I have owned a bmw i3S in protonic blue metallic for half a year, I bought it driven with 12,000 km, long-term consumption 12 kWh/100 km, I charge primarily at home, electricity costs are 2 euros for 100 km of driving, excellent driving characteristics, the best car I have ever owned
To make this distance in half a year you'd have to be in Germany without any speed limits without spending half a day every day in 6months behind the wheel. But this would leave you with more than 12kWh. And not to speak of this ridiculous low costs for electricity. So in which lucky country is this possible?
@@lionelhuddsI live in the Slovak Republic, the state subsidizes the price of electricity for households, the maximum price for 1 kWh is 0.20 euros with the cheapest tariff D1. I have the more expensive D3, I pay 0.14 euros for 1 KWH
I have one of the early ones from 2014, 60Ah, Solar Orange with full spec, Harman Kardon, big infortainment screen, led lights, Lodge interior, sun roof etc. I've been driving it 8 years and still happy with it.
@@CCK-px7sp There is no need to change the battery during the life of the car. It still performs well and if I want longer range I can sell it buy a newer i3 with a bigger 120 Ah battery.
I'm 4 years into i3s ownership, after 5 years in a bogo i3. Both were pure BEV, none of the ReX rubbish because the extra mass out back really messes up the handling and blunts the performance. When the battery is fully charged and the voltage is up high, the i3s is a genuinely quick little car in the real world. Sure the spec might be only just sub 7 on paper, but once moving, especially between about 25 and 75, this little car is a proper shocker for owners of supposedly much faster cars. The low mass, perfect balance also give it a combination of turn in response yet brilliant stability that makes other, heavier, less well balanced cars look a little flat footed.. As you say, sure fire future classic too! i'm keeping mine though, nothing i could replace it with is anything like as fun or good 🙂
Nice way to sum it up there. I’ve heard the heavier Rex cars do tend to point the nose up a bit more and make it feel a bit understeery. Some genuine love for these i3’s it seems, I can sure see why! Happy motoring 😀
I have had both BEV and REx. No difference in handling. A couple of boxes of shopping weighs as much as the tiny 2 cylinder generator, which was derived from a tiny scooter bike. Honestly.
Yep this little beauty will shock most cars 0 - 40mph due to its weight to power output. So yes 0 -60mph is around 7 sec but I would say 0 -30 is like 2 sec
I’ve just bought one of these cars in Melbourne red/black it’s only done 9000 miles and is like new I think it’s a 2019 ,I looooove it. My family wanted me to downsize from a Skoda yeti , I am 77 years old , and was determined not to buy “ an old lady’s car” 😂 all my friends love it too i live in guernsey in the Channel Islands , so perfect for our Island, brilliant review , loving the black and gold ❤
Great to hear more love for the i3! I think these are becoming a bit of a cult car! I took my Tesla previously to Guernsey and Jersey 2 years ago, you may see me on the island later this with a trip I’m considering! I managed to drive around both islands on half a charge and got back home, let’s see how the i3 fairs! Enjoy your Melbourne red version, many years of happy motoring ahead 😀
Bought my first 2014 i3 REX few weeks ago in early June 2024 for $9500 with only 52k miles in mint condition, paid full in cash, love the torque and speed leaving most tweeked imports in the dust, driving it as my daily and I treat it like a hybrid balancing the use of backed up gas and electricity, charging it up every Sunday with free energy thanks to my house solar system!
I3s is the best. Drove my 2019 i3s for 90000km, 0 problems. First inspection was after 80000km / 3 years, under the car it looked like new (its all aluminium, plastic and carbon fiber). When your in the car it feels special place, you feel relaxed and in peace. I also have an M3 Touring, and use to have cars like the Audi Q8 and the BMW iX50 but if I have to choose a car for a short tips I always pick the BMW i3s.
90km in an i3 is very impressive! Not known too many that high mileage, nicely done 👌🏻 For town and local driving, the i3 is still one of best around. Have a look at some of our other TH-cam content for the M3 Touring, we’ve made a whole series on our own 😀
@@Carbonwurks 91k km here, there are issues. A rubber strip became loose, door rubbers torn, squeeking turn signal lever (yeah I actually use that) - but all fixed under the 'premium selection' warranty. Battery capacity is slowly going down, now at the stated gross battery capacity but not noticable in every day use.
‘there isn’t many cars like this’ spot on…got the same i3s with pro pack an leather plus big screen running carplay in fullscreen & sunroof….need to pay you a visit for spacer/springs & ac schnitzer!! 🙂 can you also get their blue factory seatbelts?? re range i am getting 5.0 miles/kW so around 170 miles in real terms…LOVING IT!
Nice! Sounds like a good spec i3S! Sunroof in itself is quite a rare option to have. We love working on i3’s, drop us a message if you need any work 😀. We can likely get hold of those seat belts yes, I believe there is a genuine BMW part number for those so would be something we can get. Thats some good range! I could see that being quite achievable if the conditions are right.
I own a 2019 , bought it used with 11,000 miles. I absolutely love my car . Great handling. I Love the color combination of your car. Mine is black with blue accents. Thank-you for the video.
I had a 2015 Tesla model s 85d and a 2017 nissan leaf 30kwh. I recently replaced my leaf with an 2020 i3 120AH, with 110,000kms on the clock. We went to pick the I3 up in Bordeaux in the Tesla and drove both back to Geneva where i live. What surprised me was how quick the i3 was over the long trip. it was slower than the models S but only by about 10%, it may only have a 50kw maximum charging speed but the charging curve is flat, and the car is quite efficient on departmental roads in France, at approx 90 to 110kmh, these speeds give a range of about 300kms (186 miles) on a good day at 25c with no wind The I3 did a trip in 10 hours that would have take 2 days in the Leaf. its a long winded way of saying that it the I3 is surprisingly good.
That’s a really interesting experience and perspective with your i3. The later generation 120ah i3’s are very efficient indeed which makes them very cost effective with power usage. I genuinely believe bmw nailed the i3 in many ways and are a class leader for this particular type of electric vehicle. Enjoy your i3, Geneva is a great place to do so! 😀
I’ve recently bought an i3S from 2020, in Melbourne Red, with the leather interior. It also has the sunroof and the Harman Kardon speakers. It’s a dream to drive! I also find long journeys no problem, I stop around every hour and do a 20 min top up and it’s no problem. Works well for me…especially as I live in London. Love it! Your video helped convince me (and I made sure it had the big screen!)
Brilliant review, I have been using my i3s for trips to Norfolk and Doncaster from my home in Cornwall, as you can see from my channel vlogs I am averaging around 155 miles on a run and then around 35 to 45 mins to charge to 90% and an hour to 100% from around 10%. I will be contacting you to get prices to fit the spacers and suspension kit you have on yours. Keep up the brilliant vlogs.
Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the video. Quite long trips to make in the i3, good effort! If you aren’t in a particular rush I can imagine that works quite well. No worries, drop us a message come the time and we would be happy to discuss some options 😀
The color is amaaazing! I got a used 120Ah i3 a month ago, and am quite happy with it. The color is black/white which works well, but the color you‘ve really pops, love it!
Love the color on your i3. So unique, I haven't seen one in that color yet. i3 is a great all around car. You can get everywhere you need to go as a daily driver. Wifey love my i3 so much she ended up getting one as well. So now we own two of them. Great car built with nice creature comforts and very practical and pennies on the dollar to run. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and video on the i3. 🚙😎
Thanks for the comment, appreciate the kind words. Black is and gold is very unique, I’ve only ever seen 1 on the road in this colour scheme. There seems to be a great community of i3 owners, great hearing peoples stories and comments. Obviously a well liked car and works well with everyone’s lifestyle. Having 2 i3’s is awesome 🔥
We liked the i3 so much (a 94Ah Rex version) that we replaced it with a 120Ah i3 in 2019. We still have that i3 and ordered an additional i3S in Mineral Grey and loaded with almost every option - when we heard production was going to stop. It arrived in March 2022 and like your car, had an item reverted to ‘base’ due to chip shortages. In our case it was the touch controller being replaced with the smaller standard dial. What I discovered late in 2023 was that it was only the controller that had been changed - and so it was easy to replace (with one from a nearly new i3S that was in the breakers). Straight swap, a quick re-code and it was back to full specification. We are therefore a 2 x i3 family… They’re not going anywhere! I have added Wokeby storage units to both (which utilises the space that would have been taken up by the Rex), and a Wokeby frunk cover - that works really well in the i3S and keeps everything dry. I do have a Wokeby charging flap mod, but have yet to get around to fitting it. For the i3S, I’m interested in the spacers, and am considering buying the Evolve modded (Bilstein) dampers - keeping the stock springs just to improve ride comfort a bit - without sacrificing the country lane abilities of the car. BMW built a gem with the i3, and I too think it will become a sought after classic… On a side note, that i3S in the breakers had been in a significant head on collision with a lorry, but though the front end was effectively smashed away, the carbon fibre passenger cell was intact. Apparently the driver was knocked unconscious and was hospitalised with severe bruising and some other relatively minor injuries - but he survived as a result of that car. We only know that - because he had subsequently visited the breakers yard to retrieve some personal effects that had been found later by those stripping the car for parts.
Great to hear of another i3 enthusiast! Some interesting things you mentioned there. Definitely worth looking into wokeby option, the frunk getting pretty wet seems a bit of an oversight from bmw to me! We recently upgraded an i3 with evolve bilstien shocks and lowering springs. Video to come on that soon. Long live the i3! 😀
Nice car! I recommend getting on Octopus Energy's "Intelligent Octopus" tariff if you can charge at home overnight. It's costing me about 2.5p per mile (£150 for 6,000 miles!). I have a 94Ah i3s REX, and I can get from Brighton to London and back on a single charge, but without any range anxiety because I can put £10 worth of petrol into the generator if I need to extend it by 60 miles (the generator recharges the battery as you drive, doesn't power the wheels). I don't find the EV infrastructure to be a problem, as I always charge at home and rarely out and about. In fact, charging at a public charger is no cheaper than topping up the generator with petrol, so on the rare occasion where I do a long journey I am more likely to put petrol in and leave the generator running on the motorway. (you can't hear it) Mine's red (unfortunately), but I love the gold more! I previously owned a protonic blue i3 (pre-facelift) and the suspension was so unstable, I hated taking corners at any speed. That was the only flaw with the car, so the firmer i3s suspension is a must (even factory standard version).
Appreciate the comment. Some good cost benefits on the charging front! Definitely one to consider. As long as you aren’t doing long mileage on a regular basis, these are very useable cars. Love the red, looks great with black accents. I think in general these cars react well to being lowered. The S being lower likely will be better for stability.
Stunning colour combo. They are so nicely engineered. And still look most modern EV to date. 3 hours on DC charger? That's not right. It's 50kW DC and 39kWh battery. Under an hour is max.
Appreciate the feedback, thanks for your comment. They can feel a little light and sensitive at higher speed, for certain the lowering springs and wheel spacers help out with that significantly. Well worth while upgrade.
Stability is much better on the i3s than the i3 (I've owned both), even without changing the suspension.
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I am extremely satisfied with the standard suspension of the i3s, both when driving fast on country roads and on the motorway. The ride is very smooth and stable. Where I have problems with it, however, is on bad city roads. Here, the s in the name becomes a pain and every manhole cover hits as if there was no suspension at all. So, as with the other BMW 3 Series, I would like to have an adaptive suspension that is soft and pleasant in comfort mode and firm and aggressive in sport mode. KW offers DDC dampers, maybe I'll get them.
I agree, a true and honest review, I live on the Isle of Man, ideal location for the i3. Neg: no BMW i3 dealer on the island 😢. 6000 miles for £240 of charging. 😊
I am onto my second i3 with an i3s and I love it. It's a real shame they stopped making them! I used to drive a 320 and the savings were crazy once I went EV. Great video and I look forward to seeing waht further extras you add to yours! love the colour by the way! 🙂
Just noted this video is by far the most popular video on the channel! Please do an update on your i3s! Or, on any Schnitzer kits you’ve done on the i3s. Can’t wait.
Yes it’s done quite well really! Glad people are enjoying it. Well we’ve just literally dropped a new i3 video this evening so check that out. We also have another two i3 videos about to be edited :)
I'm a bit of a fan of the i3 We own a 2016 30kwh REX that has done over 100,000 miles. The battery is still pretty much as it was new. Showing 135 miles (very achievable) on a full charge. Nothing has ever gone wrong except consumables. Even the brakes are all original. When you drive it you'd never guess you were driving a car with over 100,000 miles on the odometer, everything is still as tight as a drum. An excellent little car. Oh sorry I forgot we did have a cracked wheel which is something our version is prone to, but that didn't happen until 93,000 miles and it was repaired by a specialist at very reasonable price. It's a perfect car for local driving and perfectly acceptable for the occasional road trip.
