03-26-2021, 01:57 AM | #1 |
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End of the line for i3...
Looks like we have just over a year of production left...
Our lease ends in April 2022 - we'll have to decide if we get another i3s before production ends. Last edited by bayarea328xit; 03-26-2021 at 10:53 AM.. |
03-26-2021, 04:37 AM | #2 |
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Interesting, earlier indications was 2024.
But with the iX3, the iX and the i4 already on the market and more models on the way, I guess BMW consider the i3 redundant and possibly too "obsolete" in a very competitive EV market.
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03-26-2021, 03:49 PM | #3 |
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Similar boat here. my current lease ends august 2022. I guess I'll just have to see what's available at that time on the lot or just wait and see what others offer.
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03-26-2021, 07:40 PM | #4 |
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Where is this information coming from exactly? Official info all has said 2024, with a possibility or going further. BMW is making money on every i3 right now and they are selling very well in EU. Don’t think they’ll cut it off. IX, and i4 does not fit at all into the buyers group that the i3 was intended to. It would be a mistake to cut it out so early.
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03-26-2021, 09:18 PM | #5 | |
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03-27-2021, 03:36 PM | #6 | |
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The technology is developing faster than first expected, much thanks to Tesla. Hence the i3 is lagging behind in many areas faster than expected. Range is one, as the current approx. 300km range is just not cutting it, when the price wise competitive cars like Renault Zoe, Hyundai Ionic and some of the new Chinese cars like the MG for the most part sport a range in the 360-450km range. The release of the VW ID3 late last year & ID4 this year, which has range options from 450-530km and tech far superior to the i3. Then there is Tech. Autonomous driving is fast becoming a standard, thanks to Tesla, VW, Audi, Polestar, Mercedes etc. While not a competitor to the i3, the i3 is fast becoming out tech'ed and out ranged, probably faster than expected just 2 years ago. Also most buyers want an EV that looks like a "normal" car, these futuristic designed EV's that came out 5-8 years ago are no longer interesting, there is no "statement" to be made anymore that you drive an EV. People just want a car. Not sure what the situation is elsewhere, but from mid-2020, i3's were sold heavily discounted in Norway, almost 25% down on the list price. My 2020 i3s was 35.000 euros, spec'ed to my desire (fully loaded), if I build the same car on the BMW website, its 44.000 Euros, 45.000 with the winter tire package, which is about the same as the ID3. I think BMW see that the i3 will not be competitive much longer, sales will drop and to update the car to match the competition, will cost too much just to keep the car on the market an extra 1-2 years. From a business perspective it makes sense to cut the model short and focus on the new models.
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03-28-2021, 12:30 AM | #7 |
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Usually every new vehicle has a shelf life of 8 or so years, 4 years then LCI for another 4 years then followed with a complete redesign.
Their are some outliers like the F15 X5 was replaced with a completely new platform within 5 years with a model run from 2014 to 2018. So if the i3 lasted since 2013 to 2021 then technically it's had a full life cycle. I think that's a good thing. Let the sun set and then create new and better models. The i3 and I8 where a design concepts brought to reality and was started back near 2000 so it's been in development for a long long time. Any more years beyond that is just a testament to itself and that it was able to run a full 8 years without much advancement. Tesla may have been first by a year or so but bmw took a more complicated approach, to Tesla's credit they where able to put the electric car on the map and appeal to the masses. And the market is where it's at because of it and showing their is a demand for something new. Hey Apple didn't create the first MP3 player either but they made it appeal to the masses and changed the world for small electronics because of it. It's easier for a young company to cut through red tape faster than old big companies as well so they have a faster reaction speed to the world around them. I don't think bmw has to apologize for the I brand, it served it's purpose and allowed the development of low cost mass production carbon and green tech with their factories. To new horizons ! |
03-28-2021, 06:28 AM | #8 | |
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8 Years has bee the "norm". Tesla was much earlier with the Tesla Roadster, basically an electrified Lotus Elise, must have been before 2010. Tesla did good, I assume they took a combination of the American needs and decided to push technology as well. Hence why we got the Tesla S in 2012/13 with 400+km range, huge touch screens and later automation. BMW and other EU brands saw the EV's as "city cars", so range was not a priority. The focus was to make them small and practical with a "green" image. So you got small practical cars with 120-140km rage, futuristic looks and low tech. Then things changed and the EV's, again much thanks to Tesla S & X, were to become an actual alternative to a regular car. Then you got cars like the Merc EQC, Audi eTron, Polestar 2, iX3, iX and now i4. I guess many will enjoy these cars for years to come, just because you cant buy a new one doesn't mean the car is gone
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03-28-2021, 08:56 AM | #9 | ||
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I was referring to the bmw mini E program witch then turned to the bmw 1 series E program that started back in 2008. They where every day cars that where electric but they where test beds for the public but as such you could only lease. They where all precursors for the I program to learn habits of the electric car drivers and their practical needs. It takes years for these programs to become real so that's what I had meant by it started around 2000 and technically beat the Tesla roadster but that was also could be seen as a pet project and not a main stream car. I still credit Tesla with being the first to market with a viable all encompassing mass product appeal. Now bmw has had electric cars over their history that where technically every day cars like the Tesla S and where not at all crazy future toys but they where nothing really more than pet projects. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bus...s-2016-5%3famp |
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03-28-2021, 03:15 PM | #10 | |
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While I will never own a Tesla, I do appreciate what they have done to EV's and force other manufacturers to up their game. Will be interesting to see if EV's are the future, or a stepping stone to a new technology. in 2020 Norway, as the first county in the world, more than 50% of new cars sold were EV's. I think we are close to 10% of all cars on the road being EV's now, over 26.000 i3's, so I typically see dosens of them every time I'm out driving.
