Upgraded my electric ride - 2017 BMW i3

[Scout1]

About a year ago, I bought a 2017 Fiat 500e electric car. Fun to drive and ran perfectly but it was too small and not terribly comfortable. The back seat was a joke and the car was so narrow I routinely used the passenger seat armrest while driving. So I traded for a 2017 BMW i3 with the REX (range extender) Here are my impressions;

• I was surprised how high the passenger compartment floor is. The design is like a Tesla with a square battery box under the floor containing Samsung prismatic battery cells. It’s constructed on an aluminum chassis with carbon fiber passenger compartment so although quite a bit bigger and roomier, the car is only slightly heavier than the Fiat even with the REX.
  
  
• Driving the i3 is quite a bit different with the “always on” regeneration. Lift off the throttle and the i3 slows quickly and turns on your brake lights so the guy behind you won’t get surprised. I used to own a Leaf and you could turn the regeneration on or off which would be nice but the BMW doesn’t allow that; it’s always on!
  
  
• The i3 ride is much quieter and many more features are included. Things like rain sensing wipers, keyless entry and folding mirrors make the BMW much “higher end” than the Fiat. Some have criticized the i3 high speed handling but I find it about the same as the Fiat with pretty good on center feel although large bumps do tend to unsettle the car at high speeds. Steering feel is heavier than the light steering on the Fiat but I find all BMWs have a heavier feel to me.
  
  
• This car has the 33KWh battery pack giving it a 120 mile electric range. Once you hit 6% on the battery pack, a 650cc two cylinder scooter motor in back starts generating electricity while you drive on another 80 miles or so. Of course, the first day I had the car I tested it and at 6% I saw the display change but didn’t hear the motor start. Hummm… maybe there is a delay I thought. Turns out the motor was running but couldn’t hear it over the normal road noise! Only at the next stop light did I hear it chugging along in back. So the overall range of close to 200 miles will make this a nice rig for longer trips.
  
  
• I’m still under warranty but when that’s over I plan to “code” the car to allow starting the REX before the high voltage battery is depleted which is what they allow in Europe. Unfortunately, US cars don’t allow this for emissions reasons driven by California laws I think.
  
  
• I only have two complaints… Well, one complaint and one more of a surprise. The car has no AM radio! Didn’t see that one coming… Traffic, weather, what am I going to do? No problem, my favorite AM station also broadcasts on FM in Seattle so problem solved. The only real complaint is the dash has an irritating rattle over heavy bumps. Other than that, seems like a nice car!

 

[PimTac]

Nice review. The dash noise could be checked by the dealer.

I’m not sure of this but is there AM radio with Apple CarPlay via a third party app?

What is your usual commute like?

 

[Scout1]

Nice review. The dash noise could be checked by the dealer.

I’m not sure of this but is there AM radio with Apple CarPlay via a third party app?

What is your usual commute like?

I'm retired so no regular commute. When I had my Leaf I was going 50 mile round trip which worked well with the car.

I hear there actually is an AM radio but they have it disabled due to some AM interference from the electrical motor on the car. But folks who "code" to unlock the AM function say it works OK.

 

[LawrenceGazebo]

About a year ago, I bought a 2017 Fiat 500e electric car. Fun to drive and ran perfectly but it was too small and not terribly comfortable. The back seat was a joke and the car was so narrow I routinely used the passenger seat armrest while driving. So I traded for a 2017 BMW i3 with the REX (range extender) Here are my impressions;

• I was surprised how high the passenger compartment floor is. The design is like a Tesla with a square battery box under the floor containing Samsung prismatic battery cells. It’s constructed on an aluminum chassis with carbon fiber passenger compartment so although quite a bit bigger and roomier, the car is only slightly heavier than the Fiat even with the REX.
  
  
• Driving the i3 is quite a bit different with the “always on” regeneration. Lift off the throttle and the i3 slows quickly and turns on your brake lights so the guy behind you won’t get surprised. I used to own a Leaf and you could turn the regeneration on or off which would be nice but the BMW doesn’t allow that; it’s always on!
  
