[1230vani]

http://www.bimmertoday.de/2016/11/28...se-kommt-2017/

Google translator:

Just a few months ago, the BMW i3 received a relevant model maintenance with the offer of the 94 Ah battery, but the actual facelift still awaits the electric car for the city. What the world on Sunday now reported should come as no surprise to our regular readers, however: Even in our interview with i3 project manager Andreas Feist no secret was made of it that a BMW i3 facelift is coming.

Just as with all other facelifts, the life cycle impulses will also affect the look of the BMW i3 and will change in some details, but a revolution is not to be expected. Easily modified aprons, new lighting technology and some changes in the program of colors, rims and interior themes will further develop the design evolutionarily.

[remlemasi]

This is very interesting. With the CFRP design and construction of the i3, BMW would be able to produce new panels that literally bolt on and completely change the look of the car, although the general shape of the hatchback would remain consistent.

I wonder if pre-LCI owners would be able to purchase the new LCI "panels" and upgrade to the new design.

[hotrod182]

Originally Posted by remlemasi

This is very interesting. With the CFRP design and construction of the i3, BMW would be able to produce new panels that literally bolt on and completely change the look of the car, although the general shape of the hatchback would remain consistent.

I wonder if pre-LCI owners would be able to purchase the new LCI "panels" and upgrade to the new design.

That would be awesome if they upgraded the toaster side looking rear quarter panels with some kind of beautifully contoured replaceable panels.

[Imola.ZHP]

MY2017 IS NOT AN LCI!

All they did was increase the battery size.

MY2018 will be LCI, we will see revised front and rear ends and interior updates. Hopefully newer iDrive with Apple car play. 👍

For this reason I will possibly lease-hop until they arrive.

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

MY2017 IS NOT AN LCI!

All they did was increase the battery size.

MY2018 will be LCI, we will see revised front and rear ends and interior updates. Hopefully newer iDrive with Apple car play. 👍

For this reason I will possibly lease-hop until they arrive.

Article does not refer to MY2017, refers to actual year of production being 2017 (MY2018).

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

MY2018 will be LCI, we will see revised front and rear ends and interior updates. Hopefully newer iDrive with Apple car play. 👍

It may be more than mere cosmetic changes.
Rumors of performance improvement (aka i3S), restyled exterior, and possibly more battery cells and longer range abound:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/20...e-performance/
http://insideevs.com/rumor-longer-ra...nch-next-year/
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/12/01/s...-2018-autocar/

i3 sales do need a kick in the butt, as they were down 31% YoY in US alone, while US EV sales were up 37% overall.

With Bolt (token availability) and Model 3 pushing the envelope, BMW has to respond. You can direct your thanks to the Gods of competition!

a

[Imola.ZHP]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

Article does not refer to MY2017, refers to actual year of production being 2017 (MY2018).

The title of this thread/post is: "BMW confirms (unofficially) another LCI coming in 2017 (MY 2018 I suppose)." For there to be "another LCI" there would have had have been a first LCI, right? Indicating whomever created the thread/post considers the battery upgrade an LCI, which it is not.

Originally Posted by afadeev

It may be more than mere cosmetic changes.
Rumors of performance improvement (aka i3S), restyled exterior, and possibly more battery cells and longer range abound:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/20...e-performance/
http://insideevs.com/rumor-longer-ra...nch-next-year/
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/12/01/s...-2018-autocar/

i3 sales do need a kick in the butt, as they were down 31% YoY in US alone, while US EV sales were up 37% overall.

With Bolt (token availability) and Model 3 pushing the envelope, BMW has to respond. You can direct your thanks to the Gods of competition!

a

Knowing BMW I would bet they do not release the i3s at the same time they release the LCI i3. Why only have one headline when you can have two? My guess is LCI MY2018 i3, then 6 months later i3s, then bump in range for MY2019 (not MY2018) and an all new i3 for MY2021. I am perfectly ok with being wrong about all of that.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

The title of this thread/post is: "BMW confirms (unofficially) another LCI coming in 2017 (MY 2018 I suppose)." For there to be "another LCI" there would have had have been a first LCI, right? Indicating whomever created the thread/post considers the battery upgrade an LCI, which it is not.

Fair point.

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

Knowing BMW I would bet they do not release the i3s at the same time they release the LCI i3. Why only have one headline when you can have two? My guess is LCI MY2018 i3, then 6 months later i3s, then bump in range for MY2019 (not MY2018) and an all new i3 for MY2021. I am perfectly ok with being wrong about all of that.

