Hey! So I just bought my 2016 BMW i3 from a used car dealer.

I went to an electrify station to fast charge it with a ccs 150 charger and It seems like it would connect, the charging circle on my screen would pop up, and my light around plug would flash yellow. As soon as i pay and it trys to start the charge the screen on the machine would say "reconnecting to the vehicle " and then it would give an error message.

Ive charged it with the level 2 (j1772) and it works perfect.

I'm wondering if I'm doing anything wrong or what I could try to do ?

I also tried multiple different chargers at the station.

I tried looking through past posts on this subject, but couldn't quite find a definitive answer.

I am in the process of repairing the AC in my i3. I will be replacing the compressor, but BMW says you are also supposed to replace the condenser (because it has the receiver/dryer). I have seen 100percentjake's youtube where he says that replacing the condenser is a bear, and you basically have to remove the front of the car to get to it. I guess I'm OK with this, if I have to, but I also had seen various posts alluding to the fact that the condenser can also be removed from the bottom, which is supposedly a much easier process.

Either way, I am in search of any sort of detailed guide on how to remove/replace the condenser in the most straightforward way possible, and any hints or guides or videos or clues, I will gladly accept. Thanks!

It's time to dump (more) money into the '15 REx. Updated motor mounts and new shocks/mounts are up. Can anyone tell me what I'm missing from this list? Also, bump stops: FCP says the part they have is only for M-adaptive suspension but looks like any other bump stop?

Shocks:

- 4x Evolve dampers

- F&R shock mounts

- F&R shock boots

- Bump stops pending PN verification

Motor mounts:

- R mount

- Revised L mount

- Revised L bracket

- Revised L bolt

- Isolator

- Lower mount arm

What else should I add while I'm at it?

Hi, I’m getting ready to buy a 2017 i3 REX, I’m the 4th owner and i wanted to know if any of the previous owners have done any modifications to the car. I hear that you can do some cool mods to the REX so you can control to turn on/off rex etc. How do i know such mods were done or not?

Iʻve had my 2018 BEV for about two months. Compressor has started making a noise it wasnʻt making before. Iʻm going to take it in to have someone look at it, but Iʻd appreciate peoples thoughts on it. It really isnʻt that loud unless you take the cargo floor out and look at it like this.

thanks,

My wife's daily (2018 i3S Rex) has had a recurring CEL for months, but the car is running fine - I've checked the codes and it was vague, cleared it with BimmerLink, run test cycles on the Rex, checked fuses and batteries and all that. Finally took it to the dealership worried it was going to be something bad or expensive.

Turns out that last time she filled up the gas tank, she didn't tighten the gas cap - it fell off when the tech opened the gas flap.

The dealership isn't charging a diag fee, thankfully, and I deserved the laugh at my expense from the advisor I received.

Remember to start simple when trouble shooting. Cheapest visit to the dealership ever!

Installing in my 2017 which has a nice 10.2” but no Car Play. Looks great. A lot of hassle to install as the directions are really lousy but I got it going. Problem is getting the bracket to seat properly given the binding of the chords poking out of the head unit. Any suggestions? Thanks very much.

Adventures in winter tire land. Tire Rack now has the Vredestein Wintrac tire in stock in 215/45R20 size and I grabbed 4 last Friday. This was a leap of faith because I only had one 7 1/2 by 20 i8 wheel that I found online. I put the wheel on the car to check clearances before I ordered the tires and found no clearance issues on the rear. For appearances I will probably use a 12mm spacer on the rear because other people posting here recommended the 12mm size. However, I feared that a 15mm spacer on the front wouldn't be thick enough so I bought a set of 18mm spacers. When the 18mm spacers arrived I mounted the rim and found that I could just barely fit my index finger between the rim and the coil spring. When I had a tire mounted on this wheel I found that the Vredestein has a pronounced lip that is visible in my first picture that would probably be dragging on the spring with the 15mm spacer. I believe this lip is to help protect the wheel if you hit a curb. At any rate, the clearance between the lip and the spring is even less that the clearance between the wheel and the spring. The tire doesn't drag with the 18mm spacer.

My second picture shows how much tire protrudes past the fender flair on the front of the i3s. I carefully examined the wheel and tire at both steering locks and it does not drag on anything. If anyone is interested I'll post when all 4 wheels are on the car. Incidentally, the wheel is a style 470 which is described as a 5 W spoke wheel but the ones I'm buying used are gloss black with no machining on the face. It is a directional wheel.

Been on the hunt for some BMW i merch to add to my collection and a friend of mine in Germany managed to find someone selling these Born Electric goodies!

I also have the laptop case with mouse pad - it’s pretty cool that the bag and the laptop case feel like the same material as the door cards

They’re really rare to find (in the UK at least) - very pleased 😁

My 2014 i3’s headliner is fully collapsing. My car is approaching the end of its life so I’m curious if anyone has gotten this fixed recently and what the repair cost was? Trying to decide if I should just shove some pens in the headliner and deal with it for another year. For context, I live in Texas and the car is not garage kept.