I have a similar i3s and the unique colours are definitely the best - with the contrast black. I have a Juraco Beige (a more bronzey version of yours), and it’s rare… apart from the chap in the next town who has exactly the same…! Galvanic and Juraco are the best colours to go with the leather and Matt oak too. Yours looks great lowered - will have to do likewise. Bit gutted about the values, but I’m keeping it long term, so not a bother. As I only charge it at home, and we have solar, it’s so satisfying to have ‘free’ miles!
Juraco looks great in the i3, in the sun the contrast is special. It’s nice seeing random colors in these cars, they can certainly pull it off! It is a shame about the residuals but if you’re keeping longer term this won’t have too much effect. Give it a couple years, the values may head back up again!
So with these cars you could opt for an auxiliary cabin heater. The heat pump is what most i3’s had fitted as standard unless upgraded here in the UK. I believe cars in the US for instance from 2019 actually had the aux cabin heater fitted as standard and before that was a relatively cheap optional upgrade. Here in the UK it was towards £1,000 of an option but does make a decent difference to range and usability. In short, the Aux cabin heater and heat pump are not the same.
I own one 120Ah but not the S as for me personally didn't see the point. On thing I wonder why you didn't go for Adaptive Cruise Control as I use that daily. And yes I know it has it's limitation but you can always switch it temporary to Normail Cruise Control. I love your colour as it looks very well; mine is white what's fine with me I have the same leather seats I retrofitted my self much easier to keep clean indeed
So for me I’m used to higher performance electric cars like the model 3 Performance so the S with the additional power was more attractive and I also preferred the body kit that comes with the S. The adaptive cruise I couldn’t get on with, it’s great if you can but I prefer a bit more control over the speed the car goes at. Glad you like the colour, I think it looks great. Leather seats for me are a really nice upgrade to give a more premium feel. Hope you’re enjoying your i3 😀
I've got a Protonic Blue i3 94Ah Rex which I've had from new since 2018 and I still love every journey I make in it. I agree that the i3 will be a future classic, it has many unique features and has character. A great car, its just a shame that BMW has decided to once again err on the side of boring for their current line up.
The Rex I believe is still likely to get slightly more range than the 120Ah versions but not much in it. Certainly once of the best options BMW made in the line up. I believe both the i3 & i8 range were purely ways for BMW to develop their electric car technology and to sell their developments along to way to recoup the millions they spent. Clever in a way and why the battery’s and motors changed so much throughout the lifetime. All the same, nothing else BMW makes in electric car line ups now are as fun and unique as the i3. They will be solid though.
@@Carbonwurks Done a 500+ miles trips in a day with my 94Ah i3s Rex. The beauty of Rex in my opinion is that you just keep on sipping fuel every 80-90 miles and it goes like a regular car. But I agree that both BEV and Rex i3s are future classics. I guess that BMW established carbon monocock to be a bit pricey and decided not to pursue that venue which made these cars instantly unique. Lucky for us :-)
I have an i3 and love it. But one big bone to pick, 3-4 hours to charge?!? On a 50kW or higher (common when on a motorway/A Road) charging 10-90% is 35 mins. Yes absolutely its not a charging monster so not a regular road tripper but for that occasional long trip its fine.
On a rapid charger it’s taken 3-4 hours to charge. A faster motorway charger it will certainly be quicker but the mileage again is a little limited. For occasional trips it’s perfectly fine if you can find the right charger.
Then you're not using a rapid charger. As a number of people have mentioned, on a fast/rapid charger it takes about 30 minutes to charge. What is the specification of the "rapid" charger that you are mentioning?@@Carbonwurks
I can manage 200 miles in my i3. Mine is red with the loft interior. I’m keeping mine as long as possible as there is nothing on the market that suits me as well as the i3.
@@Carbonwurks I got a great deal 2 years ago on an exdemonstrator with 150 miles on the clock, £27k. Car has heat pump, private glass, loft interior as extras. Done 25,000 miles so far, cost me £480 in electric as I pay 7.5p per kWh at home. I’m also not wanting a car with touch screen and touch controls, give me real buttons every time. I fitted the WiFi antenna and got the car coded to enable CarPlay 😀
I’ve got one and as a petrol-head, I think it’s great, use it for all my local mileage and charge it overnight on a 3 pin plug using my solar battery. Bought used with only 16,000 miles. But I’ve kept a 6 litre petrol job for long journeys😅
Yep we have the same set up. But we use our older 2 door RAV4 for winter when the snow comes too. Two massive own goals 1) Toyota stopping making 2 door RAV4 and 2) BMW stopping the i3 .... we live in strange times.
@@michaeldawson6309 😁 Thanks for the comment. Cannot imagine why they stopped producing it and I think the newer BMWs are ugly. I love my i3S, but don’t need much persuasion to climb into the Bentley for a long trip!
Your spot on there with the new BMWs being ugly. Most likely BMW got rid of the good people who designed and built the i range and just employed Luddites to continue their ugly ICE centric designs. Put it this way as a new BMW customer this will most likely be my last, however if the i3 was still being developed I would be here for ever. @@stephenknight-m4y
I get mine in a few days! It's the only reasonably priced EV that I actually like, a really interesting car. Re charging, saying it'll charge in a few hours is a bit misleading, as at a 50kw DC charger, it'll charge up to 80% in about 40 mins. And if you're doing a long journey, you'll be using rapid chargers, not 7kw ones.
They certainly make for an interesting everyday EV! Great bits of kit. I was talking about my personal charging experiences and destination charging. Superchargers are available at a much higher premium and not something I personally needed to use for my driving habits 😀
Not sure where the 3 to 4 hour fast charge comes from? A 50 kwh (any faster is pointless with an i3) will charge it to 100% in an hour. Given you are very unlikely to pull up to a motorway charger with less than 20% it genrally takes 25 minutes to get going again.
Only used destination fast chargers in the past. Faster motorway chargers are few and far between for my personal driving trips, even then the range is still only around 150 miles usable within adapting driving style too significantly.
Generally you charge to 80% as the last 20% is slower. Saves time. The i3 was never upgraded beyond 50kW and cheaper newer EVs can change at 100 or even 150kW now. I love my “Panda” / “Stormtrooper” i3 120Ah 2019
One week into owning the i3S. It’s remarkable. It’s easy to understand the most common comment of i3 owners when they have 2 cars, I always get in the i3 first. Now I’m not sure if you got the charging information right. The battery is 42.2 kw and dc fast charging on the i3 is at the rate of 50 kw. Therefore it should fully charge in under an hour. Of course it’s always best to not go to 0 or charge to 100%. My home charger is level 2 and does 7.5 kw so a complete refill should be 5 hours. Regarding cost, the 2019 i3S with 16k miles and 8 months BMW certified warranty, AFTER incentives with tax and licensing, in other words the check I wrote, was $18,559. They are getting cheaper! However I suspect they are currently fully depreciated and will hold value because of the iconic design.
Absolutely! It’s a car for all occasions 😀 My comment in the video was talking about destination chargers rather than superchargers that can charge within the hour. Where we are based there isn’t a huge infrastructure for this type of charging for where I regularly drive to. Residuals will always be subjective. EV’s are taking hurt at the moment but I can see the i3 holding strong for many reasons 😀 Enjoy the car!
Wow. As an owner of an MX-30 I love this car. The colour is beautiful. My car is Tan lower and Black upper. Similar look to yours. Now I want black wheels. 😊
Thanks for this video..I put a deposit on one of these last year same spec as yours in black..when it came to collect I bottled it and came away with a m235 grand coupe instead..I still love these cars and yours looks ace..perhaps next year will be the time to go electric and the i3s will definitely be worth another look..
Glad you enjoyed the video. M235’s are great cars but quite a different driving experience to an i3/i3S. It comes down to your type of driving as these smaller range cars aren’t the most convenient if you’re doing frequent long journeys. All the same, they’re great cars and are surprisingly easy to live with.
Great car - I did buy one of the first i3 with a range extender and indeed one of the last which was the i3S Why you did not spec the sun roof - it is on of the best options-standard i3S suspension is very good on motorways - the old i3 was indeed a little twitchy at motorway speeds- range varies from 165 in the winter to the best I get is 205 in hot summer weather Charging during the day off the home solar is free Tyre wear can be an issue if driven aggressively off the lights Depreciation is an issue but if bought as a company vehicle you save the vat and you get 20% depreciation write off in the first year and as the car depreciated by say 40% in the first year you basically break even My only regret is that I did not opt for the heat exchange Mine did come with the large entertainment screen and the top of the range sound system I propose to keep it indefinitely, why not 🤷♂️
Interesting little write up there. Personally I’ve had sunroofs before but it’s something I never tend to use. Seemed a bit of a waste not only paying more but adding weight for a feature that’s not something I personally enjoy. They’re great in many way but not something I use. Residuals were holding strong but have taken a little tumble of late. I do think this being a premium hatchback, it is in its own category so long term may fair quite well. The small screen was a shame but something I will change if I keep long term (5+ years).
Therein lies the problem with street parking and EVs . One is always on the look out for communal charging points . I think this car is possibly one of the very best city EVs .
I own a i3s and didn't do any mods! I have to admit as well that this is the BEST car (low maintenance) I've ever owned! Sorry to hear BMW is discontinuing this model!
I also have an i3 120Ah with the Suite interior. Mines 2019 and I love it. I love the colour of yours so don't sell it 🙂 Regards range I get a solid 160miles in any conditions and over 180 in summer. That's with AC and heating on. Plus it charges fast on the DC RAPID chargers like less than 1 hour from empty but mostly my charges are less then 30mins. On the FAST charge at home 7Kw it takes over 3 hours but hey when at home I'm usually there for more than 3 hours 🙂 They are fantastic supercars.
That’s some decent range. Like you say, if you’re planning on being somewhere for a few hours it doesn’t matter too much about a fast charger vs a rapid charger. Thanks for the comment 😀
Appreciate the comment from down under. Red and black looks great on these too. I didn’t think there would be too many of these in your part of the world, I bet they are quite rare!
Great colour, it's what I would have picked if I were buying new or picking up a very late one probably. I have recently got a 69 i3s in black, so not the most exciting colour but I think looks good and had absolutely every option selected so quite chuffed. I realise that modding stuff is your thing but personally I'm quite OEM inclined. I may get the BMW dash cams like you though then it'll be done. Only other thing, I think my brake calipers would look good painted in a natural aluminium type colour, just so they look super clean rather than grubby/dull as they do now.
Thanks for the comment, colour combo works well on this car, it likely wouldn’t on others! Black i3’s look great too, just difficult to keep clean! I’ve contemplated painted the calipers too, they don’ tend to get used so don’t get a change to get hot and burn anything off them!
Very nice looking. Own ab brand new I3 (standard) from last month of production. It's my secondary car. Own a golf gti as well. Changed original rims to Model 430 20 Zoll with Michelin e primacy 175 rear. These are little bit more noisy than original Bridgestone but stability on higher speeds improved a lot. My overall consumption on 9.978 km (6200 miles) is 13.7 kw. But not much driving in winter. I' m very happy to drive this car....much fun. Only not so good thing is that on superhighways electric cars don't like fast velocities. 80 Miles is your max speed limit if you don't want to empty your batteries too fast. Consumption is around 19.5 kw/100 km. Better you go 10 miles less. Then it is 15 kw/100 km. As net battery is 37.9 kw your useable range will say thank you. Quality is excellent. Nothing to complain. My one is imperial blue. Without leather. Had same problem with Navigation screen...but the smaller one is fine too. Guess, the chip set improved &was the same in 2022, because calculating is fast. Older car owners complained before older generations of this navigation type. My idea is the same to keep it long time....new models are just steel cars. And not as reliable. I usually load at AC 11 kw stations. Because cheaper (36 Cents/kw) and less stress for battery. DC loading 49 kw just on long tours. Because loading curve is flat, it takes around 35 Minutes to get it charged 85% back from 20%. No big deal....toilett, espresso, looking some emails....finish
Thanks for the comment, it is a shame about the chip shortage causing some spec differences but it’s possible to retrofit the bigger screen if wanted (personally I’m not too fussed). For certain could be a car that becomes quite rare and desirable. For an older design, these cars really do hold their own against so many others. Glad you are liking your i3 as well 😀
@@Carbonwurks Already got the original bigger kyocera Display via USA in brand new. But you have to switch the unit under the back seat as well and little cable change/Adapter. These units are avaiable via ebay Lituania and one guy in Budapest sends it plug&play. Around 1000 Euros. But meanwhile I' m quite happy with the buisiness version and therefor the new Screen (450 Euro) is unused in my cellar🤷♂️ A bit scared for the work too. And guarantee of my car.
