4 ms·

Recently bought a second hand BMW i3 - what a cool car! Not planning to 'hack' it but nice to read about ideas.

by sgt 8mo ago

nubinetwork 8mo ago
I've seen videos of that car... don't they only have like 40 miles of range, and the range extender only holds like 5 gallons of fuel?
- mschild 8mo ago
  For the original version released in 2013, range was a bit of a concern. Later models, 120ah full electric version, the range is about 250km. In comparison to newer cars, not a lot, but considering you can buy newish used ones for under 15k, its not a bad deal if it fits your needs.
  - sgt 8mo ago
    Funny how I'm downvoted for even mentioning an i3. I've also heard several comments insinuating that I must be gay for driving such a car. Are we still there in 2026?
    - skrebbel 8mo ago
      don't read too much into a downvote here or there. as i read this the downvotes are already gone again. some people are just idiots. also some people just misclick.
      - ErroneousBosh 8mo ago
        I get downvoted to hell and gone for saying such controversial things as "AI doesn't really solve any problem I have", so I just assume people who downvote to disagree instead of commenting to explain why they disagree are too lazy or too stupid or too stoned to get enough of a spark across a synapse and not really worth caring about. If I was in it for the karma I'd be in the billions by now.
    - idiotsecant 8mo ago
      Complaining about downvotes is boring, don't do it
    - HNisCIS 8mo ago
      [flagged]
- formerly_proven 8mo ago
  [flagged]
- sgt 8mo ago
  You don't want the range extender - it makes it fiddly and potentially unreliable. As for the range, I'm getting about 110 miles of range. It depends how you drive. This is the 94Ah battery, the later models had more range.
  - chipsa 8mo ago
    Range extender was definitely a requirement when I got mine in ‘19. But that’s because I did not have reliable charging available in the area. It also came in handy for a bad road trip (charging stations more than my range apart, so I couldn’t otherwise get there from here, but hold state of charge kept it up at 75% with frequent gas stops)
    - sgt 8mo ago
      Glad it worked out for you. I am in South Africa so there still aren't many charging stations but we're getting there. Most people charge from their houses though and that's what I do as well. With solar it's practically free to drive around town, school runs etc.
  - mmmlinux 8mo ago
    the thing that makes them unreliable is lack of use. when you leave some gas in there for 6 months because you never travel farther than the grocery store, when you actually use the engine it goes and sucks up a bunch of trash expired gas.
  - postalrat 8mo ago
    I was shopping for a range extender version and bought a battery only i3 when I saw one for the right price. Then I got a i3 rex for parts and it made me really appreciate the bev. So much more room in the engine bay and simpler overall.
- smallerize 8mo ago
  To be eligible for a specific subsidy, the gas engine had to have less range than the better. So they electronically set the amount of gas you were allowed to use from the gas tank even though it held more. Sure the difference was only a half gallon or so but it's stealing your gasoline, and making it staler. It was either 1.9 or 2.4 gallons depending on the model year, but they physically had the same gas tank.
anarticle 8mo ago
In an interesting turn of events there is a pack upgrade for the i3 that gives it more range than it started with! https://mtgbattery.com/ https://mtgbattery.com/ This is the kind of hacking / upgrades I’d love to see. All in cost was about $6k when I last checked probably a little more now. You get a pack teardown, and new CATL cells. Range goes to 400km~.
- sgt 8mo ago
  That is very cool! I can see myself keeping this car for a long time. It's just so well built and the interior is also something to behold (compared to a lot of cars). Range is not an issue at the moment (we have a Land Cruiser for longer trips) but once the batteries get really old this would be a great option.
- MaKey 8mo ago
  Their battery upgrade is trash though: https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2350326#p2350326 https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2350326#p...
  - anarticle 8mo ago
    That kit looks wildly different than what they show on their site. Good to know!

Recently bought a second hand BMW i3 - what a cool car! Not planning to 'hack' it but nice to read about ideas.

by sgt 8mo ago

Recently bought a second hand BMW i3 - what a cool car! Not planning to 'hack' it but nice to read about ideas.

I've seen videos of that car... don't they only have like 40 miles of range, and the range extender only holds like 5 gallons of fuel?

mschild 8mo ago
For the original version released in 2013, range was a bit of a concern. Later models, 120ah full electric version, the range is about 250km. In comparison to newer cars, not a lot, but considering you can buy newish used ones for under 15k, its not a bad deal if it fits your needs.
- sgt 8mo ago
  Funny how I'm downvoted for even mentioning an i3. I've also heard several comments insinuating that I must be gay for driving such a car. Are we still there in 2026?
  - skrebbel 8mo ago
    don't read too much into a downvote here or there. as i read this the downvotes are already gone again. some people are just idiots. also some people just misclick.
    - ErroneousBosh 8mo ago
      I get downvoted to hell and gone for saying such controversial things as "AI doesn't really solve any problem I have", so I just assume people who downvote to disagree instead of commenting to explain why they disagree are too lazy or too stupid or too stoned to get enough of a spark across a synapse and not really worth caring about. If I was in it for the karma I'd be in the billions by now.
  - idiotsecant 8mo ago
    Complaining about downvotes is boring, don't do it
  - HNisCIS 8mo ago
    [flagged]
formerly_proven 8mo ago
[flagged]
sgt 8mo ago
You don't want the range extender - it makes it fiddly and potentially unreliable. As for the range, I'm getting about 110 miles of range. It depends how you drive. This is the 94Ah battery, the later models had more range.
- chipsa 8mo ago
  Range extender was definitely a requirement when I got mine in ‘19. But that’s because I did not have reliable charging available in the area. It also came in handy for a bad road trip (charging stations more than my range apart, so I couldn’t otherwise get there from here, but hold state of charge kept it up at 75% with frequent gas stops)
  - sgt 8mo ago
    Glad it worked out for you. I am in South Africa so there still aren't many charging stations but we're getting there. Most people charge from their houses though and that's what I do as well. With solar it's practically free to drive around town, school runs etc.
- mmmlinux 8mo ago
  the thing that makes them unreliable is lack of use. when you leave some gas in there for 6 months because you never travel farther than the grocery store, when you actually use the engine it goes and sucks up a bunch of trash expired gas.
- postalrat 8mo ago
  I was shopping for a range extender version and bought a battery only i3 when I saw one for the right price. Then I got a i3 rex for parts and it made me really appreciate the bev. So much more room in the engine bay and simpler overall.
smallerize 8mo ago
To be eligible for a specific subsidy, the gas engine had to have less range than the better. So they electronically set the amount of gas you were allowed to use from the gas tank even though it held more. Sure the difference was only a half gallon or so but it's stealing your gasoline, and making it staler. It was either 1.9 or 2.4 gallons depending on the model year, but they physically had the same gas tank.

anarticle 8mo ago

In an interesting turn of events there is a pack upgrade for the i3 that gives it more range than it started with! https://mtgbattery.com/ https://mtgbattery.com/ This is the kind of hacking / upgrades I’d love to see. All in cost was about $6k when I last checked probably a little more now. You get a pack teardown, and new CATL cells. Range goes to 400km~.

sgt 8mo ago
That is very cool! I can see myself keeping this car for a long time. It's just so well built and the interior is also something to behold (compared to a lot of cars). Range is not an issue at the moment (we have a Land Cruiser for longer trips) but once the batteries get really old this would be a great option.
MaKey 8mo ago
Their battery upgrade is trash though: https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2350326#p2350326 https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2350326#p...
- anarticle 8mo ago
  That kit looks wildly different than what they show on their site. Good to know!