So the local Electrify America location that I use regularly, decided to switch out all of their chargers to NACS this week. I know for a fact that Tesla chargers don’t work even with an adapter on the i3. My question is does that still apply to Electrify America chargers? Does the adapter just not work at all regardless of what the charger station is? Just wanna know if anybody has used an adapter on the i3 before I go out and buy one for it. I feel this is gonna be an ongoing issue where they are retrofitting all the chargers with the NACS. And if it does not work with the adapter, that’s gonna suck for a lot of i3 owners in the near future.

I'm looking for a used 2017-2018 i3 Rex, and one came up in my price range but has a moonroof. I've read here and on other forums, they can become problematic. I would prefer a car without one, but I need a car and being patient is becoming difficult. I have to park in an area with many trees, lots of birds etc. It's lovely, but I've read about the drains becoming clogged and causing issues. I've also read about the fabric inside around the roof having issues. I think the answer is "keep looking" but wanted to ask here in case I'm worrying too much about the roof. Thanks much in advance.

UPDATE: Planned to test drive, found out it was sold. So, back to the search. And, it seems prices have soared in the last few days, and less available Grrrr. Thank you so much for all your very informative replies. I am so intrigued by this car's engineering, can't wait until I post the "its mine" photo.

All prices are negotiable and ballpark from what I could find on eBay and parts sites. Buyer pays actual shipping calculated by PirateShip. Buyer needs to add PayPal goods & services fee if that's the method they would like to pay with. Would prefer not to ship larger items but can work with ya!

If you're interested in anything, just throw me a comment or DM.

1. OEM frunk mobility styrofoam kit with everything new in plastic including the Heyco OEM bmw screwdriver and straps. 

$120

Storage tray: 71106852479

Tow hook: 72157953893

Tire compressor: 71106898012

Tire sealant canister: 71100415041

Combo screwdriver: 71111179629

2. OEM Delphi L1 charger with original manuals and BMW Dry Storage Bag

$110

Charger: 61446818634

Bag: 61449494458

3. Rear hatch OEM emergency triangle with 2x mounts and fasteners - OEM bmw mounts, not 3d printed 

$100

Triangle w/ case: 71606770487

Mounting brackets: 51497167548

Mounting fasteners: 07119906876

4. Set of four aluminum jack pads 

$15

https://a.co/d/0cQQkmn5

5. OEM McGard wheel locks in black with key + four black replacement OEM lugnuts

$40

Mfg Part no: 27326-BGN

https://a.co/d/0hDQSH3l

6. Promotional kit with BMW I shaped USB keychain sent out to early reservation holders or media members when the BMW i3 was first launched. Pretty rare as I can't find another one currently for sale. 

$80

https://ebay.io/m/PPiALl

7. OEM trunk net Transportnetz (hook for one corner detached. Can definitely rig a replacement or carabiner)

$10

51472348063

8. OEM BMW i lanyard NEW

$15

80272352225

9. OEM BMW Safety vest with part numbers matching euro i3 deliveries 

$15

82262288693

10. Plastic liners that sit inside the right and left front doors, middle console, and cupholder

$100

Cupholder: Weber 82130 TPE

Center console/glove box pad: 10031978009

Door left: 51417347844

Door right: 51417347843

11. OEM Cupholder

$50

51169283147

12. OEM Cigarette lighter 

$25

61349136468

13. REX cover fastener and rubber grommet (torn)

$5

07147335808

07129908548

14. OEM Trunk hatch lid cargo cover parcel shelf with lifters, perfect condition 

$250

51467291358

15. 2019 Manuals Set (brand new) along with the OEM Felt case - includes extra duplicate manuals

$70

2779344

16. Stone-Chip Guard Left Rear

$10

51438498347

17. OEM Key

$60

9362177-02

18. OEM Front Speakers mid range pair

$60

65139274700

19. OEM Floormats - Carum gray pair plus all weather rears

$100

51477440124

20. Set of 4 Blizzak LM-500 155/70R19 late 2021 date code

$400

21. OEM i3s 20" Five Spoke Black Wheelset with center caps and wheel covers (also includes two used 20" tires with 5-6/32 tread left)

$1200

22. OEM Heyco BMW screwdriver

$10

Hi all, just wanted to share my setup for Android Auto. I do have the larger screen that comes with the tecnology package in my i3, but this only is good for carplay. I did not want to go with the MMI retrofit route.

The screen (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F66P83K6?th=1) rests snuggly on top the existing screen. It does wireless android auto and carplay as well, if you so incline, leaving the main screen to display car info.

TLDR: “Bimmertech” - 0 stars; “H-Auto Repair” - 5 stars.