@@Carbonwurks Got 250 Discount for the little screen from BMW....was in same situation...Taking the car or not. I ordered short before christmas 2021. And my car is produced 16.06.2022....his birthday😁 Happy that i did not order adaptive Acc and bumper system because some hundred cars were shipped to a free space outside Bremerhaven and got completed by an external company some months later, when missing parts arrived. Not too good for brakes....and i had nice travellings in Summer 22 which i would not have had otherwise.
I've had my i3 for nearly four years now, bought new 120amphr battery. Been thinking about a change to a bigger car with longer ev range and to be honest everything I've test driven feels like a disappointment. This is a brilliant car, grandkids hop in and out through the suicide doors without me having to get out, parks in any space and manoeuvres on a sixpence, great fun to drive and pulls away from lights like a Porsche and sits happily on motorways at 80mph. Nothing I've driven so far comes close to the all round capabilities of this car.
I think some people don’t get the i3 but for most owners like yourself they understand it’s a pioneering small electric car. Think you’ve hit the nail on the head! Thanks for your comment 😀
It’s certainly a question asked often. If you believe what the media say, it was to allow production of other “i” models which brought BMW better profitability. Shame!
I had the AST springs. I think they are awful I took them off after a year. BC Racing adjustable coil-overs are better but still not great. For most people I would recommend wheel spacers ONLY. I have all the other AC Schnitzer parts, plus Carbon Fiber side skirts and rear diffuser. Also an aftermarket 6 sided Alcantara steering wheel. The steering while is also one of the best mods for the car. Love your color!
Interesting to hear that. I’ve had the AST springs on for a year and a half and really like them. It’s not caused any real upset to the ride comfort. Sounds like a very cool i3 project you have there. Nice to hear from some modded owners 😀
That’s correct. Chassis frame itself is aluminium but the physical cockpit that everything else bolts to is carbon fibre. Fun fact, the carbon chassis weighs less than 150kg and was the first ever carbon chassis BMW made. 45 mins isn’t bad by any stretch, just a shame for super long journeys it’s not the most practical. Good for occasional long trips though.
This is in my view the almost perfect city car and I really like using ours to go downtown. Still one of the most efficient electric cars out there…which is astonishing if you think about the age of this model. Why BMW did not come up with a car replacing the I3 that has the same practicality and use is beyond me. So - get one as long as they are available. These will be good for years to go.
It is a shame BMW didn’t come up with another alternative small electric car, fortunately in some ways it keeps demand and prices up for current owners! Glad to hear another happy i3 owner 😀
Cool little cars. I’m looking at getting maybe a 94ah range extender but I worry about driving on our awful pot holed highways here in New Zealand. Are they robust enough for everyday long term use?. Have you had any issues with punctures in the skinny tyres? Thanks
For the most part they are great car. Ride comfort isn’t its strongest point but not much worse than a standard hatchback. For more local driving, taking some pressure out the tyres can greatly improve harder roads. They are plenty robust enough however as a whole.
The Schnitzer rear diffusor and spoiler comes great with the i8 rims on 195 tyres. Other than that, a nice ///M steering wheel feels much better and the ///M Performance racing seat gives good car feedback.
Good video of your i3. I’m about to purchase a 2018 model with R/X as I’m still not confident about 100% electric. I am also a BEEMER head and have been since I bought an E30 brand new in 88. I still own a 1987 model. Back to the i3 - I have 2 questions. 1. Can they be fitted with normal wheels? I have a spare set of 17” Alpinas with 5x120 studs and they will look great on it. 2. As they have a carbon chassis, what’s the situation if it’s involved in a shunt and requires repairing? I’m told they are not fixable. Can you advise? Mike.
Thanks for the compliment, glad you enjoyed it. Nice sounding collection you’ve had, E30 one of the great for sure! The PCD is 5x112 on the i3. It’s setup to have pretty big but narrow wheels. This type of car would be very sensitive to change. The carbon chassis itself sits on top of a main metal rolling chassis so could be replaced if bad enough of an accident. That said, the carbon can be repaired but it’s a very specialist repair and certification is required once repaired. Both time consuming and very costly, may be cheaper to replace unless damage is light.
Love to know how you managed to get insurance for £375 on a group 26 car ? My Nissan Leaf is group 21 and it costs me £520 with full NCD clean license, no accidents and 50 years driving experience.
Safe area, off street parking and clean record along with this being 1 of a handful of cars on the policy. Also comes down to cost of replacing parts in an accident as well as how often the car is crashed nationally. Likely more leaf owners get involved in accidents too sadly!
I suggest you keep it and continue to add more modifications. I own a Mini Cooper electric and so far I have installed Eibach springs, Koni FSD shocks, Neuspeed rear anti rolls bar, performance lower and upper control arms, sway bar links, enkei RPF 1 wheels, and lastly I am about to install some Power flex polyurethane bushings.
I think that’s likely what I will do. They’re such great cars it’s hard to think of many others in that price bracket. Mini sounds great! How have you been finding it? I’ve heard such great things about them.
@@Carbonwurks it’s a great little car for daily driving and now that I have modified it a little it is more fun to drive! I have noticed efficiency is up some so I am getting slightly better range.
Awesome! I bet it’s a riot to drive! You’ll have to keep an eye out on our YT channel for our latest project coming up in the coming months, it may just be Mini related! 😀
In theory, lowering springs can make the ride worse as there is less suspension travel due to shorter springs. That said, it rides well with the lowered springs, certainly doesn’t feel any worse. Older, harder Tyres have a big impact to ride quality and worn shocks.
In the latest generation i3 it’s quite an exercise to swap over the whole setup. Shame really, perhaps a good aftermarket option will come through at some point!
I own a i3 best car I have ever owned and not because I get free charging at work but because it’s different and has amazing acceleration, worth mentioning tyres are unique to the vehicle and cost a lot plus you did not say anything about servicing costs.
Free charging certainly helps! They are very nippy cars up to motorway/freeway speeds. Tyres are specific to this car yes but it being so light, it tends to be fairly kind on them so longer life compared to other similar cars. Not had to service the car yet being 1 year old. This being fully electric it’s only a brake fluid change every 2-3 years, pollen/cabin filter and general health check. The AC could do with a service every 2-3 years as well but not essential. Brake discs and pads can last a very long time depending on driving style with the regen braking. Running costs over 2-3 years is low.
For some reason your i3 looks better than any that I have seen in the US. The ones I have seen look weird with the skinny tires and basic look, but yours looks kind of aggressive and I do love the color with the contrasting gloss black parts!
The i3s has wider tires, and I believe wider fenders too. It definitely balances the look to a point where it's a very attractive-looking car, IMO. In this case, the lower ride also helps in that regard.
@@tonyn3227 only way buying made sense over leasing was $7500 Fed rebate, $2500 TX state rebate, and $11k Corporate Partner incentive. We paid $32k incluing taxes for our $55k MSRP 2021 i3s.
That is the only model I would consider as an upgrade from my "like new" blue 2017 i3 94Ah BEV with 27k on it. You said you would not sell it, but you did not rule out gifting it, so I am still hopeful that beautiful i3s could be mine.
Ha, I’m sadly not well off enough to gift cars, nice thought though 😀 It much depends on your journeys as to whether the bigger battery is worth it. If you never do much more than 100 miles you’d be unlikely to see the benefit. Happy motoring all the same 😀
i had one of these for less than a year. If you are just going around town it's amazing. I sold mine to get a Tesla as the range is super annoying and as soon as you turn on the air con the range literally dissappears. Even if you turn it off straight away you don't get it back!!! Great car, totally impractical
Funnily enough went from a Tesla to the i3! It does come down to style and type of driving. Mostly for me it’s a town car which it fits the bit. Longer journey I go petrol power generally 😀
May make for a good car to swap to. Range won’t be as good but depends on driving style. Sadly the i3’s are no longer made so your only option would be used. The later gen cars have a few improvements over the early models and may still come with a warranty.
I had a 330e new back in 2017, great car but then switched to i3 90ah, and now i3s 120ah, much more fun to drive than the 330e, feels faster even tho on paper it's not. So happy not to have an ICE anymore, noise used to annoy me when the 330e engine cut in. i3s not the best if you do long journeys a lot, we have a model Y for that. But for zippyness, lightness and ease around town I reach for the i3s rather than MY.
I have an i3S and it's brilliant, however, I can't agree with your fuel calculations. Based upon a petrol car averaging 30mpg and at roughly 1.70 p/ltr the cost for 2000 miles is closer to £1400~£1500 depending on the type of fuel used and not £2000 as stated? Back in the day I used to mod all my cars but nowadays I think they are best left alone, especially as the i3 looks about perfect in standard form. It's not a race car and it won't go any faster with those add on parts but hey I have been there, done that, so no room to criticise.
Fuel prices have fluctuated a lot over the last couple years as has the mpg of our other cars being compared to. Real life they’ve been getting closer to 25mpg and cost of super unleaded has been closer to £2PL at times. For the sake of argument I also round up the cost of electricity used. The point being made was electric power is substantially cheaper as well as no road tax if even the costing is out by 10% +/-. The mods aren’t trying to make it into a race car. If you’ve driven an i3 you’d know one of its few faults is high speed stability. Lowering springs and spacers help hugely with that for relatively low cost. Owners are pretty aware they aren’t going to be setting purple lap times at race circuits but they can make the drive more enjoyable by some choice mods 😀
Destination charger times verses supercharger. Personally I only charge at home or slower destination charger, never charged on the likes of a motorway service station.
Very interested to buy an i3. But feel very difficult to make a choice. Can get the 60 ah with REX for very good price. Can get the 94 ah for good price too, exist also with Rex. For a little more can get the 120 ah. Only things I will not give up, the heating pump. How to decide? Thanks for the advices
It very much depends on your intended use for the i3. If you’re only doing small, local trips of less than 70-80 miles then any will be fine. If you want to do longer journeys, the 94 Rex or 120ah battery option would be better suited. Cabin heat isn’t essential but does save power usage with efficiency. Especially in the cooler months. The other thing to consider is the 94 Rex & 120ah models will hold their value much better as tend to be more desirable. Not an issue if you don’t intend to sell anytime soon.
If this was mine, I would be doing the screen upgrade as a priority, it already wins on most other counts. There was some organisation who were working on a larger battery, which might just be a bit to costly to be a viable upgrade, especially taking into account the recent drop in value of used EV's.
The screen upgrade is quite an expensive change as these later generation i3’s require more than just the screen to be swapped, all the supporting tech needs to be changed too. It’s on the list but not something I would do unless the parts become a bit more cost effective. Battery upgrade is interesting, likely something people would consider later down the line when these cars may be due for a replacement.
You don't need a larger battery for 99% of travel. How many people who own a city car do more than 160 miles a day :-) This range thing is just daft. 160 miles is plenty and remember it charges up fast on DC chargers. Most usually charge from 30% to 85% that's about 30 mins. Time for a bathroom break and a coffee then off again.
@@michaeldawson6309 not everyone buys the i3 as a city car, some buy it as their only car, I personally only do a couple of long trips each year, but taking a 30 minute break every 2 1/2 hours would be a bit of a drag for me, having been a long distance truck driver, 4 to 4 1/2 hours would be my desired travelling distance before wanting a break. Is it a price I would be willing to pay, yes it would, but a bigger battery would be more favourable given the option.
Awasome video! I’m also thinking to get one, but I have a little concern. There is a 450m gravely road to arrive to my home, it’s get messy with rain. Will I be slowly damaging the car or I just need to change tires oftener, what do U think?
Glad you liked the video. Hard to give too much of an answer to your question. The i3 has good ground clearance and it also has good traction on low grip surfaces. It should handle it well.
I’m considering an i3S and watching many videos and getting my head around the ins and outs of this little gem. One comment from you I’d like to get clarified. You mention that it has no Road tax. My research on the government page for electric cars lead me to a statement that an electric car with a combustion engine connected to the battery, are not exempt. Can you clarify please ?
This i3 does not have a combustion engine, it’s full electric compared to the REX models (range extenders) which had a small engine to charge the batteries. Later i3’s are full electric only hence the no road tax. That said from next year (2025), even full electric cars will pay some form of road tax (likely a small amount).
Without performance based spring and wheel spacers I would agree these cars can feel unsettled at higher speeds. As it stands now, it feels very balanced. Definitely very stable at any speeds.
