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The Battery warrant clearly meets the OLEV technical requirement for a grant, but what about the electric drive train?
It was not a requirement at the time of sale, only the 8 years battery warranty - that didn't have to include a capacity statement either.
 
The Battery warranty clearly meets the OLEV technical requirement for a grant, but what about the electric drive train?
Moot point but the Rex and generator are arguably nothing to do with the EV drive train. The EV would work without them in the same way it would work without the radio.

Trying to persuade OLEV that they should support you in making sure your EV can still burn petrol would be interesting to say the least :confused:
 
Moot point but the Rex and generator are arguably nothing to do with the EV drive train. The EV would work without them in the same way it would work without the radio.

Trying to persuade OLEV that they should support you in making sure your EV can still burn petrol would be interesting to say the least :confused:
OLEV does provide grants for PHEVs so the real question is ‘what components form part of the electric drive train’? That said, Jack implies that the OLEV technical eligibility criteria have changed.
 
Out-of-interest, would BMW’s Insured Warranty cover all the faults experienced by the OP? I only ask because like most insured warranties, BMW’s warranty has caveats.
I just remembered that my 3 year warranty on my 4 year old car includes a guaranteed MOT pass, so if the discs wear badly or springs break, etc., it is covered. BTW, is the range extender MOT emission checked as this might show up faulty injectors/cat stuff.

Further to the warranty, BMW say "All factory fitted mechanical and electrical components are covered, even the exhaust and battery." The 12V battery on the i3 is quite expensive to change, IIRC.

My extra 2 year dealer warranty mimics the BMW one, allegedly.
 
I just remembered that my 3 year warranty on my 4 year old car includes a guaranteed MOT pass, so if the discs wear badly or springs break, etc., it is covered. BTW, is the range extender MOT emission checked as this might show up faulty injectors/cat stuff.
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The REx wasn’t checked on the MOT that I had on my old i3. I think that these regulations apply:


The only vehicles that don’t have an emissions test as part of the MOT are:

  • vehicles with fewer than 4 wheels
  • those with 2-stroke engines
  • hybrid vehicles
  • quadricycles
Source: Gov.Uk
 
Huh,
They do check it in the US. I've seen a couple of reports of people having trouble.

If I was keeping the i3 past year 3, I'd be shelling out the big money for the BMW extended warranty. I don't trust Motor Easy to actually pay for a repair.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
Update:

1) BMW have just agreed to pay 100% of this latest repair, ie replace the REx electric machine

2) someone helpfully asked if the OLEV 5 year conditions applied. I wrote to them about this a year ago (before it was 5 years old!) and they never replied.

So..good for BMW acting decently.
 
Good news. I'm surprised they are paying for the entire repair. Good news nevertheless.


Keeping the car maintained by a BMW dealer helps with goodwill claims.
 
Update:

1) BMW have just agreed to pay 100% of this latest repair, ie replace the REx electric machine

2) someone helpfully asked if the OLEV 5 year conditions applied. I wrote to them about this a year ago (before it was 5 years old!) and they never replied.

So..good for BMW acting decently.
An excellent outcome. I know where to come for advice!
 
Discussion starter · #35 ·
1) I also wonder whether the work was carried out when under warranty
2) it has taken me a lot of letter writing to get this far
3) this is now the 3rd repair out of warranty. First one, BMW paid for parts, I paid for labour, last 2 BMW has paid for everything

My position remains that early adopters shouldn't be punished for helping manufacturers build their market share and iron out problems which weren't sufficiently researched by them ab initio.

As long as BMW are fair with me, I will buy more BMWs. If not, I have enough old cars to last me for the rest of my life and I will go back to driving highly polluting 1970s, 1980s or 1990s cars.
 
Hello all, I have a Dec 2013 i3 REx, well maintained and out of warranty 1 year ago.

To cut to the chase, how many people have had "electric machine" failures, ie where the generator attached to the REx has failed?

I wonder if BMW are trying to keep this quiet because there seem to be lots of stories swirling around.

In the last year, I've had many problems:

-new injectors and O2 sensor, despite maybe just 5,000 miles on the REx
-HV cable replacement
-fuel pump relay
-2 software updates with bugs which cause the charge indicator to be on max re-gen even when I'm accelerating!
-2 different "Drivetrain Error" problems which caused the REx to leave me stranded a number of times.

I would love to get a rough idea. Thank you
I have just had complete power failure with message of drivetrain on my BMWi3 from 2015. The dealership in Woolwich says that I have EME failure and they have quoted me a repair bill in excess of £10,000, but they also said that they are discussing with BMW Germany whether this issue is part of their recall for my car a few weeks ago which related to charging the car. Without a car at the moment of course and seriously shocked
 
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