BMW i3: A 10-Year Retrospective on a Game-Changing EV

[@johnrussell5245]

I have had the 2019 i3 from new. No REx. As a BEV it's wonderful and now has a cult following. We all wave at each other. Great turning circle, very quick off the mark and leaves most traffic behind up to 60mph. I've averaged 4.2 miles per kWh over the 4 years. No problems at all. Needed very little maintenance. Love the regen. Love the styling. Will keep this car a long time.

[@ptamog]

Styling wise, it looks new

[@EcoFP33]

Had my 2014 model.since 2017. I dont want to ever sell it. I think I will get the latest one then realise my 201r is the quickest version overall (although the acceleration seems to be softened since an update)

[@davidtracy3058]

@@EcoFP33 That's what I did. I bought a 2014, then a 2021. I don't want to sell either.

[@WillN2Go1]

My Tesla Model Y gets about 2 miles/kWh, so well done.

[@cedarcanoe]

BMW i3 was so far ahead of it’s time. I love mine!

[@venti4268]

The best small daily driver I ever had.

[@unowen-nh9ov]

Lives on, drivetrain was reconfigured into BEV MINI SE, which like Rolls is going exclusively electric, incl. new smaller 5 dr. Aceman.

[@CarlosChaconCR]

I do believe the exterior is what makes this car unique. The materials, the design inside makes it special. In 2024 you can get one of this for bargain. Just buy it! You won't regret. 😎

[@c-fb]

Of all the cars I have owned, i loved my i3s the most! The seats were amazing, and honestly, i got less tired sitting in them than in my €160+k Range Rover Sport. Mind blowing how something that thin and light can be so comfortable! Drove over 70k km, did more than a few times over 14h trips. Imagine what a car it would be with today’s battery and motor technology from BMW…I’d get a new one in a heartbeat!!

[@nr5494]

Me too. There’s nothing in BMW’s range that comes close to the i3. They should have developed it, but I suspect the technology was just too expensive.

[@TheSmallRabbit]

Yep me too.

[@Tomm9y]

I looked at these at the outset, but the very limited battery capacity and therefore range, made them not viable for me. The greatly improved EV range makes them a verry different proposition. Much as I usually don't like BMWs, an upgraded and re-styled version would be brilliant, as would much bigger version.

[@JorgeCordero]

You can. It's the BMX iX

[@tonrotterdam]

Driving the i3 since 2019 and I wouldn't know a replacement vehicle, I'll see myself driving it for another 10 years.

[@boatbuilderPortishead]

me too! 🙂

[@pierrearthur5428]

Me too, also an i3s since 2019. 60kkm troublefree ! BMW service for €76 ! 13.7kwh/100 in city, 18.5 kWh/100 on highway. Not a single issue this far. Because it won’t rust or lose it.s chassis stiffness (carbon fibre structure) it can potentially go forever provided someone offers a battery replacement in some 10-15 years (BMW or more likely some Chinese OEM that may have bought BMW in the meantime😂).

[@olmurabis]

No one has mentioned how well designed the newer i3 Rex is. We have a 2019. I love how the 2 cylinder engine kicks in to charge the battery when the charge drops to 5%, but the wheels continue to be driven by the electric motor so the process is seamless. And at least in our car, the engine is quiet; we rarely realize it is running unless we are alongside a wall or another car. It just seems like a perfect system - 99% of the time we are driving on electricity, but we never feel “range anxiety” because we know we have about 80 miles of driving on gas available. BMW should not have dropped this system from its lineup. Negatives: I find the seats are a little too firm. I wish there were power seat adjustments. Also, the steering wheel up and down adjustment is too limited for me (I am tall).

[@tiptoe531]

Completely disagree, the styling is exceptional. It’s still one of the best looking compact cars electric or combustion. And btw, ive had the i3, bought brand new 2017, and the battery has not degraded at all. Amazing city car.

[@trizvanov]

Agreed. It is one if not the most interesting car (in a good way) on the road today.

[@superspeeder]

@@trizvanovit’s interesting, I’ll give you that. It’s pretty hard to argue the general public don’t see much beauty in it.

[@itekani]

It's timeless!

[@torginus]

Yes! This is still somehow the only car that understands what an EV is about - no useless 'frunks' trying to ape ICE styling, but maximizing usable passanger space compared to the footprint of the vehicle.

[@trizvanov]

@@torginus They took the leaf out of what Japanese manufacturers have been doing for decades. They really are masters of maximising the available space.

