Auf wiedersehen, i3: we say a final goodbye to the BMW i3
- BMW i3 production ends in July
- More than 250,000 sold over nine years
- We look at how you can find a good one
The BMW i3 electric car will stop production in July 2022 ending the nine-year run of one of the most innovative cars the German company has ever built.
Examples of the BMW i3s for sale and prices
In many ways the i3 makes for a canny second-hand purchase, they’re light on tyre and brake wear and the pure EV models don’t need the expensive fluid changes of a petrol or diesel.
Less cheery reading comes when you look at the cost of some parts. High-tech materials – that as well as carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer include aluminium and magnesium – means seemingly mundane parts can be surprisingly expensive to replace, and we’d advise having a car’s history checked for any record of accident damage. Our review lists a few other issues to keep an eye out for.
Few cars stand the test of time quite as well as the BMW i3 that, despite numerous updates under the skin, looks almost identical to when it first rolled off the production – you could buy a decade-old car and few would know.
Private cars are up for sale for less than £14,000 for a 2014 model with less than 30,000 miles on the clock but only the small 22kWh battery. You’ll pay about the same for a REX of the same age but with double the mileage, although it’s worth noting that petrol-hybrid i3s are not exempt from the London Congestion Charge.
Upping your budget to a little over £20,000 buys you the frisky performance of a 2018 i3s with around 50,000 miles on the clock.
However, we would prefer to put the same money into a standard car in mint condition – 2019 cars with less than 30,000 miles on their odometer are readily available and seem like the safest bet of all.
BMW i3 reviews, performance and specs
With a bluff nose, elongated jaw, suicide rear doors and serated window line, the BMW i3 looked like nothing else when it went on sale in 2013.
Fittingly, it was like nothing else. Not only did it have a construction consisting in part of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer, it was also offered as a range-extending (REX) hybrid.
It featured a 650cc, two-cylinder scooter engine that operated purely as a generator to give you an emergency range of up to 200 miles.
The REX would be dropped in 2016 but the motoring press’ warmth for the i3 continued unabated. Reviewers loved its spaceship interior design, the space it squeezed out of a relatively small footprint and the access provided by the rear-hinged back doors.
It even drove like a BMW. The spindly tyres might have looked like they’d hold the road with the fading grip of an arthritic chimp, but in practice they clung on surprisingly well – even BMW’s famous rear-wheel-drive balance was there for your enjoyment.
A 2018 update brought the sporty i3S model that increased power from 171 to 185PS, added bigger alloy wheels (up from 19 to 20 inches), lowered the suspension by 10mm and increased its track by 40mm.
The result served up 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds and neater handling, allowing the i3S to lay claim to being the world’s first electric hot hatch.The i3S was just one of a series of updates that saw the i3’s battery capacity rise from 22kWh in 2013 to 37.9kWh in its present configuration.
Battery capacity could well be the most important factor to consider when buying an i3 because it means the pure-electric i3’s range could be anything from 70 to 160 miles.
Charging from 0-80 per cent takes as little as 30 minutes from a public fast charger; three hours using a wall-mounted home charger.
The i3’s relatively short range won’t suit many, but if you need an EV that looks great, is custom built for the city and is capable of casting its net a little wider when needed, you can’t really go wrong with an i3 BMW.
Its iX1 replacement – essentially just an electrified version of the third-generation X1 SUV – has big boots to fill.
New Cars Coming In 2022
Before you step into a showroom, read our in depth guide to all the new cars coming in the next 12 months and beyond – some are well worth the wait.
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Is the BMW i3 still worth buying?
The BMW i3 is still worth considering if you’re looking for an electric car that’s free from paying emissions charges such as the London Congestion Zone. It looks great, is highly manoeuvrable in town, yet surprisingly room inside. That said, the short range of older models limits its out-of-city capabilities.
Why did BMW stop making the i3?
The BMW i3 goes out of production in July 2022 as BMW focusses its electric car production on models that share their platforms with the first existing petrol and diesel line-up.
Why is the BMW i3 cheap?
The BMW i3’s relatively short range means that older models in particular are only really usable in town, limiting its appeal to many buyers and lower demand for the BMW’s innovative EV.
Why does BMW no longer offer the i3 with the range extender?
