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Cost of owning a BMW i3

tomkiss.net

1–10 of 102 posts

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#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?

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#5
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.

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#6
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?

i3 tire are notoriously expensive. People call them "bicycle tires" as they are large in diameter and very narrow, and they also have different sizes back and front.

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#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.

Re: Cost of owning a BMW i3

#10
TCO is supposed to include the total cost; buy a car that didn't cost 17,400 and your price goes down considerably.

  Cost of car:         17,400 
  Fuel:                712.99
  Maintenance:         3,056.08
  Other:               940
  TCO over 3 years:    22,108
Buy a 5,000 used car, and your 3-year TCO goes down to 9,708. But that's gonna be gas powered, so you have to lower the maintenance and raise the insurance and gas. And higher cost per mile means the amount of miles you drive matters more.
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