[@jeremycarr6915]

I had the i3s as a daily driver for 4 years doing an 80 mile round trip commute. I would generally never need to touch the brake pedal on the run as the regen was so strong- agree you need to adapt how you drive - but always very effective and very easy to feather. My wife however had to remind me to brake when I drover her Countryman! Styling- this will still look modern in 20 years so hats off to BMW for the balls to do something so advanced. Great little car.

[@izzard]

I've owned one for five years and it's my favourite car ever by far.

[@AlbertLamarque]

The rear doors are bonus doors on a three door hatchback/ microbus. They sold over 250k units and I had 3 in total and currently own 2. Never with the horrible range extender. My daily is an i3S with wool blend seats, real wood inserts, and switched to i8 wheels (215/40/20 all around )which improves handling and tire wear a fair bit. I dont understand US tire pricing, in Europe those tires are 150,- each. You can hardly believe how fun this is on narrow b roads. A fun compact hauler with insanely low running cost. Get one, they are awesome :) shout out to my fellow i3 fans here!

[@matthewbellamy486]

Loved the video - thanks to all for doing it. I’ve got one in the uk. A 120Ah pure bev. Superb as a 2nd car for city work - the turning circle is incredibly tight and it’s very quick. Only 10k miles in it but yesterday the range was showing 206 miles at 93% charge which is just incredible. I’ve had fast ICE cars etc but I truly love driving this because it’s quirky. The styling? I love it - especially the rear doors. Costs me £2.80 to fill from empty (so, perhaps $3.50) on my driveway. BMW should never have stopped making them, though I suspect they made a huge loss on each one. A future classic which is still ahead of its time.

[@jaimiecoleman]

Another UK 120ah EV owner, i3s. I love it, and my other car is a B7 RS4!

[@BokoMoko65]

Ten years ago, I watched a video on the Autoline Network channel that was over an hour long, demonstrating the disassembly of the BMW i3. I was impressed by the architecture and engineering of the i3, but I was even more impressed by the rigor and details of the disassembly carried out by Mr. Munro’s team. It was a revelation. In just over an hour, I had a lesson on the automotive industry with dozens of super relevant facts and information. Since then, I have been following the adventures of Mr. Munro’s team.

[@10secondsrule]

I think it looks amazing and still looks futuristic.

[@Derpy1969]

I bought the teardown report for this car for $10 from M&A.

[@losergamer04]

I have really appreciated this channel over the years. I have learned so much. I look forward to even more years

[@MunroLive]

Wow, thank you!

[@losergamer04]

@@MunroLive To expand how impactful this has been, I often use your channel as an example of process engineering at work. I encourage teams to think about end user impact, total time interacting with a system, intuitiveness, reducing user error, reducing operator error, etc. to cut down on inefficiencies with staff interacting with our IT systems. The principles you all preach apply to more than just manufacturing.

[@LilaKuhJunge]

3:08 yes, you can adjust the regen to any level you like - by adjusting how much you lift your foot... It is not an on-off switch, it is a potentiometer...

[@loonymoon1]

I love that about it - it's very intuitive once you're used to it. I love that theres no flappy paddles to remember to press to increase or decrease - in fact for me that's the thing about the i3.. very little brain to car interruptions - it's like part of the thought process.

[@AuralioCabal]

BMW sold the Washington state Carbon Fibre company later as far as I know.

[@Chris21709]

So many people can't figure that out-so frustrating! One-pedal a night and day advance over antiquated two-pedal.

[@LilaKuhJunge]

@@AuralioCabal SGL carbon - it was not owned by BMW, but by one of the major shareholders. And afar she kept it. BMW still uses lots of carbon, e.g. in the iX, in the M series etc.

[@EPeltzer]

Styling of this vehicle makes every other vehicle designer look like a dinosaur even today. The interior also is extremely beautiful and interesting and different. Also don't get me started on BMW styling with their idiotic gigantic Hitler mustache grills. Sandy I appreciate your technical point of view but styling is very much in the eye of the beholder. I still think this is one of the most interesting and handsome vehicles designed in the last quarter century. I may be in the minority but I don't think styling killed this vehicle it was the limited range especially in the US, combined with an astonishingly high price. The Nissan Leaf had a similar or better range and much cheaper and it was a poorly styled car and it sold much better.

[@bluesmartroadster]

116000 miles in mine, love it. Put Eibach springs and spacers on which has helped the stability at speed. Struggling to know what to replace it with.

[@Kimulstein]

Maybe the new “neue klasse” will peak your interest. I’m anxiously waiting. Meanwhile I have both the I3 and the IX, both superb cars to its purpose.

