I've Owned My Cheap BMW i3 for One Year: Here's Everything Good, Bad, & Broken!

Andre talks about his 2014 BMW i3 with Range Extender. Has it held up as a cheap electric commuter? Find out in this long-term update!

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[bradq]

The suicide door is one of the things, that give this car character. Don't knock it.

[jamiltahir]

I owned i3 2017. Bought May 2021. Put 30, 000 miles on it in 18 months. So far so good - no problem. TIRES - bought from Firestone. If you pay $200 for alignment - car is covered for LIFE TIME - best deal. Tires are good + alighment is good - this will give max of Tires. 1 problem : I changed engine oil 1 time. Engine light came on. I had to go to dealer to do "COMPUTER READINESS". They have a special way to do this. Drive on gas to burn old fill up. FUEL GETS HEAVIER if it is not burn - not good for the engine.
Hope this will help.

[JohnPMiller]

I like having these reviews of cars you actually owned. Great content!

[maticuno]

I absolutely love my wife's i3. It is such a blast to drive, especially when you aren't trying to get the best range. Steering and accelerating inputs are instant, almost precognitive. The flowing, open pore eucalyptus dash is best looking interior decision I've seen in a long time. I would love to own the last year i3s version.

[searcey]

Best town car ever. Surprising amount of storage, zippy, easy to park, insane turn radius, and the list goes on. I just passed 50k miles on mine after 2 years of owner shop. Bought it for 19k and 15k miles right before the pandemic car insanity began. Wish BMW had kept the i3 and i8 team around and not abandon their ev program so early.

[adamchoi]

It was a good car to buy when the market wasn’t too hot. All cars appear to have gone up a lot. The 2018s that you could get for 20k are now 30-35k. Great review as well. I will keep my eyes for the later models. Hope the market comes back soon.

[MYJ]

I bought my 2014 i3 partially based on yours when TFL bought it. Mine does have the dc charging capability, and a few more bells and whistles. I also drive a round trip of 50 miles and I still adore it. My only change would be more range, but the REx does away with any range anxiety. André, I’m so glad that you and your wife bought the car and that she likes it so much. My only issue was a rodent chewing through a REx wiring harness. Yes, I’d buy it again!

[georgethackray]

I have had my i3 now from new for 3 years and 2 months, it has done 66K miles and still operates perfectly as new. All I have replaced is tyres, last one was a puncture but apart from that, cheap running costs. I can charge at work for free and then at home when needed and my commute is 108 miles round trip. Sad tp hear that BMW have now stopped producing these, but I will keep mine so I can recoup the cost through cheap motoring. 🙂

[cheyennem]

Just sold my i3 last summer and miss it. One of the nicest minimalist interiors of any car I've driven, new or old.

[NickConteSC]

I added a cheap rear view backup camera to mine and now it's a perfect 2nd commuter car for any family.

[dennisbird]

I've got 2014 i3 REX and have put 3370 miles on it so far this year and only used 2.4 gallons of gas. I reliably get 50+ miles in fall/winter in MN and 70+ in spring/summer. It's a great 2nd car for short trips and it holds a lot with the back seats down. With high gas prices you really can't beat this car and there is no range anxiety because you have the Rex engine just in case you can't find a charger. You can pay more for a newer model with a bigger battery, but how often will you drive more than 50 miles in a day. If you don't save the money and get a 2014 to 2016 model and save a lot of cash. It's a great car.

[AnonymousFreakYT]

I miss my i3. Great little around-town car.

[LorandToth-NL]

Nice review! If you're planning to keep the car for a while, I strongly recommend trying the MICHELIN E PRIMACY tires for the summer and the Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Plus for the winter. The handling is so much better, and the wear as well. I was so happy with my i3's improvement in handling, especially at higher speeds.
I spent so much money on the Bridgestone tires the past years, thinking that it was the best option because BMW had them installed from the factory, and basically because for a long time there were no other options. However, it turned out the i3 is a much nicer car to drive when fitted with newer Michelin or Goodyear tires. 🙂

[evanhanson]

I got my 2017 i3 rex before the market went haywire and without a doubt it's jumped to the top of my favorite car list. I've had zero issues with mine and despite some road trips I've used almost no gas. I think in the last three months I've put .5 gallons in and that's mostly due to periodically putting the rex into maintenance mode so make sure the gas didn't go bad. I'm sad to hear BMW is ending production of this little gem but maybe they'll produce something similarly innovative in the future.

[AS-bpmn]

Was an owner of all 5 series since the 90s. Since COVID / work from home and no need to drive, I bought this car . Hands down Best car…EVER! it’s the best car for in town get around and short trips. Love this car. Quick, plenty of head and leg room, compartment storage, easy to park and maneuver around all the DAs holding up traffic while texting on their phones. Bought the 21 year. Maintenance: weekly car wash. 0.37 cents to charge daily. I drive about 7 miles daily.

[richardstamper]

Straight forward and upfront review. I hadn't considered the aggressive regen on winter slippery roads, something good to know and be wary of.

[mundoracer]

2019 i3s BEV here and my long term average is only 4.1 mi/kW. Tire wear has been perfect so far. No repair issues so far but only at 10k miles. Little bit of wind noise on driver side windows.

[greggs]

Great video, enjoyed the family touch put into it.

[TaylorMMontgomery]

you got really luck with the 12V battery! usually when those start to go, the car goes haywire and will oftentimes leave you stranded as the car will not really accept a charge when the 12v is fully dead. i have a 2014 rex and i absolutely love it, it's my favorite car to drive out of the 3 BMWs i own because it's so quirky and different looking and it's a blast to drive! and small to fit into tight spaces but big enough for a trip to HomeGoods. cheers!

[muttsbutts]

Nice review Andre. As to Andre's wife's winter driving woes, I think I saw this on out of spec, that BMW changed software mapping for winter driving. I don't know if anyone can confirm that fact. I I thought the the Rex was on the rear passenger side. Also, and it doesn't really matter, but it was my impression that the maximum tank volume is 2.9 gallons. I really like my i3. Again, great video Andre. 👍👊✌🖖