Between its first model year and its last, a typical car sees lots of changes. And while, generally, those changes are good for overall reliability (so the automaker can reduce their warranty costs), they also involve the car becoming cheaper over time. The concept, called Technical Cost Reduction at my former employer, Chrysler, is one I’ve already discussed before. But yesterday, while trying to sell my 2014 BMW i3, I noticed even more features on my 2021 i3 that had been decontented, and it’s driving me crazy.
Decontenting is a frustration that many, many enthusiasts have to deal with as they decide which model year of a certain model to buy. In theory, the cost cuts that automakers make should be ones that the average customer doesn’t notice, and I do think that’s the case with my BMW i3. For the most part, the cost reductions made to the 2021 model-year car aren’t a huge deal to the average customer, and looking on forums, I don’t see lots of complaints.
But now that I’ve noticed these technical-cost reductions (TCRs), they annoy the crap out of me.
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For one, what the heck happened to that compass on the rearview mirror? I want that back! Here’s my 2014:
Here’s my 2021:
What happened to my carbon fiber engine cover? Look at this beauty on my 2014:
But my 2021’s engine compartment lid is made of boring ol’ aluminum:
What happened to the sound deadening on my range extender? My i3 had it to keep that motorcycle engine from making a racket in my cabin:
But my 2021 has no sound insulation; what gives?
Then there’s this little hand-rest for the iDrive control. My 2014 has it:
My 2021 does not:
Then there are the TCRs I’ve pointed out before. There’s the netting at the base of the center stack between the driver’s and passenger’s seat:
My 2021 just has an elastic strap:
There’s the glovebox lock, with is a nice silver metal on my 2014:
On my 2021, it’s black plastic:
Then there’s the netting on the back of the front seats:
My 2021 is missing those entirely:
Then of course there’s the change from the leather armrests:
To vinyl for 2021:
Especially when you consider that BMW made significant engineering improvements to the vehicle’s battery/drivetrain, do these little TCR changes matter? To the average buyer, probably not, and that means BMW’s TCR efforts were a success — the company cheapened their car in a way that didn’t bother probably 99.9% of buyers. But the problem with TCRs is that if you do end up noticing the changes (in my case, because I bought a first and a final model year of the same car), they drive you absolutely bonkers!
Why do I all of a sudden miss a carbon fiber engine compartment cover that I rarely see? Why do I miss that cushioned pad for the iDrive controller (a pad that’s pretty much useless)? Why do I miss that netting on the back of the front seats that I’ve never actually used? Why do I find myself using the mirror compass in my 2014 now that I know my 2021 doesn’t have it? Why am I noticing little stains on the white vinyl armrests when I think about my 2014’s brown ones that are more stain-resistant? And is it just me, or is that range extender a bit louder on my 2021?
Gah!
Decontenting is indeed infuriating regardless of the valid engineering improvements BMW has made throughout the i3’s extended production run. What’s interesting is that in theory, older models should get more comfort and trim features in order to remain attractive on the market, yet as you say, 99% of people never even realize what TCR did to the i3. Still a bit shameful for a premium electric compact.
Part of this in 2021 could be limited parts for either a car they knew was being discontinued, or factories building simplified stuff. I think it would be too early in the pandemic for the “chip shortage” but I just bought my dream i3 yesterday and went with a 2018, I needed auto cruise control (although it’s not he best in the i3 I wanted it) and I noticed plenty of 20 and 21s without it. I also noticed (and some comments from new owners backed it up) that sometime in late 2021 BMW was telling them certain things were just not available like the big screen, funny seeing nearly fully loaded cars with the small screens.
David you missed one! Have a look at the rear hatches, there are bump stops on the pointy outer corners of the early cars that line up with the circular holes on the top of the bumper, they were deleted and capped in later years. Whether that was TCR or found to be unnecessary due to the stiffness of the glass hatch I don’t know, but it’s cost saving nonetheless. I had a 2015 and now drive a 2019, even tho I noticed all these changes too, none of them had an effect on my usage/enjoyment of the car, I applaud engineers for being able to decontent like this and keep it subtle. BMW started the TCRing with the 2015MY… no seatback nets, no CF engine cover, and on later production 2015s the left/right directional alloys were tossed as well.
One of my favorite car things to do used to be to roam around in junkyards to find stuff that was not offered on my own car from different model years or trims. Maybe you can do that now or in a few years to find yourself a sweet carbon fiber engine lid of a nice set of leather arm-rests.
David waxing on about content of his BMWs….. certainly not the same the same person that battled rusty Michigan shitboxes…..