  
• The i3 ride is much quieter and many more features are included. Things like rain sensing wipers, keyless entry and folding mirrors make the BMW much “higher end” than the Fiat. Some have criticized the i3 high speed handling but I find it about the same as the Fiat with pretty good on center feel although large bumps do tend to unsettle the car at high speeds. Steering feel is heavier than the light steering on the Fiat but I find all BMWs have a heavier feel to me.
  
  
• This car has the 33KWh battery pack giving it a 120 mile electric range. Once you hit 6% on the battery pack, a 650cc two cylinder scooter motor in back starts generating electricity while you drive on another 80 miles or so. Of course, the first day I had the car I tested it and at 6% I saw the display change but didn’t hear the motor start. Hummm… maybe there is a delay I thought. Turns out the motor was running but couldn’t hear it over the normal road noise! Only at the next stop light did I hear it chugging along in back. So the overall range of close to 200 miles will make this a nice rig for longer trips.
  
  
• I’m still under warranty but when that’s over I plan to “code” the car to allow starting the REX before the high voltage battery is depleted which is what they allow in Europe. Unfortunately, US cars don’t allow this for emissions reasons driven by California laws I think.
  
  
• I only have two complaints… Well, one complaint and one more of a surprise. The car has no AM radio! Didn’t see that one coming… Traffic, weather, what am I going to do? No problem, my favorite AM station also broadcasts on FM in Seattle so problem solved. The only real complaint is the dash has an irritating rattle over heavy bumps. Other than that, seems like a nice car!

Very cool, congratulations! We have one in our extended family. As I recall, there's something with the gas tank as well--I think it is limited in how much you can fill the tank such that the gas range is always less than the electric range (for classification purposes as electric rather than hybrid). It doesn't have this classification concern in Europe, so you can also adjust the code to allow for more gas in the tank.

Edit: Here's an article describing it: https://www.automobilemag.com/news/how-to-hack-a-bmw-i3-for-more-driving-range/

 

[Scout1]

Very cool, congratulations! We have one in our extended family. As I recall, there's something with the gas tank as well--I think it is limited in how much you can fill the tank such that the gas range is always less than the electric range (for classification purposes as electric rather than hybrid). It doesn't have this classification concern in Europe, so you can also adjust the code to allow for more gas in the tank.

Edit: Here's an article describing it: https://www.automobilemag.com/news/how-to-hack-a-bmw-i3-for-more-driving-range/

Yes, I saw that article. I read somewhere that tank restriction went away with the 94ah version since the restriction was so the electric range was greater than the gas range. With the bigger battery its no longer a problem so I should have the full 2.4 gallon already.

 

[atikovi]

I plan to “code” the car to allow starting the REX before the high voltage battery is depleted which is what they allow in Europe. Unfortunately, US cars don’t allow this for emissions reasons driven by California laws I think.

Guessing because it has all the emission controls of a portable generator. Does it have a cat? The Volt lets you do that.

 

[PimTac]

I’m surprised the question hasn’t been asked but what does the manual say for oil recommendations for that range extender?

 

[DBMaster]

Does it have "HD" radio? In my area the AM station I use for traffic, weather, and news simulcasts on an HD radio station.

 

[Cujet]

I really like the idea of a combination of power sources. The i3 seems to be a good application of the technology. The Volt is another way to do it. Not sure which one I like better. The difference being the Volt is able to drive the wheels directly at higher speeds. The i3 is using electric drive 100% of the time.

 

[Scout1]

I’m surprised the question hasn’t been asked but what does the manual say for oil recommendations for that range extender?

Guessing because it has all the emission controls of a portable generator. Does it have a cat? The Volt lets you do that.

The manual simply says have BMW service the oil and doesn't give a spec. but I've read it takes 0w30 synthetic.

Oh yes, the engine has a CAT and all sorts of emissions controls - SULEV II classification! It's a two cylinder W20 from I guess a BMW scooter?

 

[Scout1]

Does it have "HD" radio? In my area the AM station I use for traffic, weather, and news simulcasts on an HD radio station.

Yes, it does have HD Radio but I've never played with that before. Not sure what's available in this area...

 

[Lyman]

So if you "code" the car how much will the range be extended?

 

[Rmay635703]

Guessing because it has all the emission controls of a portable generator. Does it have a cat? The Volt lets you do that.

