Official BMW i3 thread

[Capetown]

I just found out that here in UK the battery warranty is for 8 years /100,000 miles to be above 70% max charge level.So that could bring the everyday range down to 50 miles!

 

[GRA]

I think BMW needs a new i3 ad campaign: "The Toyota Mirai: it makes the i3 look almost normal." I've seen a few i3s now, and it does look better in person than in pictures, although it's still not going to win any esthetic awards from me. But I could live with the looks. Not the price, doors, or crippled REx, though.

 

[AuburnLeaf]

I took part in one of the 3-day test drives last weekend. Great car, better in almost every way than the Leaf except price and cargo space. Boy is it fun to drive in the city! Quick as hell. I wasn't a fan of the looks until I saw one in person. I especially love the interior of the Giga model. It reminds me of an old tweed jacket with leather patches, and the eucalyptus wood dash is beautiful. While the Leaf is still a much better value than the i3, I applaud BMW for having the balls to build it. I'm actually considering getting one when my Leaf lease is up, simply because the extra $5K GA state credit makes leasing (or BMW's Owner Choice rather) reasonable. Dealers in Atlanta are starting to heavily discount the BEV models by >10% off MSRP. Well equipped i3 BEV's can be had for close to $30K after federal and state tax incentives. Granted, you can buy a Leaf in GA for less than $15K after incentives.

 

[mwalsh]

Thought somebody would beat me to it in mentioning this - $199 a month "Black Friday" 2-year lease deal on a base i3 (model 14IA) at BMW of Vista. $4000 down and a 10k yearly mileage allowance. Two vehicles at this price (at least one of which I think is already gone):

http://www.bmwofvista.com/new-specials.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[kmp647]

Here in Virginia there is one store offering $415 per month for 36 months 0 down
And it includes a free BMW I wall charger evse. This is on a mega world Rex base model with an msrp of 47,050 (no backup camera sorry)

To the purchaser it actually means bringing 2900 to the table including sales tax at 4% , first months payment of $415 and the aquisition fee and tag fee. Ouch


Btw it's BMW of fairfax.

I can't get thm to offer me anything great on. A 24 month lease

There are NO tax incentives in va besides the $4875 lease credit
I am tempted still I am waiting for the offers to get better, some of these cars have been at the dealer since may! I am thinking in jan 2015 , and with 10" of snow covering cars from may 2014 they might get better

 

[Boomer23]

Here in Virginia there is one store offering $415 per month for 36 months 0 down
And it includes a free BMW I wall charger evse. This is on a mega world Rex base model with an msrp of 47,050 (no backup camera sorry)

To the purchaser it actually means bringing 2900 to the table including sales tax at 4% , first months payment of $415 and the aquisition fee and tag fee. Ouch


Btw it's BMW of fairfax.

I can't get thm to offer me anything great on. A 24 month lease

There are NO tax incentives in va besides the $4875 lease credit
I am tempted still I am waiting for the offers to get better, some of these cars have been at the dealer since may! I am thinking in jan 2015 , and with 10" of snow covering cars from may 2014 they might get better

Customers should be pushing BMW to pass the full $7500 Federal tax credit on to the customer as cash down to reduce the lease payment. BMW is essentially the ONLY mfr that is not offering the full credit in leases.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Nissan and perhaps Mitsubishi are the only ones giving the entire $7500 benefit over to customers. I heard Ford too, but not sure.

 

[mwalsh]

Thought somebody would beat me to it in mentioning this - $199 a month "Black Friday" 2-year lease deal on a base i3 (model 14IA) at BMW of Vista. $4000 down and a 10k yearly mileage allowance. Two vehicles at this price (at least one of which I think is already gone):

http://www.bmwofvista.com/new-specials.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just got an email from BMW that they are lopping another $2000 in Black Friday cash of the cost of the i3 and $1000 for the i3 with REX. This is on top of any other offers out there. That said, I don't know if the deal cars at BMW of Vista already have this offer factored in.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Nissan and perhaps Mitsubishi are the only ones giving the entire $7500 benefit over to customers. I heard Ford too, but not sure.

Toyota didn't initlally do that, but they have since July 2013.

