Used i3 for sale
We have a limited number of reviews for the 2021 i3, so we've included reviews for other years of the i3 since its last redesign.
The evolution of the automobile
Gus M., 09/12/2020
2017 BMW i3 4dr Hatchback w/Range Extender (0.6L 2cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid DD)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Purchased the fully loaded i3 Rex 2 months ago. Couldn’t be more impressed. Few reasons, first the all electric power train is silk smooth with tremendous torque available from stand-still, no gears in the gearbox, can run A/C with the car off, no need to warm up the car in the morning, etc. So many advantages over legacy cars. Plus, the BMW design is very innovative, with an interior and that uses high quality materials that look recycled. I feel this car is small and large at the same time. Incredibly tight turning cycle makes it easy to drive through traffic and parking lots. I always had sport sedans including multiple 3 series, Audi A4s, Subaru WRX. I don’t miss those at all and neither does everyone else in my household. We all want to drive this car more than any of the other 3 cars in the garage. In fact I don’t think I will ever purchase an internal combustion engine car again. Lastly, I regret having waited this long to transition to an electric vehicle.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
30 months with our first electric car
Glen, 11/07/2018
2018 BMW i3 4dr Hatchback w/Range Extender (0.6L 2cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid DD)
16 of 25 people found this review helpful
On the positive side, the i3 is a blast to drive in a straight line, in town, on freeways, and somewhat curvy roads. It's cool looking, spacious, easy to drive and park and I feel good getting into it. The latter comment surprised me actually, since it's mainly my wife's car and in the past I just didn't want to drive her cars - Audi A3, Mercedes E320, Mini S Cabriolet, etc. I always felt that they were not in sync with my sense of style and quality (I drive a Land Rover). I don;'t know if it's because it's electric, it's styling or what it says about it's driver, but the i3 transcends in many ways and the style and quality ques are so bizarre that it's hard to reject the weirdly cheap looking recycled plastic dash and interior components that in any other car at even half this price I would flatly reject as substandard. At first I was thinking that BMW had a lot of nerve charging almost $60k out the door for a economy subcompact with such a lame interior pallette (save for the cool bent wood dash). The lease was descent and frankly, it's the only car that I liked that fit on my tiny Venice CA driveway. After 30 months with it, I find myself jumping into readily and happily. It's great for quick trips where I would feel guilty cranking up my Land Rover's V8. It's plenty big enough for four adults and my 6-1 son never gripes in the back (and he did in our old Mini S) The only negatives are that the bike tires don't stop fast in an emergency, they roll over and play dead in tight fast turns, and they wear VERY fast. The suspension is bouncy, soft and not well dampened, so it's really not comfortable in performance driving situations or on potholed roads. The seats are manual so no memory, which is ridiculous for a high end car regardless of weight issues, and the car is just not versatile enough - it's just a city car, period. I told myself that it was time for a bigger electric when I realized the lease was already up, but the only real choice for me, the Tesla 3, is actually too large. The Bolt is OK-cool on the outside (not nearly as cool as the i3) and interior is the usual Chevy-Rubbermaid collaborative disaster. Bolt feels totally non-transcedent and cheap, like any other econobox. So based on size and style, it's likely going to be another i3 for the family which is too bad because the Tesla i3 runs circles around the i3 in every department - range, versatility, size, interior luxury, technology and many would say looks (although I would disagree) . Personally, the only reason I can see someone choosing the i3 is because they love the styling, it's tiny and it's electric.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
2021 BMW i3 for sale near you
Showing 3 of 5 listings
- s Plug-In Hybrid 4dr Hatchback w/Range ExtenderMSRP: $26,999810 mi away
- Base Plug-In Hybrid 4dr Hatchback w/Range ExtenderMSRP: $37,488905 mi away
- Base Plug-In Hybrid 4dr Hatchback w/Range ExtenderMSRP: $19,998906 mi away
See all 5 listings
Perfect as a used BEV
Nnanelle, 09/10/2020
2017 BMW i3 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
Purchased the '17 i3 94Ah BEV with <13k miles on it earlier this year (just prior to the pandemic's start). I would never spend the money to get it new because I don't feel it's worth the >$50k price, but snagging an off-lease used is easy and affordable, plus you can get one that still has some warranty left on it. I went for the BEV because from everything I had read it's the REX that causes all of the problems (if there are any). Mine is the Terra pkg with full screen, wood/leather/sunroof - basically all of the bells and whistles available. I have no issue with range anxiety as all of my driving is done locally in my suburban neighborhood and in the nearby (less than 30 min away) city, and we installed a level 2 charger so even when "empty" the car can be fully charged in 4.5 - 5 hrs. I love the sparseness of the interior - there's no fuss, it's very functional, and I really love that it's made from renewable materials. Yes there is a lack of storage space, but that's part of what I like because I'm forced to be minimalistic and not compile unneeded junk. The outside of the car looks small, but the interior feels room and there is more than enough headroom even for the taller members of the family. The backseat isn't ideal for bigger people, but for short trips it's not a problem. I don't even mind having to open the front doors to get to the back seat because it's so convenient when loading up the car with groceries or DIY materials (and we've loaded it up with a lot!). The ride is fun: the accelerator reacts quickly and the regen braking is amazing. The ride can be a little stiff over bumps, but again I do all of my driving in-city so I'm not worried about going over rocky roads or offroading. I have the 20" tires and they are my only worry: I had to get a new set right after purchasing the car because they were bald, and have already been "nailed" 2 times, but I've got a tire center near my home that filled and fixed them immediately and I've just become more observant of what's in road (avoiding boards, etc.). Overall I love my little BMW BEV and do not regret the purchase. I first saw the i3 in 2014, basically drove the owner crazy with my questions, and knew that I would be driving one one day. They are rare in my neighborhood - I've only seen 3 in the last 6 months that I've owned it, and I find it a shame that more people don't know what an amazing vehicle it is.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
I really want to like this car, but...