That’s what a woman will do to you.
Beware…
The BMW vinyl/Sensatec wears better anyway.
Comparison is the thief of joy, David. Just enjoy the newest one and bask in the glory of the “ultimate” driving machine.
You could write a whole ass book about how much worse GM gradually made the C4 following the face-lift they gave it in 1991. You lost storage space, the dash/center console and door panels were made of dramatically worse materials that also have worse fit, the seats got worse (albeit still better than anything the C5 got), they made the hood harder to open, they got rid of weatherstripping, the steering wheel got worse, they got rid of interior lights, they got rid of ventilation ducts… The only thing that got better was the carpet.
It’s a shame tbat mechanically and in terms of NHV the post-93 cars are so much more stout because the 1990-1993 cars have so much nicer interiors (especially 1992 and 1993); though it is fixable at least.
It’s a feature, not a bug to remove the center stack and back of seat netting. It may have been after you left Jeep, but they use that stuff in wranglers and gladiators and it becomes a useless, stretched mess that stuff gets tangled in. Takes about 2 years, but if you search the forums, Jeep shrugs it under warranty for wear and tear. A few aftermarket companies make replacement plastic bins. Come to think of it, there’s probably 3d printer templates.
I was going to say the same thing. These nets either never get used or the get stretched out and look like shit after 2 years.
It was the best of tim3s, it was the worst of tim3s.
I do recall running into this with my ’94 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Once it was paid off I sat in a nearly new ’98 I was thinking of test driving. I immediately noticed the metal window switches had went to plastic, the leather I was sitting on felt thinner somehow, and the fit and finish just didn’t seem that great overall (even for a late 90’s GM product) in comparison. Didn’t even bother with the test drive.
Clever Dickens.
David,
Why are you complaining about it, and not swapping it?
The new buyer won’t notice that the mirror doesn’t have a compass – ditto for swapping the engine trays and insulation. That palm rest also looks like a straight swap.
There is an easy solution here 🙂
Except that now it’s fully documented as evidence for all of the intertubes to see!
Decontenting is real.
My 2022 Camry had a prop rod instead of the gas struts the 2018-2020 models had to lift/hold the hood up for you. I was able to track down the part numbers and retrofit them myself since all the mounting holes were still there.
Incidentally, the “all new” 2025 Camry went from an aluminum hood (like mine) to steel, so not only do you have the crappy prop rod, the hood is also much heavier then before.
Progress!
@DT – I think it’s all “vegan leather” in the i3. What that’s actually made of I haven’t been able to determine…
Interesting to observe the gradual/inconsistent TCR. My 2018 i3s has the mirror compass, and the aluminium engine cover but also sound deadening on the engine cover and [vegan?] leather armrest. Maybe I’ll have to make a little wrist pad out of scrap microfibre or something. Then it would be removable and washable…
It’s made of vegan’s obviously…
Vegan leather is both the cleverest and stupidest marketing nonsense I’ve heard in the past few years. It’s VINYL. THE CHEAP STUFF. Nothing new here, just a cheap and likely worse quality imitation being marketed as a feature rather than cost cutting.
Thing is – it’s unclear to me that it *is* actually vinyl. It doesn’t behave like old-school vinyl. Maybe some new compound. I’d actually appreciate an Autopian Investigation because I just don’t have the time.
Not all vinyls are created equal, either. Mercedes used to put military-grade vinyl in their cars which would still look brand new 20 years later, whereas plenty of other vinyl interiors cracked and degraded much faster.
The main thing is, fake leather is nothing new, we’ve had it for decades. It was just seen as a cheap imitation of luxury, not anything you’d brag about. It’s only recently that it’s being pushed as a selling point by clever marketing.
Now the question – do you swap all the parts you like and can swap from one to the other before selling the 2014, or do you keep them their respective levels of original?
Swap parts! Yes!!
I also am in the swap parts camp. If a prospective buyer notices you can legitimately say you “upgraded” them to the ones from the final year of production.
This has “Was this a taxi cab?” “What? No! that’s yellow primer!” vibes
BMW inexplicably made a lot of cost cuts around 2021-2022. On my 2022 X5 (built in November 2021), the handles to release the rear seats remotely from the cargo-hold area were inexplicably deleted. I’m not sure what kind of parts shortage rendered BMW unable to equip the cars with some handles and mechanical cables, but they never did add them back.
They also no longer build the X5 with front fog lamps.
Covid happened
Eh, I prefer vinyl to leather.
The lack of a differential drain plug bothers me though.
probably a side effect of so few people buying them. or perhaps you got the fleet spec 2021 version. I would guess a lot of that would be things to make the price adequate for city worker fleet pools.