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03-28-2021, 05:39 PM | #11 | ||
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Only a few could lease it however. Again these where more public testing. . I hate the whole direction the new minis are going. Their so busy . I still have my R53..... never will let that one go. |
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03-29-2021, 04:20 PM | #12 | |
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Always liked the minis, great fun to drive. Lease is not very common here, people buy their cars. Lease is typical for i.e company cars, only a few people do it, I guess most people see it as "money down the drain". You make a downpayment to start with, then a fixed monthly amount, and after 3 years you hand the car back and have nothing, and possibly an extra bill for wear and tear, small damage and having put too many miles on it. While if you buy it, you make an initial loan downpayment, then pay your loan every month, and when you sell it or trade it in, you tend to get your initial downpayment back that can be put into a new car. I guess it's all math in the end, but leasing cars is not a big thing over here.
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03-30-2021, 11:47 AM | #13 | ||
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I hear America is also the cheapest place to buy a Porsche lol. Most people around here tend to lease as they always have a new car and the payments are low, also if they buy the car by the time the cars paid off their ready fir a new car at that time so people here tend to lease. I on the other hand like you prefer to buy and keep. So I take care of em and treat them good and they last . |
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03-30-2021, 03:21 PM | #14 | |
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Our cars are a lot more expensive, typically 3 times that of the US, except EV's as they are tax free and pretty much cost the same as the rest of the world. All other cars have a 25% VAT tax on the price. Then there is tax on weight, Co2 and NoX emissions, and horsepower. Which make a new C8 Corvette Z51 cost $270.000 A new M5 about the same. A new Chevrolet Silverado 3.0 Diesel RST pick-up is $114.000 But back to leasing. Here you will usually make an initial downpayment, say $5000-10.000, that money is gone. The size of it will just make your monthly amount become lower. Then you pay maybe $300-600 a month for 3 years. Hand the car back in and have nothing, and possibly an extra bill because of paint scratches, parking dents and other minor cosmetic damage. To start a new lease, you need to have saved up another $5000-10.000 during those 3 years. Over here most people will rather put their $5000-10.000 into an initial loan down payment. Pay the same $300-600 a month, then trade in or sell the car, and they will typically get their $5000-10.000 back and can put that into a new car. BMW is currently offering a 3 year lease for the i3 with a medium sized equipment package. Initial downpayment is $7.700 Then $325 a month for 3 years, with a max mileage of 18.600mi/30.000km for those 3 years Total lease cost is $19.500. I paid $42.000 for my fully loaded i3s that I took delivery of in November 2020. I had an initial loan downpayment of $7.600 and pay $360 a month on my loan. My guess, is that I can sell my i3s in a year for at least $35.000, there is many similar 2019 i3s on the market now from $37.500-40.000, some with as much as 18.000mi on the clock. I'm quite confident I will get my initial downpayment back if I sell after 2 year or so, and all it will have cost me is the monthly loan payments of $8640. After 3 years I would probably get the downpayment back and the monthly payments amount to $12.960. Still $7000 less than leasing, and I don't have to worry about exceeding the max mileage, or pay for any damage when returning a leased car.