We are all guessing at this point, but do consider that the driving force behind these updates is not BMW's own product life-cycle, but market pressures.

i3 sales have fallen off a cliff, 31% down YoY in 2016.
Unless some radical changes are introduced, and soon, there wont be much inventory for BMW dealers to move.
There are ~350 BMW dealers in the US, and they sold 7626 i3s last year (vs. 11024 in 2014). That's an average of 22 per dealer, or fewer than 2 cars sold per dealer. Granted, there is some variance regionally and seasonally, but you can see how having a model (i3) that barely sells twice per month becomes a nuisance for a dealer to carry in inventory.

Not good. Something needs to change to keep this model alive sooner than 2018-19.

a

[Verdi]

Any news on the LCI?

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Verdi

Any news on the LCI?

None.

I checked with my dealer, and asked at the BMW CES booth - zero confirmed i3 changes for MY`18.

However, i3's 2017 production run is unusually long, scheduled to end on 10/17 (vs. 6/17 for most models, or even sooner for some). That would be an indication that BMW is working on something, but it looks increasingly unlikely that "it" would be available to us in calendar 2017. Even if "it" goes into production on 11/17, we wont see it in US dealer showrooms until Jan'18 or thereabouts.

"It" may be a delayed MY'18 introduction of something big, or "it" may be nothing special (standard rear backup camera), or just upgrades in Leipzig plant with retooling for 2-series in June that take precedence. If "it" is the former, you should expect to see "it" at one of the auto-shows this spring/summer before it goes into production on 11/17.

Google "bmw 2017 production schedule", or see the link below (if it doesn't get garbled):
http://www.bimmerfest.com/pdf/bmw-pr...n-Schedule.pdf

Personally, I gave up waiting, and pulled the trigger on the larger battery MY'17 i3 lease the other week.

a

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by afadeev

None.

I checked with my dealer, and asked at the BMW CES booth - zero confirmed i3 changes for MY`18.

However, i3's 2017 production run is unusually long, scheduled to end on 10/17 (vs. 6/17 for most models, or even sooner for some). That would be an indication that BMW is working on something, but it looks increasingly unlikely that "it" would be available to us in calendar 2017. Even if "it" goes into production on 11/17, we wont see it in US dealer showrooms until Jan'18 or thereabouts.

"It" may be a delayed MY'18 introduction of something big, or "it" may be nothing special (standard rear backup camera), or just upgrades in Leipzig plant with retooling for 2-series in June that take precedence. If "it" is the former, you should expect to see "it" at one of the auto-shows this spring/summer before it goes into production on 11/17.

Google "bmw 2017 production schedule", or see the link below (if it doesn't get garbled):
http://www.bimmerfest.com/pdf/bmw-pr...n-Schedule.pdf

Personally, I gave up waiting, and pulled the trigger on the larger battery MY'17 i3 lease the other week.

a

My dealer told me he heard rumours of LCi towards end of 2017.

[TimeFor]

Well damn, I was going to order a 530e but also considering just another i3... My lease is up in August. So you tell me... What am I suppose to do?

Arrrg waiting on this EV stuff from BMW is just irritating. 530e doesn't have enough EV range, i3 might get lots of new tech but who knows... I swear I just feeling like giving it all up and buying a Hummer H1 and start rolling coal

[bayarea328xit]

Originally Posted by TimeFor

Well damn, I was going to order a 530e but also considering just another i3... My lease is up in August. So you tell me... What am I suppose to do?

BMWFS will let you extend your lease - up to 6 months no questions asked.

[Verdi]

Thanks! At least now I know that it's no point waiting for the MY2018. I need the car in August at the very latest.

Originally Posted by afadeev

None.

I checked with my dealer, and asked at the BMW CES booth - zero confirmed i3 changes for MY`18.

However, i3's 2017 production run is unusually long, scheduled to end on 10/17 (vs. 6/17 for most models, or even sooner for some). That would be an indication that BMW is working on something, but it looks increasingly unlikely that "it" would be available to us in calendar 2017. Even if "it" goes into production on 11/17, we wont see it in US dealer showrooms until Jan'18 or thereabouts.

