly:
The 2020’s seal has a big gap, and lets dirt in:
I can go on and on.
The 2014 is just a better-built, more content-rich car than my 2021, and yet, it’s the 2021 that I’m keeping. Why?
Well, while many of these small things have been TCR’d to death, the reality is that, in order for the vehicle to remain competitive over the years, it had to receive macro improvements. For example, the BMW i3 received two battery updates — one in 2017, which brought capacity from 22 kWh to 33 kWh, and one in 2019, which brought the battery size up to 42 kWh. Plus, Apple CarPlay came around in 2018, a Sport model with a little more horsepower was added that same year, a USB-C port joined the party, the backup camera seems to have improved, and I can go on.
Perhaps just as important as these macro improvements to maintain market competitiveness are the improvements to battery, compressor, and motor reliability. 2017 batteries seem to last a lot longer than 2014-2016 i3 batteries; the compressor was revised a number of times after 2014, and many suspect it’s for warranty-related reasons (automakers want to fix failure points to avoid huge warranty payouts); and the drive unit bearings were also improved over time.
So yes, my 2021 is built worse and is, in many ways, devoid of many of the customer-delight features I’ve come to love in my 2014 i3, but it’s got more power, more range, and it should be more reliable. So, while I’m a little annoyed by all the TCRs, I’m still obsessed with my Gold i3, which I plan to keep forever.
Enough with the cars, David–wedding report with photos, please!
Your article is probably the tip of the iceberg. There’s a ton of behind-the-scenes parts that have been redesigned too. I’m a little surprised at how many obvious ones you found, but this is standard practice in product management in electronics which is where I spent a bulk of my career.
The first release of a product is trying to get it out the door fast to hit a date. Solutions are more about speed than cost at that initial release point. I’m not talking about your fast moving electronics like phones and laptops Think about multi-year products, like your electric shaver or a mouse or a computer printer.
After an electronics product is released, there are revisions (usually listed on the sticker underneath as RevA, RevB, etc.). Those revisions are designed to reduce costs. Most of the time in electronics, we reduce the cost in areas that are not seen to the user. For example, we might change to a cheaper or thinner plastic case, but not move any of the buttons. We might make the main board with fewer resistors, but we wouldn’t change the look and feel outside. We might use cheaper computer chips, but only if it wouldn’t sacrifice performance.
As inflation goes up, these reductions allow for the price of the product to be reduced or remain the same.
Other tricks of the trade:
When people say it’s not made like it used to be, they’re correct. But it’s such an oversimplification. A lot of these improvements are win/win.. Beside the obvious win for BMW, it’s a win for the sake of simplicity, too. Simplicity often means a longer-lasting product, too.
This describes the loss in quality subaru inflicted in the loyale. Once it got the name it started obsolete alongside the modern legacy, and got worse every year. I have no evidence but the 94 feels like they cleaned out the factory to find parts from whatever year the part was supposed to be for. If not they used the cheapest whatever instead.
My 1988 Corolla All Trac 4wd Wagon is a very early build (within the first 3000 according to the VIN) and has all the options (electric everything including sunroof) it has held up so well (original clutch and radiator!) I found out that it was a press vehicle / dealer car for the first bit of its life so perhaps was made just a little better than the ones off the lot?
Held up so much better than my last year VW Golf MK 1 which basically needed everything replacing at half the kms. But perhaps this is just due to the past owners maintanance.
Is that strap on your center console also crooked? Jiminy.
But, does it baby?