Technically anything you do to the car that would be deemed as an aftermarket part could affect the warranty. That said, if you have a problem with your speaker or cabin heater they can’t say a set of springs caused the issue. If a shock failed, they may say that the springs could have caused it. It will depend on what has gone wrong as to whether it’s relevant. Personally I’d say it’s a worthwhile upgrade and took that “risk” if there was one.
Not great if your 6 ft 5”. I got the Mercedes EQC on lease, I’m not stupid and know the top version loses about £50k in two years. My first EV, very cramped for head room but has the luxury factor. Wish I’d gone down the i3S route as my wife solely uses it now and although I pay very little, it’s range is crap, we’ve had a number of warning lights, that have all been faults with sensors and I’m sticking with my X5 50e.
The i3 strangely has a lot of headroom. I don’t think it would be too much of a squeeze with someone of height. Depreciation on EV’s hasn’t been great, not a huge issue if you don’t intend to sell the car for some time. X5 is a good car, I had the M50i until recently, not great on fuel mind…
It may be a bit confusing/put off alot of people to say it takes 4 hours to charge this car? That aside Great review & car, like yiur enthusiasm, could I just ask with 4 adults up & storage fully loaded to GVW would the car still clear to run on UK roads without compromising clearances/ wheels rubbing etc ?
In my personal experience with the chargers I’ve used/had available, it does take that long to charge. Those are destination chargers and not “super chargers” as such. Valid point in that it can charge much quicker with the right charger. I can confirm there is plenty of clearance still with no rubbing with 4 fully grown adults in the car. I didn’t check with luggage but all 4 occupants were 80-95kg each so should cover that 😀 Glad you like the video 👌🏻
What about CCS charging ? We used to go 20-80% in 35 minutes on our 120ah i3, not 3-4 hours. I hope you know you have rapid charging by taking the lower cap out of the charging port?
@@Carbonwurks fair enough, but it came across to me as if that was the only way you charged on a long trip. Its a fab car ,we had 2 great years in one and was our first foray in to EVs, no going back to ICE now
Toward the beginning of the video, I think you mentioned you were going to comment on why these late models don't have the range extender. But I don't think you got around to it unless I missed it. Any interesting points to make on that front? Are you fine with not having a range extender-equipped model? Thanks.
I think the video started to get a bit long so tried to compress it where we could. In short, bmw stopped offering the range extender version as they believed the 120ah battery was more than sufficient to achieve the range they wanted to get out of these cars along with better charging facilities word wide. They shifted to focus on pure electric only as the need for a small petrol powered engine to charge just wasn’t needed anymore.
Is ashamed the display screen is small but it depends when the car was produce. I remember the later batch of the i3's all use small screen due to parts shortage during covid. I have the normal i3 21 reg, despite i keep looking at the next EV i want but I end up keeping the i3 because the car is very good and value for money. I got my used when they drop price like crazy for whatever reasons.
It is a shame that the small screen was put in later cars due to production issues but it’s a small sacrifice to make with the rest of the car being so good. It’s hard to find a comparable to the i3, it’s a leader in its own class.
@@Carbonwurks Definitely mate. Alot of people will comment on the range but for a City car, the range is more then enough. Also people forget how efficient the i3 is as an EV because the car only has 38kw usable battery (120ah model). During summer time i can get around 180miles from a full charge easily, but in winter time like all EV cars, the range drop. Around 120miles in winter time.
The i3 will definitely rank as one of the best cars I’ve had as well. Adaptive cruise is tricky to get used to, certainly something you love or you hate. I personally couldn’t get on with it.
What did you find bad about it? I’ve had it in several vehicles including my current 330e and it works perfectly. I’m looking at getting an i3 and wondering if they got the adaptive cruise wrong in it?
I’ve tried it in various vehicles but find it quite intrusive and overrides how I personally like to drive the car. Most people love it, it’s just a personal thing.
As long as the car has been well maintained, that’s a fair price. Just make sure it’s been serviced properly as the Rex motor can be prone to some issues.
May I suggest the larger screen and a carplay/Android auto box I really like mine. It's depreciated like f**k but it is so cheap to run and so good around town I love that it looks like a clown car!
Larger screen is harder to get to work with this later gen i3, not many retrofits available for it. Values have dropped hard but I honestly can’t see them going much lower. Upside is it’s very cost effective to own and run!
Surely you would stop for a Rapid charge (45-50kW) on a long journey and only spend half an hour or so going from 20% up to 85/90%? That's what I do on my i3. Why fast charge for 4 hours to get the same amount of energy into the battery?
All i3’s come with heating, there was an optional extra for an auxiliary heat pump/cabin heater that’s more efficient over the standard electrical resistance style heat you get as standard.
@@Carbonwurks thanks for replying, I thought all german electric cars came with the heatpump as standard, heard the teslas only just start offering them
I’m a big fan of Mini’s, only recently got rid of my F56 JCW LCi 2. For me however, there’s something about the i3 that’s very unique and different that isn’t matched with anything else. Hard to put my finger on it!
Great car, and great looks. I’ve owned one for three years, it has the range extender which is brilliant, it cannot be beaten ! Premium, unique, economical, and yes, probably ugly to some, but heck, it grows on you. 😅 Would not get rid of mine, it’s too good to part with. Peace ✌🏾
We have one at the moment as a loan car we both hate it as the driving position and drive experience are awful compared to the mini ev3 we have. Looks good on the outside but like a 1960’s beetle on the inside
Personal preference I guess. I’ve driven a lot of weird and wonderful cars both fast and slow but find the driving position and experience really good on the i3. With a few upgrades, the i3 is a great fun. Also have a Mini JCW as well so love both!
There aren’t any obvious signs such as extra buttons, you’d have to find the specification list of the vehicle you have. You can normally search this through your VIN online.
@@YTcolinT I have an i3 without the range extender. I’ll have a look at Sandy’s documents to see where the fuel tank went as I think he dismantled the early REx version. I notice that those models have a door flap towards the front of the car but the engine went under the boot.
Do you anticipate additional suspension component wear and tear with the lowering and spacer installation? I've read that sometimes when using spacers, wheel bearings and top mounts could potentially wear out faster due to changed geometry. Also, how does the car feel compared to the stock suspension setup? Could you perhaps do a more in=depth review regarding that?
Wear rates vary more with the type of driving than anything else. Hubcentric spacers generally don’t cause too much premature wear (from what we have felt, test and seen first hand). Lowering a car excessively on standard shocks can wear the shock quicker and cause oil leaks but the amount being lowered by is again not significant enough to make a noticeable difference. In general, the answer is a higher rate of wear can be expected but would be very hard to measure and pretty negligible. Handling wise, very big improvement. Significantly more stability at higher speeds, greatly improved cornering ability and looks great too. In theory lowering the car can also help reduce drag which can reduce power consumption. In our minds, the positives massively outweigh the negatives.
@@Carbonwurks Thanks for the reply. It's a great looking car...incredible it's almost 10 years old now and real shame BMW didn't update it and continue it. Perhaps one of BMW's truly biggest blunders to date. If you do feel so inclined, please make a video of the suspension and handling improvements, etc. It'd a great review.
They ultimately weren’t making bmw much money so they had to end the i8 & i3, shame all the same! I will make a note for the production guys, we may have 1 or 2 i3 related videos coming up in the coming months 😀
Found a faster charger in Portsmouth, 60kwh dc. I think the i3s is limited to 49kwh charging but it still charged very quickly, 40 miles in 20 mins I think maybe more
Technically it’s pretty much possible to charge an i3 up in under an hour from empty with the right charger. If you’ve got time to spare, it’s not too long to wait 😀
I have owned a bmw i3S in protonic blue metallic for half a year, I bought it driven with 12,000 km, long-term consumption 12 kWh/100 km, I charge primarily at home, electricity costs are 2 euros for 100 km of driving, excellent driving characteristics, the best car I have ever owned
Very nice, such a good car for home charging. 12K KM in 6 months is quite a lot! Nice going 👌🏻
To make this distance in half a year you'd have to be in Germany without any speed limits without spending half a day every day in 6months behind the wheel. But this would leave you with more than 12kWh. And not to speak of this ridiculous low costs for electricity. So in which lucky country is this possible?
@@lionelhuddsI live in the Slovak Republic, the state subsidizes the price of electricity for households, the maximum price for 1 kWh is 0.20 euros with the cheapest tariff D1. I have the more expensive D3, I pay 0.14 euros for 1 KWH
I’m thinking about getting this car! It’s a hybrid right? Gas works fine?
I own full electric,without rex extender😊
I have one of the early ones from 2014, 60Ah, Solar Orange with full spec, Harman Kardon, big infortainment screen, led lights, Lodge interior, sun roof etc. I've been driving it 8 years and still happy with it.
Great to hear it’s still going strong! The big screen makes a bit difference on these too!
What do you thing about battery life ? Will you change it ? And Whats the coast of battery?
@@CCK-px7sp There is no need to change the battery during the life of the car. It still performs well and if I want longer range I can sell it buy a newer i3 with a bigger 120 Ah battery.
I'm 4 years into i3s ownership, after 5 years in a bogo i3. Both were pure BEV, none of the ReX rubbish because the extra mass out back really messes up the handling and blunts the performance. When the battery is fully charged and the voltage is up high, the i3s is a genuinely quick little car in the real world. Sure the spec might be only just sub 7 on paper, but once moving, especially between about 25 and 75, this little car is a proper shocker for owners of supposedly much faster cars. The low mass, perfect balance also give it a combination of turn in response yet brilliant stability that makes other, heavier, less well balanced cars look a little flat footed..
As you say, sure fire future classic too! i'm keeping mine though, nothing i could replace it with is anything like as fun or good 🙂
Nice way to sum it up there. I’ve heard the heavier Rex cars do tend to point the nose up a bit more and make it feel a bit understeery. Some genuine love for these i3’s it seems, I can sure see why! Happy motoring 😀
I have had both BEV and REx. No difference in handling. A couple of boxes of shopping weighs as much as the tiny 2 cylinder generator, which was derived from a tiny scooter bike. Honestly.
@Carbonwurks As an owner of both, you heard wrong. No noticeable difference at all.
Yep this little beauty will shock most cars 0 - 40mph due to its weight to power output. So yes 0 -60mph is around 7 sec but I would say 0 -30 is like 2 sec
Rex rubbish? its peace of mind, think when you need that extra and can't make it to charge.
I’ve just bought one of these cars in Melbourne red/black it’s only done 9000 miles and is like new I think it’s a 2019 ,I looooove it.
My family wanted me to downsize from a Skoda yeti , I am 77 years old , and was determined not to buy “ an old lady’s car” 😂 all my friends love it too i live in guernsey in the Channel Islands , so perfect for our Island, brilliant review , loving the black and gold ❤
Great to hear more love for the i3! I think these are becoming a bit of a cult car! I took my Tesla previously to Guernsey and Jersey 2 years ago, you may see me on the island later this with a trip I’m considering! I managed to drive around both islands on half a charge and got back home, let’s see how the i3 fairs!
Enjoy your Melbourne red version, many years of happy motoring ahead 😀
Apparently you are not an OLD lady, but you are a SMART LADY 👈🏾
Bought my first 2014 i3 REX few weeks ago in early June 2024 for $9500 with only 52k miles in mint condition, paid full in cash, love the torque and speed leaving most tweeked imports in the dust, driving it as my daily and I treat it like a hybrid balancing the use of backed up gas and electricity, charging it up every Sunday with free energy thanks to my house solar system!
Nicely done, welcome to the fold! 😀
Can't believe how cheap these things are in the US. It makes me cry when I see the prices in the EU.
I3s is the best. Drove my 2019 i3s for 90000km, 0 problems. First inspection was after 80000km / 3 years, under the car it looked like new (its all aluminium, plastic and carbon fiber). When your in the car it feels special place, you feel relaxed and in peace. I also have an M3 Touring, and use to have cars like the Audi Q8 and the BMW iX50 but if I have to choose a car for a short tips I always pick the BMW i3s.
90km in an i3 is very impressive! Not known too many that high mileage, nicely done 👌🏻
For town and local driving, the i3 is still one of best around. Have a look at some of our other TH-cam content for the M3 Touring, we’ve made a whole series on our own 😀
@@Carbonwurks 91k km here, there are issues. A rubber strip became loose, door rubbers torn, squeeking turn signal lever (yeah I actually use that) - but all fixed under the 'premium selection' warranty. Battery capacity is slowly going down, now at the stated gross battery capacity but not noticable in every day use.