The RAV4 EV is nearly sold out, however, with production ending Aug 28, 2014.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Thought somebody would beat me to it in mentioning this - $199 a month "Black Friday" 2-year lease deal on a base i3 (model 14IA) at BMW of Vista. $4000 down and a 10k yearly mileage allowance. Two vehicles at this price (at least one of which I think is already gone):

http://www.bmwofvista.com/new-specials.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is $367/month a far cry from the $700/month deals they started when i3 hit the streets earlier this year.

Actually they could have advertized it as $100/month with only $6400 down in tiny print

 

[kmp647]

So with 30 days or so left on my leaf lease I am shopping i3's for lease deals in Virginia

Here is my current best deal
I3 Rex mega world with heated seats $47,050 msrp
BMW increased the federal tax allowance to $5,500 on leases
BMW has $1,000 holiday credit on the Rex (2,000 on the BEV)
In va you have to pay 4.22% tax on the purchase price ~1800

My deal is first payment due at the purchase only , $399 and sign and I have 23 more payments
That's it , all fees and the considerable taxes rolled in , only 10k per year so 20,000 total
I might have to get the 12k or 15 k per year price.
this is on a launch car it's been at the store since may.

 

[JeremyW]

Not bad. Looking forward to September. I imagine by then the i3 BEV mega with all the fixins will be *hopefully* in the $300 a month range.

 

[adric22]

My deal is first payment due at the purchase only , $399 and sign and I have 23 more payments
That's it , all fees and the considerable taxes rolled in , only 10k per year so 20,000 total
I might have to get the 12k or 15 k per year price.
this is on a launch car it's been at the store since may.

That's not bad. If I could get a Rex version with zero down (other than first month's payment) for anything under $400 per month, I'd probably bite. Don't care if it is a base model. But I'll have to wait until June when the lease is up on our Volt.

 

[kmp647]

I have not been checking deals on the BEV i3 but I think 299 month for 24 with only 1st due is doable
As the extra 1,000 credit the BEV. Gets helps a lot on a 24 month lease.and the car is cheaper.

Maybe 314 mo with 12k per year and 330 with. 15k per year
I would do it if the BMW had chademo maybe.

I like the idea of the Rex even though I would rather not buy gas, it wont be much and it's a lot better than finding a QC station.
Here in va the nearest ccs charge station is more than 500 miles away

But there are 12-15 chademo units

 

[pkulak]

I took a test drive of one and was not impressed. Not, impressed for me, mind you. I still think it's a great car. It really gets up and goes. Not much more than the Leaf under 20, but after that it really starts pulling up to about 50 or so. And the turning radius is tiny. Probably because of the skinny tires. But it's pretty small. There's pretty much no trunk, mostly because it starts so high on the car. I didn't even try the Rex and it looked like you could have fit two V8s below the trunk floor. No idea what they are doing with that space. And I found out that I don't really give a hoot about acceleration or sporty handling. I don't even like my Leaf out of eco mode. The throttle response is to aggressive for me to be able to maintain speed without constant adjustments. The I3 was much worse, of course, with having more power. Tiny accelerator peddle movements were the difference between 40 and 60 mph. Maybe, driving Camrys and Priuses and Leafs my whole life has ruined me for sporty cars. haha. I guess I just really prefer driving "rolling couches".

 

[kmp647]

bmw now has a regional offer for a 24 mo $239 per mo lease on the Bev I3

cash st closing is too much but you can see they are trying to clear the 14's

the deals are pretty good and I think its a good bet i'll be driving one by January 1st.

 

[pkulak]

Yeah. The guy I was talking too kept telling me they are taking 8 grand off msrp. That's gotta be for the bev, but I really got the impression that they were willing to deal.

 

[lorenfb]

Yeah. The guy I was talking too kept telling me they are taking 8 grand off msrp. That's gotta be for the bev, but I really got the impression that they were willing to deal.

They need to do something aggressive as a result of their sales decline in November verses the
previous months.

 

[surfingslovak]

Yeah. The guy I was talking too kept telling me they are taking 8 grand off msrp. That's gotta be for the bev, but I really got the impression that they were willing to deal.

Which dealership was this, if you don't mind?

 

[pkulak]

Which dealership was this, if you don't mind?

BMW Portland, on SW Jefferson.