"It" may be a delayed MY'18 introduction of something big, or "it" may be nothing special (standard rear backup camera), or just upgrades in Leipzig plant with retooling for 2-series in June that take precedence. If "it" is the former, you should expect to see "it" at one of the auto-shows this spring/summer before it goes into production on 11/17.

Google "bmw 2017 production schedule", or see the link below (if it doesn't get garbled):
http://www.bimmerfest.com/pdf/bmw-pr...n-Schedule.pdf

Personally, I gave up waiting, and pulled the trigger on the larger battery MY'17 i3 lease the other week.

a

[bayarea328xit]

Originally Posted by Verdi

Thanks! At least now I know that it's no point waiting for the MY2018. I need the car in August at the very latest.

See references to i3s here:

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=901686

"i3, in addition to the bigger battery, will get another (sportier?) version called i3s"

"i3 will continue evolving - there'll be another iteration of it, and that's when we could get the i3s version, whatever it's gonna be."

We're waiting until November to see if i3s materializes...

[TimeFor]

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

We're waiting until November to see if i3s materializes...

Thinking I might extend my lease six months and do the same.

[Imola.ZHP]

Just incase someone missed it...

http://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1354976

Should probably continue this conversation in that thread.

This is what an LCI is, not just a battery bump and a new color.

[logicalunit]

Dammit, I recently got obsessed with it after a two day testdrive... I could live with it since the battery update (only interested in the BEV). But it will take an effort counting down the days knowing an LCI is coming. Hope to see updated onboard electronics and a slightly larger battery (as an option).

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by logicalunit

Dammit, I recently got obsessed with it after a two day testdrive... I could live with it since the battery update (only interested in the BEV). But it will take an effort counting down the days knowing an LCI is coming. Hope to see updated onboard electronics and a slightly larger battery (as an option).

Battery wont be larger from what I've heard, i3S will have 15HP extra and slightly wider tires/wheelarches.

[bailyhill]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

Battery wont be larger from what I've heard, i3S will have 15HP extra and slightly wider tires/wheelarches.

If they increase the capacity of the motor, and do not do the same for the battery, it will only decrease the range.

Perhaps the motor HP and the battery capacity are both increasing keeping the range the same, or perhaps there is extra battery capacity which would also increase the range.

Either way, if the motor capacity is increasing, my guess is that the battery capacity will also increase. No one is complaining about the acceleration or the top speed, so why increase the HP of the motor? Makes no sense to me. Most all the complaints revolve around the range, not the acceleration.

Increasing the HP and not the range makes no sense. I think BMW is smarter than that.

Bailyhill

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by bailyhill

If they increase the capacity of the motor, and do not do the same for the battery, it will only decrease the range.

Perhaps the motor HP and the battery capacity are both increasing keeping the range the same, or perhaps there is extra battery capacity which would also increase the range.

Either way, if the motor capacity is increasing, my guess is that the battery capacity will also increase. No one is complaining about the acceleration or the top speed, so why increase the HP of the motor? Makes no sense to me. Most all the complaints revolve around the range, not the acceleration.

Increasing the HP and not the range makes no sense. I think BMW is smarter than that.

Bailyhill

I am saying what I heard from someone who had some inside info. Lets wait and see if i3S gets an upgraded battery as well. I am really looking into this car, had a loner with smaller battery range and thought the car was fantastic already.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by bailyhill

If they increase the capacity of the motor, and do not do the same for the battery, it will only decrease the range.

Yes, and so will any and all other performance upgrades: better traction through better/wider tires, etc, etc.
Many of us will gladly make this trade-off, but those who don't want to do so, will stay away from the "S" package.

BMW will not withhold longer range if larger capacity Samsung batteries are available.
But if they are not, the above outcome is inevitable.

Originally Posted by bailyhill

No one is complaining about the acceleration or the top speed, so why increase the HP of the motor? Makes no sense to me.

Makes perfect sense to me.
i3 acceleration sucks.
The REX, and now the BEV (slightly better), are the slowest BMWs I've ever owned in 20+ years!

It's now slower than the much heaver Bolt, and has always been much slower than Tesla's.
That's not BMW's DNA.
They can afford to be the butt of the jokes for only so long... before they address this glaring deficiency.

Range is limited by (1) Samsung battery capacity; (2) size of the battery space in the BMW chassis.
BMW is not willing to invest into meaningful i-series upgrades until 2021 (i5) to fix #2, so now they are sitting at the mercy of Samsung to address #1.

a