[@xm3ntal620]

Used model 3

[@bluesmartroadster]

@@xm3ntal620 if the other car in our household wasn’t already a model 3 then that would definitely be the answer.

[@sebastiant5695]

When you had the i3 for a long time - the bar to meet is very high. Same here, test drove a lot of EVs lately and the all miss something. I just want a newer i3 ;)

[@iancouper3644]

I didn’t the styling at first, love it now. Had one for 2 years now. Can’t see changing it until something as interesting comes out.

[@loonymoon1]

I'm a nerd and bought the full teardown report.. ;-) I love my 2022 i3S special edition. I think it's quite good looking .. better looking than the standard i3 tbh. I plan to keep it as long as I can. Future classic for sure! Brilliant little car.. but most of the brillance is largely invisible.. some can become obvious while driving - it drives a lot better than most would think.

[@cristianseres1353]

I still prefer the original i3. They disabled some features in i3S compared to i3, something related to the turning circle, the parking assist perhaps. At least for me, the i3 is go-kart enough.

[@loonymoon1]

@@cristianseres1353 Not disabled but due to the extenders it can't have the cameras for the parking assist and due to the wider stance teh turning circle is a bit wider.. still pretty small though. I don't know anyone who really uses the parking assist. Anyone I know who had it used it once for novelty value then never again lol. The i3 is not hard to park... unless that is you line up the side of the car with white lines using the dipped mirror then realise the side of teh car is not parallel so it makes you always park wonky in the bay. I always prefer the handling and stability of the S.. but each to their own ;-)

[@FatherMartin]

I tried to buy the report, but I was too late for the $10 deal, sadly. I had my Honda Insight Mark One for 19 years and 107,000 miles. I have a feeling I might possibly be in for the long term with my i3 too!

[@loonymoon1]

@@FatherMartin Enjoy. I was lucky and got the deal... very very nerdy though not sure I'll ever actually need the info. ha ha

[@cristianseres1353]

I enjoyed watching Mr von Czarnowski and his explanation about tyres. However, I have had no tyre problems in my BMW i3 60Ah 2014 after about 100k kilometres. Here in Finland we swap tyres twice a year, a separate set for winter and summer. The first winter tyre set (Nokian) lasted for 8 winters and summer tyres were manufactured in 2020 and are perfectly good still.

[@danneil8778]

I bought a 2019 BMW i3S and love it!

[@tonrotterdam]

The i team was not fired, they quit in disgust after they were tasked with the new 7 series back then. They quit as they didn’t want to work on historical vehicles after they invented the future… They went to China btw.

[@tiptoe531]

Is that right. Totally understandable. However, they’d set the benchmark so high, it was always going to be a difficult feat to recreate especially when budgets have been squeezed so much.

[@mrm1885]

Working on the new 7 series is a dream job for many people 😂

[@ole-martinlundefaret5876]

I don’t think that’s totally correct. BMW “found out” that they didn’t need to go full out on the expensive i-technology, so they just wanted to electrify normal BMWs. So they basically shut down the i-project (which was ground braking in so many ways, including the whole production method with the special composite body etc). The i-team left BMW and went to Byton.

[@tonrotterdam]

@@ole-martinlundefaret5876 between de i3/i8 and the electrified ice cars are years… BMW completely dropped the ball after 2014.

[@hybridstoatdragon]

Bruh

[@donswier]

Sandy's 2014 i3 teardown is why we have a REx in our garage with 110k miles. The car's looks are pure function > form, from the low-drag, low RR wheels, to the 911-ish Center of Gravity despite command seating position, to the kid-friendly lower windows for the back seat. The lack of tire options is the #1 gripe, but I struggle to think of another car that could fits our needs so well.

[@christopherovard379]

I think the seats are extremely comfortable. We have the leather option on the Rex. 2014 model with almost 70,000 miles on it. On the fourth or fifth set of tires. In the corners in back roads, it hangs on like it is on rails. It has been a good car.

[@journeyman291]

You're some kind of hard on tires!

[@christopherovard379]

@@journeyman291 the way they are set up, they burn the inside off faster than the the rest of the tire. I may try the different wheels as they mentioned in the video to see if it helps. The tires that come on it are the stickiest road tires I’ve ever seen. I suspect they make them that way since they are so narrow. I noticed how pebbles and small pieces of sticks would stick on them after pulling into the garage.

[@gregp.7148]

Love our 2019 i3 120Ah (42kWh battery). No Rex on this one, but a healthy 120-160mi range (winter-summer). Had it for close to a year now.

