It has come to my attention that there is a SMOKING HOT deal on a BMW i3 here in California, and I’m struggling to resist it. I should, because $15,000 isn’t cheap, but it’s for a 2019 BMW i3, which has twice as big a battery as my 2014, yielding twice the EV-only range. I could probably sell mine for $10,000ish, but would it be worth it? Help me decide!
Apple Carplay, twice the range, roughly half the odometer mileage, the new fascia, a less-worn steering wheel — these are a few of the benefits I would get if I bought the 2019 BMW i3 for sale near me. I’d have to plunk down $15 large, which will be a hard pill to swallow, but I’d get a $1000 rebate from my power company, so that’d be $14,000 plus tax, probably bringing me to about $15,500. I could sell my current i3 for probably $10,500, so all in I’d probably have to drop $4 or 5 grand to get those benefits. Is it worth it?
It might be? I mean, look at this beautiful golden-brown carbon fiber range-extended electric car:
Here’s the interior:
I love my dark gray 2014, too, and I prefer both its 19-inch wheels and its Giga World interior to the 2019’s above:
In fact, I love the car so much, I just made this effusive Instagram reel:
View this post on Instagram
You’ll notice that my i3 has the bigger screen and Harman Kardon audio system. Really, when it comes to the interior, this 2019 would be a downgrade. But the cabin still looks cool, plus it has Apple Carplay and I guess I could swap the seats and door panels…
But I don’t really need 150 miles of range. My i3’s 70-80 miles gets the job done 99 percent of the time, and that once percent isn’t using so much fuel that spending $5 grand on the 2019 would pay off anytime in the next decade.
That said, my i3’s original battery only lasted 135,000 miles and nine years; if I plan to keep this car for a while (and I do), buying a 2019 could allow me to put off replacing a battery for at least another nine years. In truth, I think the 2019’s battery pack will last even longer, as it’s an improved chemistry.
But now we’re talking almost a decade in the future. Who knows what the world’s battery situation will look like then; maybe I should just hold onto my $4-5 grand, keep enjoying a car whose problems I’m familiar with (it’s pretty much problem-free), and Love The One I’m With?
But that bigger battery and Apple Carplay are so tempting.
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Images of 2019 i3: Facebook Marketplace
Well apple carplay / android auto is upgradable… the range, if you felt enough already, no need to upgrade imo
No, just no. The sales tax and registration penalties alone…
Nope. I feel like it’s bad juju to sell off such a tremendous stroke of warranty law loophole luck in such a fast, unceremonious way. Your i3 is YOUR i3. You love it, it has a cooler interior, and you acquisition of it was a bizarre and fun story.
Don’t be throwing your relationship with your i3 away just because a younger, prettier (doubtful on this even) i3 happened to roll it’s way into your line of sight.
Very much this. David, you need all the juju you can get.
I weighed this a fair bit: the “devil you know” with a fresh battery vs the newer model with a bigger, but older battery. Then there is newer modern BMW vs. older.
You can get a new steering wheel and a means of putting in Apple Carplay for a lot less than $5000. That is easy for a man of your wrenching talents.
You flat out state that you don’t need the extra range.
You prefer your interior.
So essentially, you would be spending $5k because you want something that, on the whole, you already have. Is it because you love a deal?
I know cars are an emotional thing, but from logical perspective, I can’t see why you would do this. If you really want to, and have the means, it’s your call. But think it through for a day or two, and see if it’s still a good idea when you’re done.
And if you have to talk yourself into doing it, don’t do it.
This isn’t really even a question. Hang onto your money.
The battery in your car was just replaced, so that should be good for 8-10 years. You would take forever to recoup $5000 in gas savings since you say you don’t normally exceed your electric range. So you get what, Apple CarPlay? I happen to love CarPlay but I don’t 5 large love it. