[328dabi]

Hello, my step son turns 18 next month and is looking to purchase his first car. He is dead set on a bmw. I told him I would pay half for his car as long as he earned it via good grades and hard work.

Rather then him buying a clapped out F30 or older E46 (not a fan of the E90 chassis) in the 8-12K range I thought about recommending an i3. Early lower mileage clean cars can be had for 10-12k from what I’ve been seeing.

Given the lower cost of ownership as far as fuel economy, the more up to date technology and safety features I’m now thinking we should find the best i3 we can for him. He’s very open to the idea. However I have very minimal experience with this vehicle outside of driving one for 2 weeks as a promo back in 2015 when I still worked for bmw.

Would appreciate if some owners could chime in on cost of ownership and reliability for the most part. What is the general consensus here? Would this be a wiser and better choice than say a clean e46 330xi sedan in the same price range or high mileage F30 320i xdrive.

Thank you for any feedback.

[Bobby Axelrod]

we just bought a low mileage 2017 i3 for my 16yr olds first car. the car is compact making it a little easier to drive. max range is about 120mi on a full charge but its more than plenty for a teenagers daily commute. the car is SOLID and has the feel of a BMW. as long as your teen is sold on the looks, its a fantastic first car.

[stressdoc]

i8 would be awesome