CN, 04/11/2019
2018 BMW i3 4dr Hatchback w/Range Extender (0.6L 2cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid DD)
25 of 43 people found this review helpful
So, where to start? The pros: I don't have to stop for gas...ever. It isn't parking challenged like my Ram 1500 truck. That's all. The neutral: it isn't the most attractive think on the road, but it's a darn sight better than any Prius. Fit and finish is good; about what one would expect from the likes of BMW. The interior is space efficient; it feels larger than it is. And the interior materials are generally of good quality. Now, the cons: and here's the problem. None of the car's distractors really reveal themselves until one has driven the car for a while. The interior ergonomics are awful. The window and mirror switches don't fall naturally under one's hand. One must reach back to find them. They are also on a downward sloping armrest, so they are invisible when sitting in the seat without leaning forward. Similarly, the door lock switches are hidden in the door panel. One must hunt for them to use them. The sun visor is tiny, doesn't extend (a failure of many cars), and only covers the front third of the door window, which makes it useless. The visor mirror cover is impossibly difficult to open; one must dig into the visor to open it. The seats are good for about 30 minutes before the squirming begins and their isn't much lumbar support. The pedals and foot rest are too close to the seat, which only exacerbates the comfort issues with the seat. There just isn't a way to adjust the seat and steering wheel to gain a really good driving position. Fortunately, the range of the car relegates it to commuter status, so that somewhat mitigates the problem. The rearview mirror is positioned too low such that it blocks a significant part of the view out the windshield. The right windshield wiper only clears half of its side of the windshield. The windshield washers only spray at the bottom of the windshield, which causes the wipers to streak in the driver's field of vision. The adaptive cruise control is borderline dangerous. It doesn't know what to do in any traffic situation other than open road. That causes its operation to be unpredictable, and thus, unusable (this system works very well in my wife's Volvo). BMW was nice enough, though to allow one to disable the adaptive functions and revert it to 'dumb' cruise control. That works well, so it is how I now operate it. The ride quality is very poor. What the car lacks in wind noise is more than made up in road and surrounding traffic noise. The suspension picks up every little imperfection in the road and amplifies it into the cabin. It tracks ruts in the roads like nothing I've ever driven. Add crosswinds into the mix and it makes for an unstable driving experience. Overall, it is reminiscent of a Japanese car from the 1970's (i.e. VERY unrefined). My truck is quieter and smoother riding that this thing. The infotainment system is lacking as well. Settings are frequently placed in illogical locations. On the map page, for example, one cannot pan the car's position. The only way to 'look ahead' is to zoom out, but that results in lost details. One must zoom in too far to see secondary street details. I have an iphone and the only way I can use it is through CarPlay, which is a separate little subtile accessible only be scrolling the tile screens to the extreme left. It is obviously a last-minute afterthought. That happens to be no where near the 'Communication' tile, where it should be. Oh, and that Communication tile has almost nothing to do with communications. It displays weather instead. Huh? The instrument display (I won't call it a panel), shows far too much information concurrently. There are a myriad of tiny enigmatic icons that seemingly come and go at will. It makes for a very busy and cluttered screen. The owner's manual is a joke. It was clearly written in German originally, as one might expect. The problem is it was translated into English by someone who neither spoke German nor English. The result is descriptions that frequently make no sense, confuse the issue more, and leave one better off to just play with the function to (hopefully) eventually figure it out. I've come to the conclusion this car was likely a high school or junior college graduation project; BMW built the powertrain, which is outstanding, then decided, "hey, let's let the kids design a car around this!" The result is a poorly conceived, poorly executed, box on wheels. I could go on, but it would be pointless. If this is the direction they are going they are in serious trouble. I had a 1985 BMW 535i, which I owned over ten years. While it certainly had its foibles, I put 200k miles on it and even though this car is 33 years newer, that 535 was overall a much better car than this one. I'm just thankful now that the salesman talked me into leasing this car vs. buying it. In two years I can walk away with relief. I've only had the car for about three weeks. Maybe this thing will grow on me over time, but it doubt it.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Yes!
Matt, 11/02/2020
updated 11/10/2021
2017 BMW i3 4dr Hatchback w/Range Extender (0.6L 2cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid DD)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
UPDATE: Sold it. I bought a golf tdi instead. 50 to 60 mpg is enough for me. This way I don't worry about owning two BMW engines in one car. TBH the main reason I sold was because the skinny small tires and the wheelbase make for a jitterbug ride quality on highways. Loved the concept, but already lagging. Updated dash with bigger display, unlocked the ability to charge at steady state less than 75%, and added CarPlay. I’ve owned or leased over 40 cars, and this is one of my favs. Only knock is the stiff ride, but I can appreciate the functionality over form. Well thought out. Will be a classic someday when they speak of early electric.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value