Actually the us rule coincides with them software shrinking the gas tank size.

No emissions are effected, California offered BMW a larger tax break if they gimped the ice functionality on purpose to meet a made up standard of BEVX which limits the size of the ice and the gas range to be under the EV range for “emergency “ purposes.

I don’t know anyone with an I3 Rex under warranty that hasn’t changed the toggle settings in the software to enable hold mode, am radio and the full capacity of the fuel tank.
Calling this “coding” is a bit of a stretch, on my volt in the settings I can go and alter door lock behavior, ERDTT, etc right from my center console.
The I3 hold mode can be toggled on and off almost as easily but BMW hid the menu on us cars.

Worst decision ever but a boon to companies providing a 5 second solution to flip a switch.

 

[Scout1]

So if you "code" the car how much will the range be extended?

It will only extend the range if you have an i3 that limits the fuel take capacity to 1.9 gal. Coding can open it up to 2.4 gal. and give a bit more range. The main advantage is letting you start the REX before the battery is completely depleted so you can use it while driving on the freeway for instance and save the battery for quiet around town driving.

One issue these North American i3s have had is since the REX won't start till you're at 6% battery capacity, sometimes you can run out of juice going up a long hill and the speed falls off which can be quite dangerous. Since the REX can't generate enough power to pull a long uphill at 70 mph. it draws the battery down while driving uphill. If you run out of that 6% remaining battery the car has no alternative but to reduce performance; quite drastically in some cases! So that's another reason to "code" it so allow you to start the REX earlier and save the battery for that big uphill.

 

[Scout1]

Actually the us rule coincides with them software shrinking the gas tank size.

No emissions are effected, California offered BMW a larger tax break if they gimped the ice functionality on purpose to meet a made up standard of BEVX which limits the size of the ice and the gas range to be under the EV range for “emergency “ purposes.

I don’t know anyone with an I3 Rex under warranty that hasn’t changed the toggle settings in the software to enable hold mode, am radio and the full capacity of the fuel tank.
Calling this “coding” is a bit of a stretch, on my volt in the settings I can go and alter door lock behavior, ERDTT, etc right from my center console.
The I3 hold mode can be toggled on and off almost as easily but BMW hid the menu on us cars.

Worst decision ever but a boon to companies providing a 5 second solution to flip a switch.

I donno if "coding" will void the warranty or not. I guess I could go talk to the BMW dealership but my fear is they would use "coding" as an excuse to deny claims... So I'll probably wait till the warranty is up before I mess with it.

 

[Rmay635703]

I donno if "coding" will void the warranty or not. I guess I could go talk to the BMW dealership but my fear is they would use "coding" as an excuse to deny claims... So I'll probably wait till the warranty is up before I mess with it.

When in doubt just reverse the settings

 

[Scout1]

When in doubt just reverse the settings

Sure, and that's what I hear people do before they take the car into the dealer. But I've got to believe there is a record in the computer of software updates and changes so if the dealer wants to be nasty, they know...

 

[Rmay635703]

Sure, and that's what I hear people do before they take the car into the dealer. But I've got to believe there is a record in the computer of software updates and changes so if the dealer wants to be nasty, they know...

It’s your car do what you wish
but this is as much a software update as changing the ERDTT temperature control settings on my nav screen or honestly changing your wipers to intermittent, someone really dropped the ball hiding things normally included in the settings menu if any other car

Due to BMWs infinite wisdom “lighting” settings, side mirror retract and some other driver convience settings are also in the hidden menus on US cars

 

[GrumpyCat]

Oh yes, the engine has a CAT and all sorts of emissions controls - SULEV II classification! It's a two cylinder W20 from I guess a BMW scooter?

The engine is not from any scooter. However BMW buys many motorcycle engines from Rotax.

 

[GrumpyCat]

Actually the us rule coincides with them software shrinking the gas tank size.

No emissions are effected, California offered BMW a larger tax break if they gimped the ice functionality on purpose to meet a made up standard of BEVX which limits the size of the ice and the gas range to be under the EV range for “emergency “ purposes.

At introduction of the i3 it was theorized ICE range less than EV range would put the i3 REx in BEV favorable territory. But CARB ruled against. Said it is a PHEV same as any other.