[@diydrivenGA]

This is a great find on the used market for a daily commuter and errand car. Good city ev

[@ashotgaziyan8876]

I was waiting for this I3 review

[@anthonybrazzale7251]

I love the styling

[@sam85f]

Great video! Thanks for making this. You captured everything I love about this car. We are on our second i3 buying a late model s that we plan on keeping forever. While under appreciated, it represents bmw values through and through, light, stiff, and while not the fastest always a blast to drive.

[@MunroLive]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cristianseres1353]

Paul Turnbull, thank you very much for your excellent presentation about the BMW i3 motor/rotor!

[@MunroLive]

Glad you liked it!

[@johnstevenson9428]

I wonder what Sandy would think of the Rex in the “Hold State of Charge” mode. I’ve successfully put on many miles across the state of Texas essentially as a hybrid, 75 miles at a time. Properly done, I only had to top off the charge every 2nd or 3rd tank, depending on speed.

[@i3drivingnerd]

Love my 2019 i3s BEV, have had it since new and intend to keep it a couple more years for sure!

[@matthiasgrunwald895]

This car was ahead of its time!

[@Kimulstein]

Love this and the original teardown talk back then! I’m just going to mention that the new BMW IX has much of the genius tech as the old I3. I have both, and love them both. CF frames on both vehicles 🙌

[@nitramluap]

Um... no. The iX has CFRP trim coverings over a traditional aluminium frame. While it does add a little rigidity, it's actually mostly for aesthetics to make people *think* it has a CFRP frame (and I guess that works...). Just watch it being constructed and this is quite obvious. The i3's body compartment IS a full CFRP frame.

[@nikelliot8105]

And you need to mention the flat charge curve! While not particularly fast it holds nearly 50kW well past 80%👍

[@wilfthies]

Good Point. It stays up to 93%. It is not a curve it is a line.

[@beforebefore]

I'm guessing you don't have the 60Ah?

[@Mr__Sinister]

That car looks great!

[@KevinT3141]

Great summary piece, and nice to see contributions from so many of your team in one video.

[@MunroLive]

Much appreciated!

[@ligius3]

I bought the report years ago, shuffled through most of it, but only now it finally has some context. Thank you for the explanations and looking forward to more.

[@chrisloe9409]

Still drive my BMWi3 120ah from 2019 and am still more than happy 👍. Best car I ever had!!!

[@astrodoge5523]

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for this interesting car and the underlying technology that was used. I really enjoyed the video.

[@SeanMaher-ub5oe]

Thanks

[@MunroLive]

Thanks!

[@gepetotube]

Another great video. After watching other "car channels" just pointing to the infotainment screen it's always refreshing to come back to Munro Live and watch the real car stuff.

[@MunroLive]

Much appreciated!

[@Rich1Rodriguez]

Awesome update thank you. This BMW certainly has some amazing engineering. Charge on!

[@TheSmallRabbit]

Best car I have ever had and as an engineer I appreciate the tech and workmanship that has gone into this car. Its a masterpiece of engineering that won't be matched fast. Plus it does not rust :-) Mines also a 2019 BEV 120aH and I get a solid 160 miles anytime.

[@rcpmac]

I recently bought a low mileage 2019 i3S. I love everything about it! Lightweight, quick, efficient. I almost didn’t notice the range extender running the other day on city streets. Very smooth and quiet. The bigger battery 2019 has 160 miles range on battery and 80 on range extender generator. Drives like a sports car.

[@SolidProofEngineer]

Very good explenation about the magnet Flux... thanks to this simple but effective way to explain.

[@patrickkenny2077]

Great deep dive. Nice to see that it is still relevant today. Also a little telling about the challenges for PHEVs as a fallback.

[@xaviermelendez2639]

Fantastic review, and an absolutely incredible car!

[@nster3]

I bought my BMW i3s as my first car because of Munro's coverage of it, so probably majorally biased but I LOVED this episode, and the slightly deeper dive into reluctance torque and all the little details sprinkled in was really great! I've always wondered if they innovated/changed/tweaked anything over the years, it felt like it was the perfect platform to do so, lower volume car that you could experiment on. Living in Canada, I would have gladly lost the frunk and paid for AWD, traction from a standstill on snow and ice is quite poor despite Nordic winter tires so I often get stuck, with perhaps a different type of motor to get better highway efficiency as it isn't great at 70+ mph, or a more efficient heat pump in the cold etc. The BMW i3s' wider tires, slightly lower stance and tweaked suspension really transformed the driving experience, eliminating much of its squirrelly nature, made it feel less bouncy, and improved the body roll characteristics in curves, making it so much more comfortable on highways.

