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Cost of owning a BMW i3

tomkiss.net

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Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#11

Post by Gravityloss »

Too bad, AFAIK, the i3 REX (with range extender gasoline engine) is hobbled by a tiny gasoline tank. The total range is something like 200 km: 100 electric and 100 gasoline.

With my current car I can drive to the summer cottage and back with one tank. It's just carefree and convenient. With an i3, even when starting with full charge, one would have to tank about halfway each way.

It is hard for me to understand such design decisions. I have heard that in some countries the gasoline range must be less than electric range to secure some tax credit.

Edit:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_i3

REx 60 Ah: 116 km (72 mi), Total: 241 km (150 mi)

REx 94 Ah: 156 km (97 mi), Total: 290 km (180 mi)[12]

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#12

Post by ddorian43 »

Gravityloss wrote: post #11

Too bad, AFAIK, the i3 REX (with range extender gasoline engine) is hobbled by a tiny gasoline tank. The total range is something like 200 km: 100 electric and 100 gasoline. With my current car I can drive to the summer cottage and back with one tank. It's just carefree and convenient. With an i3, even when starting with full charge, one would have to tank about halfway each way. It is hard for me to understand such…

... how far is your summer cottage ?

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#13

Post by archi42 »

lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

400 of that was for the brake replacement, and the remaining 2600 sound pretty normal these days (if you're going to a manufacturer contracted garage instead of some 3rd party garage). Remember there is still an ICE for range extension, and the inspection checklists probably doesn't care whether you used the ICE virtually never or all the time.

As for tires, my hybrid seems better and also takes pretty much any manufacturers tires (19/235 summer, 17/235 winter - can't say anything detailed about durability regarding my driving since I only have it since April this year, but the previous owner seemed to make about 40000km per set), but the i3 tires seem to be purpose build, so less quantity (more expensive) and MAYBE focused much more on efficiency over durability.

Also 45k miles, not km? (Link is down now, so can't check).

(some editing)

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#14

Post by MrQuincle »

lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

Last week I read that significant plastic is released in nature by tire wear. Electric cars are often heavier then their gasoline equivalents. I wouldn't be surprised if they wear faster and pollute more microplastics.

[1] https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics/tyres-and-microplastic...

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#15

Post by [deleted] »

lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

[deleted]

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#17

Post by roel_v »

lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

Shrug Why would that be high? It seems to include the required yearly checkup, and a 450L brake change that wasn't necessary. My (diesel) BMW X3 cost a little bit more than his car to buy, and I expect to average the same maintenance costs over say 5 years (his car was second hand when he bought it, too). BMW official dealerships are quite expensive, what you get for it are exact quotes within minutes on the phone, reliable planning and always new, OEM parts. Whether that's worth the money is for everyone to decide for themselves, but I don't think this is 'golden car' territory by a long shot.

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#18

Post by lnsru »

archi42 wrote: post #13
lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

400 of that was for the brake replacement, and the remaining 2600 sound pretty normal these days (if you're going to a manufacturer contracted garage instead of some 3rd party garage). Remember there is still an ICE for range extension, and the inspection checklists probably doesn't care whether you used the ICE virtually never or all the time. As for tires, my hybrid seems better and also takes pretty much any manuf…

Sadly km or ~900 miles per month.

Engine inside is small one from motorcycle, so it shouldn’t be hard to service. I was considering buying i3, but went for 328i.

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#19

Post by czbond »

thinkcontext wrote: post #7

It's worth mentioning, at 10k miles per year this driver is significantly above the UK average of 7k. EVs are more advantageous the more they are driven, anyone buying one should do the math for their expected mileage.

Thank you for posting that. If they are in the US, 10k is considered low mileage per year. For working age adults, 18k is considered average.

Source: Bc I'll be asked ;) https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#20

Post by peterwwillis »

geerlingguy wrote: post #5
lnsru wrote: post #3

Very detailed writing, thank you! But this “Costs for maintenance totalled £3056.0” is shocking! It’s a golden car! Ok, it has internal combustion engine too, but 100€ maintenance monthly is shocking. 8 tires for 45000 km is also shocking. I am driving almost double that with one set (except nasty flats). Are other electric cars cheaper to drive?

He mentioned the tires are a very specific size only really available from one source, and that they are narrower than a typical tire. I’m guessing that means reduced tread life, and not having options means it’s probably harder to find the perfect tire for your climate and region to optimize longevity. I agree, though; I can usually get the same range out of one set of tires.

You don't have to stick to the OEM tire. You can get a different, cheaper size, as long as it doesn't rub the wheel well or bottom out. And the exact tire and manufacturer you get, along with the conditions it was kept in, will determine the wear life of the tire. And when people complain about their tires wearing fast, it's often just badly aligned tires that could be fixed by going to a better mechanic. And buying tires online or from a warehouse is always cheaper, often by a lot.

So just because you have a certain kind of car doesn't mean you will always have the same tire wear or cost.

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