‘there isn’t many cars like this’ spot on…got the same i3s with pro pack an leather plus big screen running carplay in fullscreen & sunroof….need to pay you a visit for spacer/springs & ac schnitzer!! 🙂 can you also get their blue factory seatbelts?? re range i am getting 5.0 miles/kW so around 170 miles in real terms…LOVING IT!
Nice! Sounds like a good spec i3S! Sunroof in itself is quite a rare option to have. We love working on i3’s, drop us a message if you need any work 😀. We can likely get hold of those seat belts yes, I believe there is a genuine BMW part number for those so would be something we can get.
Thats some good range! I could see that being quite achievable if the conditions are right.
I own a 2019 , bought it used with 11,000 miles. I absolutely love my car . Great handling. I Love the color combination of your car. Mine is black with blue accents. Thank-you for the video.
Glad you enjoyed the video, welcome to the fold 😀
Best looking i3 ive seen! All the lmes ive seen have been white or grey, the colour of yours looks brilliant, more agressive than ive seen as well.
I appreciate the kind message. Glad you like it! Quite a rare and unusual color, certainly seems to work well 😀
It has a the wheel well sills and lower bumper lip and rims flushed to the body and dropped suspension makes it look aggressive
9:14 With a CFRP body on an aluminium chassis, the BMW i3 will be a future classic and in the meantime it will not suffer from rust. ☮️
This is true, as long as the aluminum part doesn’t oxidize however 😬
I had a 2015 Tesla model s 85d and a 2017 nissan leaf 30kwh. I recently replaced my leaf with an 2020 i3 120AH, with 110,000kms on the clock. We went to pick the I3 up in Bordeaux in the Tesla and drove both back to Geneva where i live. What surprised me was how quick the i3 was over the long trip. it was slower than the models S but only by about 10%, it may only have a 50kw maximum charging speed but the charging curve is flat, and the car is quite efficient on departmental roads in France, at approx 90 to 110kmh, these speeds give a range of about 300kms (186 miles) on a good day at 25c with no wind The I3 did a trip in 10 hours that would have take 2 days in the Leaf. its a long winded way of saying that it the I3 is surprisingly good.
That’s a really interesting experience and perspective with your i3. The later generation 120ah i3’s are very efficient indeed which makes them very cost effective with power usage.
I genuinely believe bmw nailed the i3 in many ways and are a class leader for this particular type of electric vehicle.
Enjoy your i3, Geneva is a great place to do so! 😀
Better than the leaf, would be considered an insult around here. Even the comparison sounds bad.
It sure is. Its a hidden secret gem.
I’ve recently bought an i3S from 2020, in Melbourne Red, with the leather interior. It also has the sunroof and the Harman Kardon speakers. It’s a dream to drive! I also find long journeys no problem, I stop around every hour and do a 20 min top up and it’s no problem. Works well for me…especially as I live in London. Love it! Your video helped convince me (and I made sure it had the big screen!)
Nice! Sounds like a great spec! Enjoy the car and welcome to the fold 😀
Brilliant review, I have been using my i3s for trips to Norfolk and Doncaster from my home in Cornwall, as you can see from my channel vlogs I am averaging around 155 miles on a run and then around 35 to 45 mins to charge to 90% and an hour to 100% from around 10%. I will be contacting you to get prices to fit the spacers and suspension kit you have on yours. Keep up the brilliant vlogs.
Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the video. Quite long trips to make in the i3, good effort! If you aren’t in a particular rush I can imagine that works quite well.
No worries, drop us a message come the time and we would be happy to discuss some options 😀
The color is amaaazing! I got a used 120Ah i3 a month ago, and am quite happy with it. The color is black/white which works well, but the color you‘ve really pops, love it!
Great to hear!
Love the color on your i3. So unique, I haven't seen one in that color yet. i3 is a great all around car. You can get everywhere you need to go as a daily driver. Wifey love my i3 so much she ended up getting one as well. So now we own two of them. Great car built with nice creature comforts and very practical and pennies on the dollar to run. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and video on the i3. 🚙😎
Thanks for the comment, appreciate the kind words.
Black is and gold is very unique, I’ve only ever seen 1 on the road in this colour scheme. There seems to be a great community of i3 owners, great hearing peoples stories and comments. Obviously a well liked car and works well with everyone’s lifestyle.
Having 2 i3’s is awesome 🔥
We liked the i3 so much (a 94Ah Rex version) that we replaced it with a 120Ah i3 in 2019.
We still have that i3 and ordered an additional i3S in Mineral Grey and loaded with almost every option - when we heard production was going to stop.
It arrived in March 2022 and like your car, had an item reverted to ‘base’ due to chip shortages.
In our case it was the touch controller being replaced with the smaller standard dial.
What I discovered late in 2023 was that it was only the controller that had been changed - and so it was easy to replace (with one from a nearly new i3S that was in the breakers).
Straight swap, a quick re-code and it was back to full specification.
We are therefore a 2 x i3 family…
They’re not going anywhere!
I have added Wokeby storage units to both (which utilises the space that would have been taken up by the Rex), and a Wokeby frunk cover - that works really well in the i3S and keeps everything dry. I do have a Wokeby charging flap mod, but have yet to get around to fitting it.
For the i3S, I’m interested in the spacers, and am considering buying the Evolve modded (Bilstein) dampers - keeping the stock springs just to improve ride comfort a bit - without sacrificing the country lane abilities of the car.
BMW built a gem with the i3, and I too think it will become a sought after classic…
On a side note, that i3S in the breakers had been in a significant head on collision with a lorry, but though the front end was effectively smashed away, the carbon fibre passenger cell was intact. Apparently the driver was knocked unconscious and was hospitalised with severe bruising and some other relatively minor injuries - but he survived as a result of that car.
We only know that - because he had subsequently visited the breakers yard to retrieve some personal effects that had been found later by those stripping the car for parts.
Great to hear of another i3 enthusiast! Some interesting things you mentioned there. Definitely worth looking into wokeby option, the frunk getting pretty wet seems a bit of an oversight from bmw to me!
We recently upgraded an i3 with evolve bilstien shocks and lowering springs. Video to come on that soon.
Long live the i3! 😀
Nice car!
I recommend getting on Octopus Energy's "Intelligent Octopus" tariff if you can charge at home overnight. It's costing me about 2.5p per mile (£150 for 6,000 miles!).
I have a 94Ah i3s REX, and I can get from Brighton to London and back on a single charge, but without any range anxiety because I can put £10 worth of petrol into the generator if I need to extend it by 60 miles (the generator recharges the battery as you drive, doesn't power the wheels).
I don't find the EV infrastructure to be a problem, as I always charge at home and rarely out and about. In fact, charging at a public charger is no cheaper than topping up the generator with petrol, so on the rare occasion where I do a long journey I am more likely to put petrol in and leave the generator running on the motorway. (you can't hear it)
Mine's red (unfortunately), but I love the gold more!
I previously owned a protonic blue i3 (pre-facelift) and the suspension was so unstable, I hated taking corners at any speed. That was the only flaw with the car, so the firmer i3s suspension is a must (even factory standard version).
Appreciate the comment. Some good cost benefits on the charging front! Definitely one to consider.
As long as you aren’t doing long mileage on a regular basis, these are very useable cars.
Love the red, looks great with black accents.
I think in general these cars react well to being lowered. The S being lower likely will be better for stability.
This my favourite BMW design,the doors,being electric are just icing on the cake,awesome awesome car
Glad you approve 😀👍🏻
@@Carbonwurks ain't a fan of plain Jane designs
Stunning colour combo.
They are so nicely engineered. And still look most modern EV to date.
3 hours on DC charger? That's not right. It's 50kW DC and 39kWh battery.
Under an hour is max.
Brave but certainly the right colour combo! In the video I was discussing destination fast charges, not service station rapid/superchargers 😬
@@Carbonwurks oh, oké. Always get confused with fast and rapid on UK channels.
We in NL just say AC chargers and fastchargers (DC)
Same. I can get from 10 to 90% charge in under and hour on a 50kw charger - 2021 i3S 120
Nice honest vid. Subscribed! I was afraid for buying an i3s because of stability in highway. This vid convinced me. Thanks alot!
Appreciate the feedback, thanks for your comment. They can feel a little light and sensitive at higher speed, for certain the lowering springs and wheel spacers help out with that significantly. Well worth while upgrade.
Stability is much better on the i3s than the i3 (I've owned both), even without changing the suspension.
I am extremely satisfied with the standard suspension of the i3s, both when driving fast on country roads and on the motorway. The ride is very smooth and stable.
Where I have problems with it, however, is on bad city roads.
Here, the s in the name becomes a pain and every manhole cover hits as if there was no suspension at all.
So, as with the other BMW 3 Series, I would like to have an adaptive suspension that is soft and pleasant in comfort mode and firm and aggressive in sport mode.
KW offers DDC dampers, maybe I'll get them.
I agree, a true and honest review, I live on the Isle of Man, ideal location for the i3. Neg: no BMW i3 dealer on the island 😢. 6000 miles for £240 of charging. 😊
I am onto my second i3 with an i3s and I love it. It's a real shame they stopped making them! I used to drive a 320 and the savings were crazy once I went EV. Great video and I look forward to seeing waht further extras you add to yours! love the colour by the way! 🙂
Appreciate the comment, glad you’re enjoying i3 ownership as well. Savings have been drastic versus a combustion engine for sure!
Just noted this video is by far the most popular video on the channel! Please do an update on your i3s! Or, on any Schnitzer kits you’ve done on the i3s. Can’t wait.
Yes it’s done quite well really! Glad people are enjoying it.
Well we’ve just literally dropped a new i3 video this evening so check that out.
We also have another two i3 videos about to be edited :)
@@Carbonwurks that is mad! Timing is everything! Looking forward to watching it! Thanks!!
Enjoy!
Just a small amount ahead of its time - it’s such a shame there is no new one. I always wondered if it would have done better as a Mini?
It is a shame but wasn’t cost effective for BMW to make. The electric mini seems to be doing well on sales, the nearest replacement for the i3.
I'm a bit of a fan of the i3
We own a 2016 30kwh REX that has done over 100,000 miles. The battery is still pretty much as it was new. Showing 135 miles (very achievable) on a full charge.
Nothing has ever gone wrong except consumables. Even the brakes are all original.
When you drive it you'd never guess you were driving a car with over 100,000 miles on the odometer, everything is still as tight as a drum.
An excellent little car.
Oh sorry I forgot we did have a cracked wheel which is something our version is prone to, but that didn't happen until 93,000 miles and it was repaired by a specialist at very reasonable price.
It's a perfect car for local driving and perfectly acceptable for the occasional road trip.
That’s a great write up! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! They are great cars :)
They are very interesting little cars. So unique. They do grow on you. I do like the colour and in I3S guise it's perfect.
They really are!
I have a similar i3s and the unique colours are definitely the best - with the contrast black. I have a Juraco Beige (a more bronzey version of yours), and it’s rare… apart from the chap in the next town who has exactly the same…! Galvanic and Juraco are the best colours to go with the leather and Matt oak too. Yours looks great lowered - will have to do likewise. Bit gutted about the values, but I’m keeping it long term, so not a bother. As I only charge it at home, and we have solar, it’s so satisfying to have ‘free’ miles!
Juraco looks great in the i3, in the sun the contrast is special. It’s nice seeing random colors in these cars, they can certainly pull it off!
It is a shame about the residuals but if you’re keeping longer term this won’t have too much effect. Give it a couple years, the values may head back up again!
@Carbonwurks I own a Mazda 5. When they stopped making the model I got the car cheap. I'm guessing the prices will drop 30-40%
I might buy a BMW i3.
Love my i3S ! Practical small citycar, and a fun go-kart for the b-roads.
When the corners get very tight and close not alot of cars can keep up.
An underrated car for sure! Genuinely do feel like a go kart, certainly catch a lot of unsuspecting people out 😀
I think, the cabin heater is called “heat pump”. And this should help to save energy…
So with these cars you could opt for an auxiliary cabin heater. The heat pump is what most i3’s had fitted as standard unless upgraded here in the UK. I believe cars in the US for instance from 2019 actually had the aux cabin heater fitted as standard and before that was a relatively cheap optional upgrade. Here in the UK it was towards £1,000 of an option but does make a decent difference to range and usability. In short, the Aux cabin heater and heat pump are not the same.
I own one 120Ah but not the S as for me personally didn't see the point. On thing I wonder why you didn't go for Adaptive Cruise Control as I use that daily. And yes I know it has it's limitation but you can always switch it temporary to Normail Cruise Control. I love your colour as it looks very well; mine is white what's fine with me I have the same leather seats I retrofitted my self much easier to keep clean indeed
So for me I’m used to higher performance electric cars like the model 3 Performance so the S with the additional power was more attractive and I also preferred the body kit that comes with the S.