[@michaeldproject]

I love my i3s REx in the rarest Galvanic Gold. Gutted if I move into an i4 or a Tesla, but it seems like a natural evolution.

[@jeremyp3630]

We are at 125k miles on our 2014 i3, and I adjusted the rear alignment to minimize the camber and increase tread life.

[@rickrasco]

130,000 on mine. I'll ask the shop to do what you're doing. On the other hand why not remount the rear tires to roll the opposite direction. In other words -have the inner bead of tire reversed to be the outer bead after the remount

[@simonreeves2017]

Hi Sandy and Paul, greetings from the U.K. I bought a BMW i3 in 2019, the pure BEV, no REx. I still have it, and still love it. I agree with Sandy in that the styling is challenging, the front is fine, but the look of the rear is butt ugly. However it’s the engineering that sold it to me… Aluminium frame, carbon fibre tub with push fit plastic body panels. These will ever rust out, the body will stay crisp with no annoying car park dings. I intend to keep mine as long as I can, which will probably be when the traction battery dies.

[@viktorb6530]

So glad you did a mini teardown of this brilliant little car. I knew you had taken it apart before you where on youtube and i always hoped you would make a video about it ❤ Had two of these, a i3 94ah BEV and a i3s 120ah. Nothing went wrong on these cars, and a blast to drive as a daily driver 😎👌🏻

[@stefanmuller9185]

„Aproper i3 hommage.Thank you! - had a 2017 i3 rex for three years. This will be the bmw that will be remembered from this era. Nearly All otherswill be forgotten.

[@rogerjeck9281]

Hey guys , Great update! I remember watching you(Sandy) on autoline after hours for the 2nd time when you came on to talk about the i3 teardown. Was a great show and have been watching monro live from begining. Sad to see autoline jump to the competition on the cybertruck....Anyhow, love what you do Sandy and respectfully disagree on the i3 styling, it took a few years to grow on me, but interior and driving dynamics had me from the first drive. Now I'll be on autotrader hunting the perfect i3 !! Cheers,and keep up the great work ~ Roger Jeck

[@peterbunker7165]

What a lovely chap this engineer is. He has his own opinions and isn't browbeaten. Excellent.

[@Seubertronic]

We love our I3s 120ah. The best vehicle to do the most trips very efficiently with a lot of fun 💯🔋⚡️

[@FranklySpeaking73]

Sandy, This is the coolest freaking car hands down from an engineering standpoint. I am so glad you talked about it early on. So glad I own one! 😂

[@YTesting]

Amazing car, truly ahead of its time.

[@BoricuaFez]

Great video!

[@MunroLive]

Thanks!

[@edmundlively8137]

Outstanding production 👍

[@diydrivenGA]

Such a fascinating video I would love to see more teardowns of other older TVs that are on the market especially the Volvo/ polestar ones

[@jamesengland7461]

I still shout at the clouds and say they should've simply built the Mini style with all this technology, and it would've been a superb hit.

[@jeremyloveslinux]

They did, the mini se was up until recently a reuse of much of the drivetrain of the i3.

[@danielstefanovic2604]

@@jeremyloveslinux Yeah same battery too

[@davidcolver2502]

@@jeremyloveslinux Up until when, AAMOI?

[@jeremyloveslinux]

@@davidcolver2502 in the US, we don’t yet have it. But I think it’s in Europe and is built in China. There is a review on fully charged. That is an all new one without i3 parts. Everything else is old stuff.

[@donswier]

@@jamesengland7461 Love MINI, but the i3 is not trying to pay homage to 1960s. i3 is modern function > form. Amazingly roomy & efficient. No attempt to appeal to traditional aesthetics. I love how it pi$$es some people off who can't get beyond long bonnets and/ or pseudo off-road looks. We recently parked our (now old) i3 in a rural logging town in the PNW, and it drew a crowd who thought it was some futuristic concept car🤠👍

[@RossPierrepont]

Great cars. We are on our third having had our first back in early 2014.