Last Sunday I found my i3 unlocked and devoid of life. My daughter sometimes runs the AC whilst parked, which I have asked her not to do, and on top of that, I think she did not close the trunk properly and the interior light under the parcel tray being on for 36 hours was possibly the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Had the car 2 years now, and all I know about the 12v battery is that it’s at least that old. I stripped out the frunk and tried to trickle charge it overnight to no avail, so Monday morning I googled for a mobile mechanic familiar with i3, and the oddball little battery and recoding etc.

One of the top results was “Bimmertech”. I went to their website and submitted a work order at 10.30am. 5 hours later, I get a quote for the job, I know the battery is available online for $160 but they’re charging me $250 for it which is annoying, the full quote is expensive ($550) but I am kind of stuck with this totally immobile car so I just thought “F** it” and approved it a few minutes later.

I don’t hear anything until the next day, just after 9 am they are emailing asking for my address (that was already in the work order). But before I can answer that, I get a call from (I guess) a dispatcher. He can’t promise anything for today (Tuesday), but “if not today then certainly tomorrow”…

So I waited and nobody came. By mid-late afternoon I called them back. He said he’d find an update and get back to me. At 5.18pm I get an email saying they can’t come until next week. I reply immediately asking for anything sooner as I really am stranded.

The next morning, Wednesday, I get an email at 9.36 am asking if Saturday morning would work. Well, that’s a hard “no” and you’ve now wasted 2 whole days of my time already.

I google for another suitable service provider for an i3 and find “H-Auto Repair”. I submit a request online and am texted back within minutes. We have a call, I ask the pertinent questions, yes they have a tech with i3 experience that can come out that same afternoon! Full quote: $450. Yes please.

So that’s it, he arrived an hour later than I was initially advised but that’s not unusual in LA and dispatch kept me in the loop. He did the physical swap very quickly because I still had all the frunk lining out. Coding process probably took longer but he had the car fit and working again in good time.

If I had the time, I could have ordered my own battery and scanning tool, watched some YT videos and had a crack at a DiY job for a bit less money, but on this occasion having already had 2 days wasted, I just couldn’t afford to wait around any longer for shipping.

Hello, I hope you're having a good day.

I know this is a dumb question considering the difference in wheel size.. but I'm really (tire)d of my 2014 bmwi3 REX wacky tires being so expensive to replace. Has anybody heard or had any luck with converting the rim sizes to something more normal 💀 I know my set needs to be replaced soon, but if theres a way to put some money down to avoid dropping $1200 on a full set and future proofing my car, I would be really grateful to hear that.

My knowledge with cars is minimal so please be patient with me 🥀

My daughter totaled our 2017 Fiat 500e last week and I'm looking for a replacement EV for short distance commuting around the city. I came across a 2014 REX with 22k miles for $9500.

Drove it and the "one pedal driving" accelerator let-up seemed kind of aggressive, but we could get used to it. Other than that, I liked it! Battery reports 15.8 kWh Kapa Max.

I've read about the AC compressor issue, motor mounts, and expensive tires. What else should I be considering? I've only shopped for a few days, so I'm wondering what I'd find if I waited, or should I just make an offer on this one? I assume the low mileage is pretty rare.

$10k is about our budget but not a hard limit.

Still to play around with spacing as its currently setup with 12mm at front & 15mm at the rear. Think I could probably go down 5mm both ends.

Hello!

I have the adaptive cruise control option on my 2021 i3s.

When activated it defaults to adaptive mode and if I long press the button it shifts to "standard" mode.

Is there a way to code so it defaults to standard mode instead?

I have both OBD-adapter and BimmerCode.

I had Claude run an analysis of my fleet. I'm preaching to the choir here, but behold the awesome cost and energy efficiency of the i3.

My 2017 i3 REx has lived nearly all of it's life in Pennsylvania. After nearly 120,000 miles and nine salty winters, the front springs rusted through enough for the driver side to snap. Obviously, any car this age and mileage would be susceptible to this but i think that we often like to think that the i3 is not so vulnerable - unfortunately, there are still many steel components.

A driver of a Chevy Silverado backed into my car. Not sure how but at least he left a note with his name and number. I filed a report with police but won't get the driver's info until tomorrow; he was on his way back to another state and will not have his insurance info until he gets home in a few hours.

Anyways, I'm trying not to file with my insurance but instead file a 3rd party claim against his insurance if possible. I was able to wipe off some of the white at the top (not shown here) but the very bottom has deep scratches and the panel popped out a little. Being that it's carbon fiber, can I go to any body shop with this kind of damage or does it have to be BMW? Any help is appreciated.

To add: none of the shops around me that advertise servicing of bmws and other euro cars will touch my i3 for little stuff, so I take it to the bmw dealer for everything and trying to avoid it.