The adaptive cruise I couldn’t get on with, it’s great if you can but I prefer a bit more control over the speed the car goes at.
Glad you like the colour, I think it looks great. Leather seats for me are a really nice upgrade to give a more premium feel. Hope you’re enjoying your i3 😀
I've got a Protonic Blue i3 94Ah Rex which I've had from new since 2018 and I still love every journey I make in it. I agree that the i3 will be a future classic, it has many unique features and has character. A great car, its just a shame that BMW has decided to once again err on the side of boring for their current line up.
The Rex I believe is still likely to get slightly more range than the 120Ah versions but not much in it. Certainly once of the best options BMW made in the line up.
I believe both the i3 & i8 range were purely ways for BMW to develop their electric car technology and to sell their developments along to way to recoup the millions they spent. Clever in a way and why the battery’s and motors changed so much throughout the lifetime. All the same, nothing else BMW makes in electric car line ups now are as fun and unique as the i3. They will be solid though.
@@Carbonwurks Done a 500+ miles trips in a day with my 94Ah i3s Rex. The beauty of Rex in my opinion is that you just keep on sipping fuel every 80-90 miles and it goes like a regular car. But I agree that both BEV and Rex i3s are future classics. I guess that BMW established carbon monocock to be a bit pricey and decided not to pursue that venue which made these cars instantly unique. Lucky for us :-)
I have an i3 and love it. But one big bone to pick, 3-4 hours to charge?!? On a 50kW or higher (common when on a motorway/A Road) charging 10-90% is 35 mins. Yes absolutely its not a charging monster so not a regular road tripper but for that occasional long trip its fine.
On a rapid charger it’s taken 3-4 hours to charge. A faster motorway charger it will certainly be quicker but the mileage again is a little limited. For occasional trips it’s perfectly fine if you can find the right charger.
Then you're not using a rapid charger. As a number of people have mentioned, on a fast/rapid charger it takes about 30 minutes to charge. What is the specification of the "rapid" charger that you are mentioning?@@Carbonwurks
I can manage 200 miles in my i3. Mine is red with the loft interior. I’m keeping mine as long as possible as there is nothing on the market that suits me as well as the i3.
That’s pretty good going to get that range. Agreed there isn’t much else out there as a small premium electric car at this price point.
@@Carbonwurks I got a great deal 2 years ago on an exdemonstrator with 150 miles on the clock, £27k. Car has heat pump, private glass, loft interior as extras. Done 25,000 miles so far, cost me £480 in electric as I pay 7.5p per kWh at home. I’m also not wanting a car with touch screen and touch controls, give me real buttons every time. I fitted the WiFi antenna and got the car coded to enable CarPlay 😀
@idparkinson that’s very good! Likely hasn’t depreciated at all in that 2 years! Certainly cheap motoring after the initial outlay 👌🏻
I’ve got one and as a petrol-head, I think it’s great, use it for all my local mileage and charge it overnight on a 3 pin plug using my solar battery. Bought used with only 16,000 miles. But I’ve kept a 6 litre petrol job for long journeys😅
That’s the perfect combo! A car for every occasion. Nicely done 😀👌🏻
Yep we have the same set up. But we use our older 2 door RAV4 for winter when the snow comes too. Two massive own goals 1) Toyota stopping making 2 door RAV4 and 2) BMW stopping the i3 .... we live in strange times.
@@michaeldawson6309 😁 Thanks for the comment. Cannot imagine why they stopped producing it and I think the newer BMWs are ugly. I love my i3S, but don’t need much persuasion to climb into the Bentley for a long trip!
Your spot on there with the new BMWs being ugly. Most likely BMW got rid of the good people who designed and built the i range and just employed Luddites to continue their ugly ICE centric designs. Put it this way as a new BMW customer this will most likely be my last, however if the i3 was still being developed I would be here for ever. @@stephenknight-m4y
I get mine in a few days! It's the only reasonably priced EV that I actually like, a really interesting car.
Re charging, saying it'll charge in a few hours is a bit misleading, as at a 50kw DC charger, it'll charge up to 80% in about 40 mins. And if you're doing a long journey, you'll be using rapid chargers, not 7kw ones.
They certainly make for an interesting everyday EV! Great bits of kit.
I was talking about my personal charging experiences and destination charging. Superchargers are available at a much higher premium and not something I personally needed to use for my driving habits 😀
Not sure where the 3 to 4 hour fast charge comes from? A 50 kwh (any faster is pointless with an i3) will charge it to 100% in an hour. Given you are very unlikely to pull up to a motorway charger with less than 20% it genrally takes 25 minutes to get going again.
Only used destination fast chargers in the past. Faster motorway chargers are few and far between for my personal driving trips, even then the range is still only around 150 miles usable within adapting driving style too significantly.
Generally you charge to 80% as the last 20% is slower. Saves time. The i3 was never upgraded beyond 50kW and cheaper newer EVs can change at 100 or even 150kW now. I love my “Panda” / “Stormtrooper” i3 120Ah 2019
Great video, just bought one and interested in some upgrades. What size spacers have to fitted - they look good dimensions.
Enjoy your new i3! Spacers we fitted were 16mm & 13mm 😀👍🏻
One week into owning the i3S. It’s remarkable. It’s easy to understand the most common comment of i3 owners when they have 2 cars, I always get in the i3 first. Now I’m not sure if you got the charging information right. The battery is 42.2 kw and dc fast charging on the i3 is at the rate of 50 kw. Therefore it should fully charge in under an hour. Of course it’s always best to not go to 0 or charge to 100%. My home charger is level 2 and does 7.5 kw so a complete refill should be 5 hours. Regarding cost, the 2019 i3S with 16k miles and 8 months BMW certified warranty, AFTER incentives with tax and licensing, in other words the check I wrote, was $18,559. They are getting cheaper! However I suspect they are currently fully depreciated and will hold value because of the iconic design.
Absolutely! It’s a car for all occasions 😀
My comment in the video was talking about destination chargers rather than superchargers that can charge within the hour. Where we are based there isn’t a huge infrastructure for this type of charging for where I regularly drive to.
Residuals will always be subjective. EV’s are taking hurt at the moment but I can see the i3 holding strong for many reasons 😀
Enjoy the car!
Wow. As an owner of an MX-30 I love this car. The colour is beautiful. My car is Tan lower and Black upper. Similar look to yours. Now I want black wheels. 😊
Thanks for the comment, glad you like it 😀
Black wheels do look great on this color scheme.
Thanks for this video..I put a deposit on one of these last year same spec as yours in black..when it came to collect I bottled it and came away with a m235 grand coupe instead..I still love these cars and yours looks ace..perhaps next year will be the time to go electric and the i3s will definitely be worth another look..
Glad you enjoyed the video. M235’s are great cars but quite a different driving experience to an i3/i3S. It comes down to your type of driving as these smaller range cars aren’t the most convenient if you’re doing frequent long journeys. All the same, they’re great cars and are surprisingly easy to live with.
Great car - I did buy one of the first i3 with a range extender and indeed one of the last which was the i3S
Why you did not spec the sun roof - it is on of the best options-standard i3S suspension is very good on motorways - the old i3 was indeed a little twitchy at motorway speeds- range varies from 165 in the winter to the best I get is 205 in hot summer weather
Charging during the day off the home solar is free
Tyre wear can be an issue if driven aggressively off the lights
Depreciation is an issue but if bought as a company vehicle you save the vat and you get 20% depreciation write off in the first year and as the car depreciated by say 40% in the first year you basically break even
My only regret is that I did not opt for the heat exchange
Mine did come with the large entertainment screen and the top of the range sound system
I propose to keep it indefinitely, why not 🤷♂️
Interesting little write up there. Personally I’ve had sunroofs before but it’s something I never tend to use. Seemed a bit of a waste not only paying more but adding weight for a feature that’s not something I personally enjoy. They’re great in many way but not something I use.
Residuals were holding strong but have taken a little tumble of late. I do think this being a premium hatchback, it is in its own category so long term may fair quite well.
The small screen was a shame but something I will change if I keep long term (5+ years).
I LOVE the paint job! Sadly I'm disabled and stay in a 2nd-floor apartment near Edinburgh, and, only have on-street parking
Glad you like the paintwork. Thanks and wishing you all the best.
Therein lies the problem with street parking and EVs . One is always on the look out for communal charging points . I think this car is possibly one of the very best city EVs .
I own a 2018 i3 ReX and couldn’t be more happy; though the occasional repairs are expensive, the money saved in gas has lessened the financial impact
The ReX cars are a bit more complex but like you say, the other running costs are very reasonable 😀
I own a i3s and didn't do any mods! I have to admit as well that this is the BEST car (low maintenance) I've ever owned! Sorry to hear BMW is discontinuing this model!
Always time to get some upgrades done!
I also have an i3 120Ah with the Suite interior. Mines 2019 and I love it. I love the colour of yours so don't sell it 🙂
Regards range I get a solid 160miles in any conditions and over 180 in summer. That's with AC and heating on.
Plus it charges fast on the DC RAPID chargers like less than 1 hour from empty but mostly my charges are less then 30mins.
On the FAST charge at home 7Kw it takes over 3 hours but hey when at home I'm usually there for more than 3 hours 🙂
They are fantastic supercars.
That’s some decent range. Like you say, if you’re planning on being somewhere for a few hours it doesn’t matter too much about a fast charger vs a rapid charger.
Thanks for the comment 😀
Love the car and colour. Red also good colour. Difficult to get 2nd hand one where I live in Australia.
Appreciate the comment from down under. Red and black looks great on these too. I didn’t think there would be too many of these in your part of the world, I bet they are quite rare!
I'm in Adelaide and there's at least 4 here apart from my own, so yeah, very niche market
Pretty cool to be one of few with the same car!
Great colour, it's what I would have picked if I were buying new or picking up a very late one probably. I have recently got a 69 i3s in black, so not the most exciting colour but I think looks good and had absolutely every option selected so quite chuffed. I realise that modding stuff is your thing but personally I'm quite OEM inclined. I may get the BMW dash cams like you though then it'll be done. Only other thing, I think my brake calipers would look good painted in a natural aluminium type colour, just so they look super clean rather than grubby/dull as they do now.
Thanks for the comment, colour combo works well on this car, it likely wouldn’t on others! Black i3’s look great too, just difficult to keep clean! I’ve contemplated painted the calipers too, they don’ tend to get used so don’t get a change to get hot and burn anything off them!
Very nice looking. Own ab brand new I3 (standard) from last month of production. It's my secondary car. Own a golf gti as well.
Changed original rims to Model 430 20 Zoll with Michelin e primacy 175 rear. These are little bit more noisy than original Bridgestone but stability on higher speeds improved a lot.
My overall consumption on 9.978 km (6200 miles) is 13.7 kw. But not much driving in winter.
I' m very happy to drive this car....much fun. Only not so good thing is that on superhighways electric cars don't like fast velocities. 80 Miles is your max speed limit if you don't want to empty your batteries too fast. Consumption is around 19.5 kw/100 km. Better you go 10 miles less. Then it is 15 kw/100 km. As net battery is 37.9 kw your useable range will say thank you.
Quality is excellent. Nothing to complain. My one is imperial blue. Without leather. Had same problem with Navigation screen...but the smaller one is fine too. Guess, the chip set improved &was the same in 2022, because calculating is fast. Older car owners complained before older generations of this navigation type.
My idea is the same to keep it long time....new models are just steel cars. And not as reliable. I usually load at AC 11 kw stations. Because cheaper (36 Cents/kw) and less stress for battery. DC loading 49 kw just on long tours. Because loading curve is flat, it takes around 35 Minutes to get it charged 85% back from 20%. No big deal....toilett, espresso, looking some emails....finish
Thanks for the comment, it is a shame about the chip shortage causing some spec differences but it’s possible to retrofit the bigger screen if wanted (personally I’m not too fussed).
For certain could be a car that becomes quite rare and desirable. For an older design, these cars really do hold their own against so many others.
Glad you are liking your i3 as well 😀
@@Carbonwurks Already got the original bigger kyocera Display via USA in brand new. But you have to switch the unit under the back seat as well and little cable change/Adapter. These units are avaiable via ebay Lituania and one guy in Budapest sends it plug&play. Around 1000 Euros. But meanwhile I' m quite happy with the buisiness version and therefor the new Screen (450 Euro) is unused in my cellar🤷♂️ A bit scared for the work too. And guarantee of my car.