[@lenovop1049]

Already a second i3s. Top quality and driving fun😀

[@mikeboy0001]

Styling is fantastic, especially after all these years, looks like a brand new car

[@motorv8N]

Fun to see this anniversary edition. We bought a lightly used 2021 Mini SE EV as a city commuter car and while BMW “simply” modified the existing ICE platform vs gave it all the exotic tech of the i3, my understanding is that the drivetrain and battery systems are very similar if not taken directly from that car. So yes, range is pitiful compared to “modern” equivalents, and the cabin is oldschool switches, buttons, and knobs - with some very basic touchscreen elements - but this is part of the charm of this car. It feels far from an EV appliance or mobile iPad as so many others seem to be. Fun styling and a real hoot to drive. Handles very well with all that weight in the floor and scoots acceptably well too. And if the battery tray is as modular as the i3 perhaps there’s hope that repairs and replacements are within the realm of reasonable, assuming the cells are still available. Sadly my spouse won’t let me disassemble it in our driveway as I’d love to do so I can see the driveline and battery systems for myself so I just may pony up the ten bucks for Sandy and C0’s i3 teardown as the next best thing.

[@krisi1202]

I drove an i3 from 2019 till 2022 and it was it was by far the best BMW I've owned after a 02 Alpina, E 30, E36, E32, E38. Fun to drive and so many lovely executed details! Such a shame that BMW let that advantage slip away.

[@allanedmund273]

I have one and love the design, not same old thing!!! I think it will be come a collectors item

[@paullester2535]

future classic fir sure

[@jamesrath7509]

I enjoy seeing them on the road, like I used to like seeing the Saab 96, I'm getting up there

[@BrunoHeggli-zp3nl]

Amazing mindblowing and gamechanging!

the bmw I3 was and is a awesome ev.. I had a 2017 model and loved stand would getting another one perhaps the 2019 Bev i3smodel just to drive arround town and to weekend car shows as I think this will be a future classic.

[@mikeweit]

i agree completely. I love my 2014 i3 it was so advanced for it's time.

[@MauaoMan]

I have had once since 2017 and it’s still fun to drive. I appreciate the design is not for everyone but it’s certainly unique. The level of depreciation is brutal which certainly does not help

[@TonOoms]

Cool video. We drive an i3 120 and love it for city driving ❤❤

[@donovanlawson2848]

You guys should look at the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. When it came out, it was ahead of its time in a lot of ways similar to this. It can operate in pure electric mode with up to 150hp until it consumes 10kwh of its 16kwh battery pack, then it runs an 81hp naturally aspirated ecotech as a generator until the 9 gallon tank runs out. The motors were hairpin and the battery was a hell of a thing. It had cooling plates with capillaries carrying coolant between each pouch cell, and could be provided sub ambient cooling through a heat exchanger connected to the car's 4kw cabin AC compressor. The first generation Volt powertrain was later crammed into the 2016 Cadillac ELR and cranked up to 233hp. I believe it's worth taking a look at to understand the lessons learned by GM from the first gen Volt to the second, the second gen Volt to the Chevrolet Bolt, and, eventually, Ultium.

[@nihongobenkyoshimasu3190]

4:09 I don't think that the esthetic of car who killed the i3 but its selling price which was $42,400 for 72 miles of range, and $46,250 with a range extender, while the 2014 Tesla Model S starting price was $69,900 for the 60-kW-hrs lithium-ion battery base model with 230 miles of range.

[@searcey]

Loved my i3! Most fun daily city driver I have owned. If only they had increased battery size, allowed the back doors to be opened without front being opened first, water tight frunk, and faster charging, it would have sold even more. Also, they should not have made the unique tire size with only one manufacturer. The side and back profile look amazing! They just needed to tweak the front design.

[@kimsengupta]

Revolutionary and almost perfect - including its own design. Ours is a 2021 i3s with a 120 Ah battery and no range extender. Two of us and our dog travelled from Germany to northern Scotland, southern Italy and beyond (without a range extender)... and daily driving, too. To date 104k km, wonderful, never a problem, a space miracle with the weight of a small petrol car and the acceleration of a hot hatch. What if BMW had stuck with this strategy?

[@WillN2Go1]

The Los Angeles Tesla Club had an event on Mt Wilson the same day the BMW i3 owners group had a meet up. It was a lot of fun. I got my sandwich and hung out with the i3 gang. Terrific people. Very proud of their cars. "We have a lot more electronics in our cars than in the Teslas." Okay. Didn't know that. They told wild stories of the early days i1 i0? when every driver was given all the contact information, addresses etc of every other owner, so if you got caught out with range anxiety you could just drive over to someone else's house and use their charger. Absolutely amazing cars, until Tesla came along.... I won't be at all surprised when Space X gets to Mars, if these are the vehicles that'll be used there.

[@mystisith3984]

Nice autopsy. EVs are progressing fast but sometimes early solutions for certain parts of the puzzle stay relevant for a long time.