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03-31-2021, 07:51 AM | #15 | ||
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That's crazy! Yea the i3 incentives here are pretty crazy! I know locally some lease deals at least when I was in the market they where 1k down and $99 dollars a month. And the dealers are selling used ones for around 13 to 16k with 30k miles with a 5 year unlimited milage CPO warranty. Pretty crazy indeed. https://www.google.com/amp/s/insidee...per-month/amp/ |
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03-31-2021, 12:14 PM | #16 | |
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I had a job that took me around the world for 10 years, I have been in the US a few times as well, so I have seen how different things are around the world. Cars are not the only expensive thing. Go to McDonalds and a Big Mac combo will set you back $15, $20 if you supersize it. A single can of Coke is $2,5 in the supermarket, same is a Snickers bar. A gallon of fuel is $7 Norway is a "socialist" country. Among other things, it means that the wages are quite equal, or the gap between the lowest paid and the highest paid is relatively low. A waitress or a cashier in a supermarket will make $25-40.000 a year, so no need to live off tipping or having several jobs, a nurse will make $40-50.000. The average annual wage in the country was $64.000 in 2020. On the flip side, CEO's are paid far less than in the US. The highest paid CEO's on the country are paid $2-2,5M, not $20-30-40M as in the US. I don't care what you do, No-one! is worth 20 million dollars a year. Even our Prime Minister is paid "just" $160.000 a year. We also have a lot of taxes, everything you buy is taxed 25%. Typical income tax is 30-48% depending on income. So if you make $100.000 a year, the government will take around $40.000 of them. But we also have benefits, like free health care, schools up through college is free for all and universities cost $200 a semester. We also have very good social benefits. If I loose my job, I would get unemployment benefits, based off my income, of $2800 a month for 2 years. If I get injured, I will get benefits and be able to take education to change my profession in order to get a job where my injury will not matter. So yes, everything here is, from an outsider perspective, crazy expensive, but our wages are higher which kind of equal things out. As I said, two completely different economic worlds.
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03-31-2021, 05:36 PM | #17 | ||
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I appreciate the perspective . Yea we have our issues here definitely ! |
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04-04-2021, 12:35 PM | #18 |
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Unless I'm mistaken, EOP in this context is for the current model year. So MY2021 EOP is 6/22, which is around the time when BMW cuts over to MY2022 on the production lines.
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04-10-2021, 12:24 AM | #19 | |
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Hoping we get a new generation i3. My lease is up at the end of the year. This is my 3rd i3 and I love the vehicle for it's size. It really is the perfect city car. The mini would be a contender but the range is less than the i3 and less room, and more money. No, I'll pass on the Mini. I'll buy a BMW iX I suppose. Though at the 80k-100k est. pricing its going to be a harder sell. The i3 being cheap make its an easy daily beater to have around. I've got the Rivian R1T Launch Edition on order. I'll play with that for a bit but with the size of it I doubt I'll use it for more than the occasional Home Depot run. I'm a little spoiled by the i3's size and practicality as a daily driver. If they make a next gen i3, I hope they keep the size. All I really want is better tech and nicer interior options. No blind spot monitoring is kind of a joke in a 21 model year car. I would hope we finally get dual zone climate, cooled, & power seats. Is a power tail gate too much to ask? Give me the options at least please. I'll check every box Last edited by TimeFor; 04-10-2021 at 12:34 AM.. |
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04-10-2021, 06:07 AM | #20 |
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BMW has normally had end of production in June.
No cars are made in August because of summer holidays and preparing the production line for the next years model. September is start of "next" year model, this has been the case for over 30 years. Hence the 6/22 EOP would mean the 2022 will be the last i3. BMW have in some cases deviated from the above mentioned "norm" though. My i3s was ordered in September 2020, manufactured in October and I took delivery in November. Normally, this would have been an MY2021, but BMW did not change their i3 production before later in the year, my car is still an MY2020, verified by the VIN numbers 10th character being an "L", MY2021 has an "M". When the MY2021 was released, several colors was NLA and some new ones were introduced. i.e my Melbourne red is no longer available and a new "gold" color was introduced, reminds me of the old Phoenix Yellow you got on the E46's.
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04-10-2021, 10:57 AM | #21 |
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I think the carbon fiber body component experiment is done for now -- hence the end of i3 production in 2022.
My current plan is to order one of the last i3s BEV produced in June 2022 and lease it for 3 years. Once the lease is done, I'd expect BMWFS to offer a substantial discount on the purchase option. We were offered a $6k discount off of lease residual price for the last i3 REX we returned at the end of lease (in 2019). I'd guess that the discount relative to residual will have to be larger than $6k in 2025 when our lease would end - given the advances in the EV market. With a big enough discount, I'd be willing to purchase the 2022 i3s BEV in 2025. I, too, love the size and flexibility of the i3(s) -- the range is plenty for a local-only vehicle. |
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04-12-2021, 10:09 AM | #22 | |
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They would not sell the car to me for the 10K less that it was worth as per contract obligations so I ended up selling to my boss lol. 27k owed at end of 3 year term sold for 17k I guess every dealer is different. |
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