@@Carbonwurks Got 250 Discount for the little screen from BMW....was in same situation...Taking the car or not. I ordered short before christmas 2021. And my car is produced 16.06.2022....his birthday😁 Happy that i did not order adaptive Acc and bumper system because some hundred cars were shipped to a free space outside Bremerhaven and got completed by an external company some months later, when missing parts arrived. Not too good for brakes....and i had nice travellings in Summer 22 which i would not have had otherwise.
I've had my i3 for nearly four years now, bought new 120amphr battery. Been thinking about a change to a bigger car with longer ev range and to be honest everything I've test driven feels like a disappointment. This is a brilliant car, grandkids hop in and out through the suicide doors without me having to get out, parks in any space and manoeuvres on a sixpence, great fun to drive and pulls away from lights like a Porsche and sits happily on motorways at 80mph. Nothing I've driven so far comes close to the all round capabilities of this car.
I think some people don’t get the i3 but for most owners like yourself they understand it’s a pioneering small electric car. Think you’ve hit the nail on the head!
Thanks for your comment 😀
Can I ask how much is the 120amphr battery for this car?
For such a beautiful , quirky and practical car one wonders why BMW discontinued it or at least did not evolve the concept ?
It’s certainly a question asked often. If you believe what the media say, it was to allow production of other “i” models which brought BMW better profitability. Shame!
I had the AST springs. I think they are awful I took them off after a year. BC Racing adjustable coil-overs are better but still not great. For most people I would recommend wheel spacers ONLY. I have all the other AC Schnitzer parts, plus Carbon Fiber side skirts and rear diffuser. Also an aftermarket 6 sided Alcantara steering wheel. The steering while is also one of the best mods for the car. Love your color!
Interesting to hear that. I’ve had the AST springs on for a year and a half and really like them. It’s not caused any real upset to the ride comfort.
Sounds like a very cool i3 project you have there. Nice to hear from some modded owners 😀
It has a carbon fibre occupant safety-cell. The chassis is aluminium.
The charge time is about 45 minutes at a 50kW charger from zero to 100%
That’s correct. Chassis frame itself is aluminium but the physical cockpit that everything else bolts to is carbon fibre. Fun fact, the carbon chassis weighs less than 150kg and was the first ever carbon chassis BMW made.
45 mins isn’t bad by any stretch, just a shame for super long journeys it’s not the most practical. Good for occasional long trips though.
@@Carbonwurks It is painful on longer trips, but not really because of the car, more because of the uncertainty of a charger on the motorway network.
Yeah that is often the bigger worry, especially when traveling at peak times!
This is in my view the almost perfect city car and I really like using ours to go downtown. Still one of the most efficient electric cars out there…which is astonishing if you think about the age of this model. Why BMW did not come up with a car replacing the I3 that has the same practicality and use is beyond me. So - get one as long as they are available. These will be good for years to go.
It is a shame BMW didn’t come up with another alternative small electric car, fortunately in some ways it keeps demand and prices up for current owners!
Glad to hear another happy i3 owner 😀
Cool little cars. I’m looking at getting maybe a 94ah range extender but I worry about driving on our awful pot holed highways here in New Zealand. Are they robust enough for everyday long term use?. Have you had any issues with punctures in the skinny tyres? Thanks
For the most part they are great car. Ride comfort isn’t its strongest point but not much worse than a standard hatchback. For more local driving, taking some pressure out the tyres can greatly improve harder roads. They are plenty robust enough however as a whole.
The Schnitzer rear diffusor and spoiler comes great with the i8 rims on 195 tyres. Other than that, a nice ///M steering wheel feels much better and the ///M Performance racing seat gives good car feedback.
There are some nice ACS options for the i8 & i3. They sadly just come at quite a price tag. Unsure how they would look on the i3 🤔
Good video of your i3. I’m about to purchase a 2018 model with R/X as I’m still not confident about 100% electric. I am also a BEEMER head and have been since I bought an E30 brand new in 88. I still own a 1987 model. Back to the i3 - I have 2 questions.
1. Can they be fitted with normal wheels? I have a spare set of 17” Alpinas with 5x120 studs and they will look great on it.
2. As they have a carbon chassis, what’s the situation if it’s involved in a shunt and requires repairing? I’m told they are not fixable. Can you advise?
Mike.
Thanks for the compliment, glad you enjoyed it. Nice sounding collection you’ve had, E30 one of the great for sure!
The PCD is 5x112 on the i3. It’s setup to have pretty big but narrow wheels. This type of car would be very sensitive to change.
The carbon chassis itself sits on top of a main metal rolling chassis so could be replaced if bad enough of an accident. That said, the carbon can be repaired but it’s a very specialist repair and certification is required once repaired. Both time consuming and very costly, may be cheaper to replace unless damage is light.
Thanks for the quick reply. I had an idea that a wheel change would be tricky. I'll stick with the factory wheels on the i3 and try not to crash it!
Love to know how you managed to get insurance for £375 on a group 26 car ? My Nissan Leaf is group 21 and it costs me £520 with full NCD clean license, no accidents and 50 years driving experience.
Safe area, off street parking and clean record along with this being 1 of a handful of cars on the policy. Also comes down to cost of replacing parts in an accident as well as how often the car is crashed nationally. Likely more leaf owners get involved in accidents too sadly!
I suggest you keep it and continue to add more modifications. I own a Mini Cooper electric and so far I have installed Eibach springs, Koni FSD shocks, Neuspeed rear anti rolls bar, performance lower and upper control arms, sway bar links, enkei RPF 1 wheels, and lastly I am about to install some Power flex polyurethane bushings.
I think that’s likely what I will do. They’re such great cars it’s hard to think of many others in that price bracket.
Mini sounds great! How have you been finding it? I’ve heard such great things about them.
@@Carbonwurks it’s a great little car for daily driving and now that I have modified it a little it is more fun to drive! I have noticed efficiency is up some so I am getting slightly better range.
Awesome! I bet it’s a riot to drive!
You’ll have to keep an eye out on our YT channel for our latest project coming up in the coming months, it may just be Mini related! 😀
Had my i3s since new, and 3 years old now. Love it, but harsh rice on pot holes. Is yours any better with your lower springs?
In theory, lowering springs can make the ride worse as there is less suspension travel due to shorter springs. That said, it rides well with the lowered springs, certainly doesn’t feel any worse. Older, harder Tyres have a big impact to ride quality and worn shocks.
apparently it's easy to switch to a bigger screen in the early I3s but still possible with later if you switch the head unit too.
In the latest generation i3 it’s quite an exercise to swap over the whole setup. Shame really, perhaps a good aftermarket option will come through at some point!
@@Carbonwurks youtube keeps deleting my reply about there being an easy plug and play solution, I can't even mention who to look up, frustrating
I own a i3 best car I have ever owned and not because I get free charging at work but because it’s different and has amazing acceleration, worth mentioning tyres are unique to the vehicle and cost a lot plus you did not say anything about servicing costs.
Free charging certainly helps! They are very nippy cars up to motorway/freeway speeds.
Tyres are specific to this car yes but it being so light, it tends to be fairly kind on them so longer life compared to other similar cars.
Not had to service the car yet being 1 year old. This being fully electric it’s only a brake fluid change every 2-3 years, pollen/cabin filter and general health check. The AC could do with a service every 2-3 years as well but not essential. Brake discs and pads can last a very long time depending on driving style with the regen braking. Running costs over 2-3 years is low.
I get about 25,000 miles from a set of tyres. Cost about £500 for a set of Bridgestones. No more expensive than most other recent model cars.
@@Carbonwurks My rear tyres on an i3s REX (slightly heavier at the back) lasted two years, and cost £500 to replace (recently)
Super looking car, gorgeous colour, the best i3 I have seen.
Many thanks! Appreciate the comment
For some reason your i3 looks better than any that I have seen in the US. The ones I have seen look weird with the skinny tires and basic look, but yours looks kind of aggressive and I do love the color with the contrasting gloss black parts!
Because this one was $55k, when new had all options, super overpriced for what you get,
@@tonyn3227 Ahhh! That explains it! Thanks.
Overpriced bit hurt 🥲 but fair comment 😀
The i3s has wider tires, and I believe wider fenders too. It definitely balances the look to a point where it's a very attractive-looking car, IMO. In this case, the lower ride also helps in that regard.
@@tonyn3227 only way buying made sense over leasing was $7500 Fed rebate, $2500 TX state rebate, and $11k Corporate Partner incentive. We paid $32k incluing taxes for our $55k MSRP 2021 i3s.
That is the only model I would consider as an upgrade from my "like new" blue 2017 i3 94Ah BEV with 27k on it. You said you would not sell it, but you did not rule out gifting it, so I am still hopeful that beautiful i3s could be mine.
Ha, I’m sadly not well off enough to gift cars, nice thought though 😀
It much depends on your journeys as to whether the bigger battery is worth it. If you never do much more than 100 miles you’d be unlikely to see the benefit. Happy motoring all the same 😀
@@CarbonwurksExactly! I'm 76 and drive 60 miles per month total. Lil Blue is my forever car, but I am still jealous of your i3s.
i had one of these for less than a year. If you are just going around town it's amazing. I sold mine to get a Tesla as the range is super annoying and as soon as you turn on the air con the range literally dissappears. Even if you turn it off straight away you don't get it back!!! Great car, totally impractical
Funnily enough went from a Tesla to the i3! It does come down to style and type of driving. Mostly for me it’s a town car which it fits the bit. Longer journey I go petrol power generally 😀
Correction on charge time. Rapid charge (e.g. in a motorway service station) is only 20 minutes to get 80%. NOT 3 hours!!
As per the other comments and discussions, I was talking about a destination charger, not a supercharger 😀
Interesting good looking car i have a 330e which i am looking to change downsize to an i3s would you recommend a used one from a dealer
May make for a good car to swap to. Range won’t be as good but depends on driving style. Sadly the i3’s are no longer made so your only option would be used. The later gen cars have a few improvements over the early models and may still come with a warranty.
I had a 330e new back in 2017, great car but then switched to i3 90ah, and now i3s 120ah, much more fun to drive than the 330e, feels faster even tho on paper it's not. So happy not to have an ICE anymore, noise used to annoy me when the 330e engine cut in. i3s not the best if you do long journeys a lot, we have a model Y for that. But for zippyness, lightness and ease around town I reach for the i3s rather than MY.
I have an i3S and it's brilliant, however, I can't agree with your fuel calculations. Based upon a petrol car averaging 30mpg and at roughly 1.70 p/ltr the cost for 2000 miles is closer to £1400~£1500 depending on the type of fuel used and not £2000 as stated? Back in the day I used to mod all my cars but nowadays I think they are best left alone, especially as the i3 looks about perfect in standard form. It's not a race car and it won't go any faster with those add on parts but hey I have been there, done that, so no room to criticise.
Fuel prices have fluctuated a lot over the last couple years as has the mpg of our other cars being compared to. Real life they’ve been getting closer to 25mpg and cost of super unleaded has been closer to £2PL at times. For the sake of argument I also round up the cost of electricity used. The point being made was electric power is substantially cheaper as well as no road tax if even the costing is out by 10% +/-.
The mods aren’t trying to make it into a race car. If you’ve driven an i3 you’d know one of its few faults is high speed stability. Lowering springs and spacers help hugely with that for relatively low cost. Owners are pretty aware they aren’t going to be setting purple lap times at race circuits but they can make the drive more enjoyable by some choice mods 😀
3-4h on fast charger? I charged mine from 10% to 95% on 50kw charger in ~40 min, 120Ah 2019 model. I was charging constantly on ~45kw speed.
Destination charger times verses supercharger. Personally I only charge at home or slower destination charger, never charged on the likes of a motorway service station.
Very interested to buy an i3. But feel very difficult to make a choice. Can get the 60 ah with REX for very good price. Can get the 94 ah for good price too, exist also with Rex. For a little more can get the 120 ah. Only things I will not give up, the heating pump. How to decide? Thanks for the advices
It very much depends on your intended use for the i3. If you’re only doing small, local trips of less than 70-80 miles then any will be fine. If you want to do longer journeys, the 94 Rex or 120ah battery option would be better suited.
Cabin heat isn’t essential but does save power usage with efficiency. Especially in the cooler months.
The other thing to consider is the 94 Rex & 120ah models will hold their value much better as tend to be more desirable. Not an issue if you don’t intend to sell anytime soon.
If this was mine, I would be doing the screen upgrade as a priority, it already wins on most other counts. There was some organisation who were working on a larger battery, which might just be a bit to costly to be a viable upgrade, especially taking into account the recent drop in value of used EV's.