[@paulbram2]

Surprised you didn't spend more time on the REX. IMO, that was the biggest innovation here, and 10 years later we STILL don't have any other EV's doing this. Sure it may be noisy, but with some tweaks this could be the answer to large EVs, pickups, towing etc.

[@rp9674]

E-rev?

[@N4CR]

There is one with a micro-turbine in it from memory, or definitely a REX. Ariel hipercar. It's a 35kW REX so pretty decent, enough for highway use.

[@patentlord6396]

Mazda mx30 rev with the wankel motor extender. But the battery is just 18kwh to keep costs down.

[@donswier]

Ramcharger has captured my interest as it has promised to be like REx - an EV with a range extender. Love our 2017 REx at 110k miles.

[@cristianseres1353]

​@@patentlord6396In my opinion the Mazda version is a cheap copy of a BMW i3, about a decade too late.

[@rossr6616]

Good review guys!

[@jimanderson4444]

Good work men,

[@MunroLive]

Thanks!

[@simonhurlimann908]

Its not ugly at all… its just unusual 🤷🏻‍♂️ certainly a great city car and fascinating with the carbon cell 👍🍀

[@MrGMawson2438]

Cheers guys

[@MunroLive]

cheers

[@hobbykip]

I got a 2017 model since 2020. Absolutely the best daily driver I've owned. Very reliable, cheap to maintain and run and with the i3s wheels also fairly sturdy on the road. On some roads the car drives like an airplane with no turbulence... Just some wind noise and no vibrations! I agree on the ugly styling and lack of driving experience, that's why I bought a manual BMW E30 325 convertible besides it, just for fun 🙂 BTW, if not for the i3 I would have never been able to afford this (in my country, the Netherlands, the gas price (8$/gal. is high compared to electricity 30ct/kWh).

[@ramblerandy2397]

When the i3 first came out I instantly loathed the look of it. But I began to learn about it, some of it from Sandy's first KZbin channel [yes, there was/is one - it still has viewable videos] which featured the i3 that they refer to. Plus, Sandy used to visit Autoline After Hours regularly, and there was a lot of petrolhead talk, but gradually Sandy started going on about the BMW i3 and how amazing it was. So a few years back I was driving down the road in my new VW ID3 and one of these came round the bend. And the attraction of this little bug suddenly hit me. I knew how cleverly made the thing was by now, but the car suddenly looked cute. And probably because of MunroAssoc [the name of Sandy's first KZbin channel] and other reading, my next BEV will be one of these. But not the Rex version.

[@ericcindycrowder7482]

In the 2000s BMW partnered with a couple different forums 1 racing teams as an engine supplier. Williams and Saber come to mind. I imagine BMW came out of that partnership with a lot of knowledge in carbon fiber reinforced plastic manufacturing.

[@Electric_camper]

Utmost favourite EV. Timeless. The Rex was just a miss on its own.

[@davidtracy3058]

The Rex is so key to the i3's greatness. The i3 is a phenomenal hybrid (range-extended EVs rule!) but just a "decent" EV given its range limitations.

[@gathonar]

I have a 2013 Rex still going strong.

[@rp9674]

Nice, wow!

[@pretsas]

Ooh, when was yours made do you think? I've got the oldest in the UK, first registered October of that year.

[@rp9674]

2014 rex - southern california, it's good

[@haraldmolle6819]

I own a 2018 model for over 6 years. Every morning, when i am sitting in this car i think: right choice! over 110k km without battery degradation until now.

[@tom-vx1lp]

I think it's marvellous

[@r134awhole5]

I have the same Rex 2015 with leather, Harmon kardon, and widescreen. At 98,000 trouble free miles. I bought car based on your tear down, and the appearance when you showed the castings for the rear suspension. All cars need a range extender. My 2011 leaf is almost useless with 156,000 miles and current 20 mile range. I prefer to drive the I3 to my s2000. My favorite car. No creaks or rattles. Great a/c. Thanks for the tear down.

[@chezchezchezchez]

Awesome, but serious question have you looked into Tesla? What do you have against Tesla that you’re driving all these cars that aren’t named Tesla?

[@QsViewsFinance]

@@chezchezchezchezey leave the S2000 alone, it’s sweet

[@QsViewsFinance]

@@chezchezchezchezalso in the early years Teslas were extremely expensive compared to competition. Now it’s a different story, I would say Tesla is the obvious choice

[@gtownsend1919]

@@chezchezchezchez,I have the i3 and would would not purchase a Tesla. I like having actual signal stalks, manual door latches and the BMW I drive. This is my fourth BMW and know the I drive by heart. No touch screen menus to navigate. I wish they had a similar replacement but expect this to last many more years. BTW, I have driven many EV’s and still think this car was well ahead of its time.