If it was a Porsche, they would charge you lots of money to remove features.
Actually I wish that there was a way to order a decontented car. Sort of like an old Volvo or taxi spec Mercedes from the 80s but with airbags. No infotainment crap, motorized seats, powered door locks, or tinted windows. My sister’s Mazda has a motorized rear hatch that slowly closes itself and apparently i am in danger of breaking if I forget and close it myself. My wife has a car with automatic lane keeping, that after the initial amusement of it trying to drive into oncoming traffic when it encounters trolly tracks, is a real pain, and makes replacing the windshield a multi thousand dollar repair bill.
My brother worked for a city transportation dept, he found that ordering trucks without carpet was an extra charge, not much but some, they sill did it because they didn’t have to clean uckky stuff off the carpets.
Porsche sure would. “You’re going to pay $3,000 for this weight-saving steering-wheel-delete package and like it, you raggedy b*tch!”
The 986, and to a greater extent the 996, got up-contented through the years. Gaining things like a glovebox, more surfaces covered in leather and a rear glass window for convertibles. The 996 even got its own headlights halfway through production. This is all thanks to the fact that the pair saved Porsche from bankruptcy, and as they recovered from the brink, they were able to un-tighten the fist over time.
Ironically, I’m a fan of the early cars, as the content gained in MY2000 included drive-by-wire, and extra pair of catalytic converters and taller gearing. The 1999 Carrera 2 is somewhat of a holy grail, as the one and only year of water-cooled 911 whose throttle you can grab and pull. The Boxster, introduced 2-3 years earlier, is noticeably less rare. That said, the later DBW cars are faster, more practical, quieter, safer and all the other things that anyone but me prefers.
I’d only like to get a late-model top so I can have the defroster-equipped glass back window and dual-skin canvas with roof liner for quieter/warmer/safer top-up driving. It’s plug-and-play since all of the cars have defroster wiring and controls for the optional removable hard top.
A big improvement (at least aesthetically) was the move away, on later models, from circular-y shaped fog lights, which from the beginning always looked like the result of a cost-cutting measure.
I kinda prefer those, as they give it a happier face.
There’s something very wrong with you DT. /s
And sell the damn new i3 for god’s sake make.
Cash is king, and you will feel/fare much better getting Elise a real ring, rather than one from the gumball machine…
…or Cracker Jack box…
I’m surprised he hasn’t found a ring at one of the junkyards yet (that we’re aware of…)
Well, maybe a piston ring would work?!
Yet there are still people out there insisting that the final model year of a car is always the best
It will probably be the most reliable, but also the ugliest.
The 12th word is wrong.
And, I bet it is rare to notice, as you said. Interesting that you have first and last year cars. I get the biggest complaint is that little pad for your hand too.
I’d say that 10 years ago this concept was not even on my automotive radar. Now, it is. I love this place. Perhaps we are all in a little too deep though? NAAAHHH.
Definitely in too deep!
The pad actually is useless. You can’t even get your wrist on it because the armrests is in the way of your elbow!
Actually, I’m both seeing and not seeing that little pad on 2015 models browsing AutoTrader so maybe it was part of a package or option?
Kudos to Ford, then. I owned an early C-Max Hybrid, a 2014, and a2017, the lest year for the C-Max Energi. Everything different that I could notice was better on the new car: the dash screen was more vivid, and it had a button to turn it off. (I use that button a lot.) The newer one had sharper-looking wheels, too. The left dash vent no longer blew cold air on my hand all the time. I sold the 2014, but I’m keeping the 2017 indefinitely.
I have a 2017 C-Max Energi as well which I bought a month ago.
The 2016+ models have the vastly superior QNX-based sat-nav system.
For that reason as well as a transmission defect in earlier ones, I only considered C-Maxes from 2016 and newer.
You are trying to sell the older one. Here a suggestion: Why don’t you do webseries retrofitting all newer good stuff into the older one instead?
Or the old good bits in the newer one? The first would more interesting though.
Most cosmetic stuff won’t be a problem, drive train may be interesting, and will require a lot module programming. And you alredy have a donor.
Is not a good financial decision definitely, but hoarding old “holy grails” never were anyway.
Just about to suggest this. Just switch them out if possible.
DT, you could mine that for a few more articles!
“I just made my old, mostly undesirable car even less desirable by removing all the good stuff! Please buy it. “
Just swap all the little stuff that’s easy to change over like the engine cover and sound deadening over it and just accept the rest. It’s pretty minor.