The screen upgrade is quite an expensive change as these later generation i3’s require more than just the screen to be swapped, all the supporting tech needs to be changed too. It’s on the list but not something I would do unless the parts become a bit more cost effective.
Battery upgrade is interesting, likely something people would consider later down the line when these cars may be due for a replacement.
@@CarbonwurksIs this an oficial product?
The screen is a genuine BMW part yes. There are a few options depending on what you specced and what was available due to chip shortages.
You don't need a larger battery for 99% of travel. How many people who own a city car do more than 160 miles a day :-) This range thing is just daft. 160 miles is plenty and remember it charges up fast on DC chargers. Most usually charge from 30% to 85% that's about 30 mins. Time for a bathroom break and a coffee then off again.
@@michaeldawson6309 not everyone buys the i3 as a city car, some buy it as their only car, I personally only do a couple of long trips each year, but taking a 30 minute break every 2 1/2 hours would be a bit of a drag for me, having been a long distance truck driver, 4 to 4 1/2 hours would be my desired travelling distance before wanting a break. Is it a price I would be willing to pay, yes it would, but a bigger battery would be more favourable given the option.
Awasome video! I’m also thinking to get one, but I have a little concern. There is a 450m gravely road to arrive to my home, it’s get messy with rain. Will I be slowly damaging the car or I just need to change tires oftener, what do U think?
Glad you liked the video. Hard to give too much of an answer to your question. The i3 has good ground clearance and it also has good traction on low grip surfaces. It should handle it well.
@@Carbonwurks Thanks so much 🙏🏻
I’ve been thinking about window tint. Mine is imperial blue S.
Tints can look good on these, the big front window lets loads of light in still 👍🏻
I have a 2015 i3 in Solar Orange Metallic. I'm interested to see available mods.
Great color. Quite a few options available for these cars, depends what you want to focus on.
I’m considering an i3S and watching many videos and getting my head around the ins and outs of this little gem. One comment from you I’d like to get clarified. You mention that it has no Road tax. My research on the government page for electric cars lead me to a statement that an electric car with a combustion engine connected to the battery, are not exempt. Can you clarify please ?
This i3 does not have a combustion engine, it’s full electric compared to the REX models (range extenders) which had a small engine to charge the batteries. Later i3’s are full electric only hence the no road tax. That said from next year (2025), even full electric cars will pay some form of road tax (likely a small amount).
LOVE the color on your i3s. Great, smart choice.
Much appreciate, quite happy with it myself 😀👍🏻
How does it drive on the motorway at 50-70mph? One owner I know said it's unstable to drive during the winter at 50mph, what are your thoughts?
Without performance based spring and wheel spacers I would agree these cars can feel unsettled at higher speeds. As it stands now, it feels very balanced. Definitely very stable at any speeds.
I'm looking to buy one of these here in the US. I wish I could find that color, it looks amazing!
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! Glad you like the colour, it looks great in real life. Best of luck with your search.
Nice car,do you think that changing springs affects the warranty?
Just ordered lowering springs for my i3s-23.
Technically anything you do to the car that would be deemed as an aftermarket part could affect the warranty. That said, if you have a problem with your speaker or cabin heater they can’t say a set of springs caused the issue. If a shock failed, they may say that the springs could have caused it. It will depend on what has gone wrong as to whether it’s relevant. Personally I’d say it’s a worthwhile upgrade and took that “risk” if there was one.
@@Carbonwurks Exactly my thoughts,have a nice evening.
Not great if your 6 ft 5”. I got the Mercedes EQC on lease, I’m not stupid and know the top version loses about £50k in two years. My first EV, very cramped for head room but has the luxury factor. Wish I’d gone down the i3S route as my wife solely uses it now and although I pay very little, it’s range is crap, we’ve had a number of warning lights, that have all been faults with sensors and I’m sticking with my X5 50e.
The i3 strangely has a lot of headroom. I don’t think it would be too much of a squeeze with someone of height. Depreciation on EV’s hasn’t been great, not a huge issue if you don’t intend to sell the car for some time. X5 is a good car, I had the M50i until recently, not great on fuel mind…
It may be a bit confusing/put off alot of people to say it takes 4 hours to charge this car? That aside Great review & car, like yiur enthusiasm, could I just ask with 4 adults up & storage fully loaded to GVW would the car still clear to run on UK roads without compromising clearances/ wheels rubbing etc ?
In my personal experience with the chargers I’ve used/had available, it does take that long to charge. Those are destination chargers and not “super chargers” as such. Valid point in that it can charge much quicker with the right charger.
I can confirm there is plenty of clearance still with no rubbing with 4 fully grown adults in the car. I didn’t check with luggage but all 4 occupants were 80-95kg each so should cover that 😀
Glad you like the video 👌🏻
Such a quirky well designed car. Excellent for a second car.
Agreed! 😀
Mine works out at about 1.5p per mile in 'fuel'.
Pretty good going!
What about CCS charging ? We used to go 20-80% in 35 minutes on our 120ah i3, not 3-4 hours. I hope you know you have rapid charging by taking the lower cap out of the charging port?
Talked mostly about destination charging vs CCS in this video 😀
@@Carbonwurks fair enough, but it came across to me as if that was the only way you charged on a long trip. Its a fab car ,we had 2 great years in one and was our first foray in to EVs, no going back to ICE now
Toward the beginning of the video, I think you mentioned you were going to comment on why these late models don't have the range extender. But I don't think you got around to it unless I missed it. Any interesting points to make on that front? Are you fine with not having a range extender-equipped model? Thanks.
I think the video started to get a bit long so tried to compress it where we could.
In short, bmw stopped offering the range extender version as they believed the 120ah battery was more than sufficient to achieve the range they wanted to get out of these cars along with better charging facilities word wide. They shifted to focus on pure electric only as the need for a small petrol powered engine to charge just wasn’t needed anymore.
This is only true in the UK. Other markets got 120Ah and Rex.@@Carbonwurks
Is ashamed the display screen is small but it depends when the car was produce. I remember the later batch of the i3's all use small screen due to parts shortage during covid. I have the normal i3 21 reg, despite i keep looking at the next EV i want but I end up keeping the i3 because the car is very good and value for money. I got my used when they drop price like crazy for whatever reasons.
It is a shame that the small screen was put in later cars due to production issues but it’s a small sacrifice to make with the rest of the car being so good. It’s hard to find a comparable to the i3, it’s a leader in its own class.
@@Carbonwurks Definitely mate. Alot of people will comment on the range but for a City car, the range is more then enough. Also people forget how efficient the i3 is as an EV because the car only has 38kw usable battery (120ah model). During summer time i can get around 180miles from a full charge easily, but in winter time like all EV cars, the range drop. Around 120miles in winter time.
After 1 year and 30000 km I will say: best car what I ever had.
Adaptive headlights are superb, but adaptive cruise control is useless.
The i3 will definitely rank as one of the best cars I’ve had as well. Adaptive cruise is tricky to get used to, certainly something you love or you hate. I personally couldn’t get on with it.
What did you find bad about it? I’ve had it in several vehicles including my current 330e and it works perfectly. I’m looking at getting an i3 and wondering if they got the adaptive cruise wrong in it?
@@HiruS22 i3 use only one camera on windscreen for cruisecontrol. This make I3 cruise wery unstable vs. 3- series
I’ve tried it in various vehicles but find it quite intrusive and overrides how I personally like to drive the car. Most people love it, it’s just a personal thing.
I'm looking at buying a 2015 solar orange i3 with range extender and technology package at about 91,000 miles for $7k.. is that a fair price ?
As long as the car has been well maintained, that’s a fair price. Just make sure it’s been serviced properly as the Rex motor can be prone to some issues.
What did u do about the mirrors...changed them?
They were changed to our carbon fibre options we produce. A bit more sporty and aggressive.
May I suggest the larger screen and a carplay/Android auto box
I really like mine. It's depreciated like f**k but it is so cheap to run and so good around town
I love that it looks like a clown car!
Larger screen is harder to get to work with this later gen i3, not many retrofits available for it.
Values have dropped hard but I honestly can’t see them going much lower. Upside is it’s very cost effective to own and run!
Surely you would stop for a Rapid charge (45-50kW) on a long journey and only spend half an hour or so going from 20% up to 85/90%? That's what I do on my i3. Why fast charge for 4 hours to get the same amount of energy into the battery?
If personally I needed and had the option to rapid charge I would. I sadly only had use of a destination charger which charges much slower.
Well that's even better then, no waiting around at all! @@Carbonwurks
Really like these, but hard to pass on a used model 3 at this point
Model 3’s are a good alternative. Still a bit of a harder car to maintain here in the UK, more for aged model 3’s and obtaining parts.
I didnt get what you were saying about the cabin heating, were you saying heating doesnt come as standard?
All i3’s come with heating, there was an optional extra for an auxiliary heat pump/cabin heater that’s more efficient over the standard electrical resistance style heat you get as standard.
@@Carbonwurks thanks for replying, I thought all german electric cars came with the heatpump as standard, heard the teslas only just start offering them
@dantronics1682 it depends on the country but here in the UK the “cabin heater” auxiliary heater was an option.
Would you consider an electric Mini Cooper ?
I’m a big fan of Mini’s, only recently got rid of my F56 JCW LCi 2. For me however, there’s something about the i3 that’s very unique and different that isn’t matched with anything else. Hard to put my finger on it!
Great car, and great looks. I’ve owned one for three years, it has the range extender which is brilliant, it cannot be beaten ! Premium, unique, economical, and yes, probably ugly to some, but heck, it grows on you. 😅 Would not get rid of mine, it’s too good to part with. Peace ✌🏾
Great way to sum it up there. Couldn’t have said it better myself 😀
We have one at the moment as a loan car we both hate it as the driving position and drive experience are awful compared to the mini ev3 we have. Looks good on the outside but like a 1960’s beetle on the inside
Personal preference I guess. I’ve driven a lot of weird and wonderful cars both fast and slow but find the driving position and experience really good on the i3. With a few upgrades, the i3 is a great fun. Also have a Mini JCW as well so love both!
How can you tell whether your i3 has the ‘cabin heater’ (or heat pump)?
There aren’t any obvious signs such as extra buttons, you’d have to find the specification list of the vehicle you have. You can normally search this through your VIN online.
Note the heat pump can't be fitted to a REx version because it sits in place of the fuel tank.
@@YTcolinT I have an i3 without the range extender. I’ll have a look at Sandy’s documents to see where the fuel tank went as I think he dismantled the early REx version. I notice that those models have a door flap towards the front of the car but the engine went under the boot.
what is the year of your car (the car you're reviewing)?
It’s a 2022 model, one of the very last to be built 😀
Do you anticipate additional suspension component wear and tear with the lowering and spacer installation? I've read that sometimes when using spacers, wheel bearings and top mounts could potentially wear out faster due to changed geometry. Also, how does the car feel compared to the stock suspension setup? Could you perhaps do a more in=depth review regarding that?
Wear rates vary more with the type of driving than anything else. Hubcentric spacers generally don’t cause too much premature wear (from what we have felt, test and seen first hand). Lowering a car excessively on standard shocks can wear the shock quicker and cause oil leaks but the amount being lowered by is again not significant enough to make a noticeable difference.
In general, the answer is a higher rate of wear can be expected but would be very hard to measure and pretty negligible.
Handling wise, very big improvement. Significantly more stability at higher speeds, greatly improved cornering ability and looks great too. In theory lowering the car can also help reduce drag which can reduce power consumption.
In our minds, the positives massively outweigh the negatives.
@@Carbonwurks Thanks for the reply. It's a great looking car...incredible it's almost 10 years old now and real shame BMW didn't update it and continue it. Perhaps one of BMW's truly biggest blunders to date.
If you do feel so inclined, please make a video of the suspension and handling improvements, etc. It'd a great review.
They ultimately weren’t making bmw much money so they had to end the i8 & i3, shame all the same!
I will make a note for the production guys, we may have 1 or 2 i3 related videos coming up in the coming months 😀
Do you have details on how much they made from them? I wouldn't be surprised if they made a loss.@@Carbonwurks
There are i3s Rex variants but only in North America.
They were popular in the UK. I heard for ultimate mileage, you can get a Rex to go further but not sure how true that is.
Found a faster charger in Portsmouth, 60kwh dc. I think the i3s is limited to 49kwh charging but it still charged very quickly, 40 miles in 20 mins I think maybe more
Technically it’s pretty much possible to charge an i3 up in under an hour from empty with the right charger. If you’ve got time to spare, it’s not too long to wait 😀