[@N4CR]

Over an s2k is a bit of a stretch lmao. For daily, sure. For fun, s2k going to smoke the i3. Let alone mine with 500whp dry sump LS3 in the front lmao, different creature to normal s2k and definitely different to an i3 lol.

[@MrAlan1828]

to fix the wobble on highways widen the wheels with spacers like 10~12mm and its very stable. I drive winter as like all season tires, its not quiet in summer but I get non slip in rainy days like snowy weather and they don't weap out as much and also cheaper too. When the Rex kicks in its not too loud but when you really drive hard and fast speeds with the REX it will get really loud (from the inside) but not affect externally. Mine is a US car and does not have the sonar sound when driving slow also pre-facelift. It was really ahead of its time when launched and its a pity BMW didn't do much to improve to make it better after 2021

[@pierrearthur5428]

The i3 saga goes back to 2009… At the time Lithiums Ions batteries were in their infancy, mostly confined to phones and laptop and Tesla was just not in the game. And this is why the i3 looks the way it does and is so special. Because it would initially only have a 22kw battery it had to be utmost efficient in its « fuel » use. To be a perfect hassle free city commuter it had to be tall, offer good visibility have huge diameter but very thin wheels because it offers same surface area of grip with half the drag of normal sized wheels. Because it was tall it had to be narrow again to reduce drag. That’s also why it uses carbon fibre, aluminium and lightweight plastic body panels. And there was also emphasis on recycling and as for any BMW at the time on driving pleasure. The legend states that the team was told « if it looks like a normal BMW you’re fired, and if it doesn’t drive like a BMW you’re fired too! ». Loved Munro tear down years ago and it pushed me to buy a I3S 120Ah (42kw battery BEV) made in nov 2019 at BMW’ Leipzig site. It was a whopping Euros 57k sticker price new, but as a demonstrator I bought it from the BMW dealer at €30.9k with just 10kkms on the odometer, with 2 years new car’s warranty and 8 years for the battery which was the only thing that could go wrong. I love it for what it was made to do, aga be a blast to drive for urban commute. At this game it is still unbeatable in 2024. Longer journeys are feasible but the the extremely stiff chassis and suspension are showing their limits and the aerodynamics and engine of the newest Tesla 3 are much more efficient (lowest CD drag of any car, extremely efficient motors and battery/HVAC management). The latest generation of BMWs are just uglier one than another. They are hugely heavy, have poor aerodynamics, only stay on the road because of the omnipotent electronics that rule them and are in no way as fun and engaging to drive as earlier BMWs…. Deep down I feel they are a sign of the time, they are made to appeal to the « screen generation « and it says it all when the ads to sell them talk about ambition, self, hyper screen and light show but not about driving…. Getting down from an old manual V8 M5 and climbing into the latest i760 make you think this has to be a spaceship to go to mars, but can’t be meant to actually drive and engage with on a beautiful twisty road? Sure, Chinese, Dubaiotes and drug barons will show the colour of their money being chauffeured in these cars, but old money won’t be parked in these cars anymore…

[@xprcloud]

The Volt was the game changer, road hugger cross country car

[@dackerman123]

I'm going to be purchasing a 2019 BEV and they are surprisingly affordable in 24'

[@jackoneil3933]

Looking at the battery spec sheet that shows 3.6V per cell would suggest BMW used Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Prismatic Cells no prone to fire and explosion, and typically last for 10X the cycles of Li-Ion Packs. A huge plus in many areas, and could open the door to affordable aftermarket battery packs, as well as making repurposing used or salvage i3 battery packs much safer and viable then other EV Packs.

[@nononsenseBennett]

STYLING would make a great episode. How it's different depending on the market. MY 2 CENTS

[@MrGMawson2438]

My cousin's husband has one and he likes it

[@QsViewsFinance]

“Tight as a fish’s ass” -This culture is why we’re really watching 😂

[@castletown999]

I have leased 4 of them. Still have the last one and will probably keep it a lot longer. It fits its mission perfectly - A small agile city car car with zero pollution. Its also a hell of a lot of fun to drive. Like all things it has flaws. The biggest is the tires. They don't last long and a are very expensive because the weird size is only made by Bridgestone. If they has kept it up to date and put standard tires on it they would still be selling. (They did sell a quarter million of them - absolutely not the lowest-selling BMW).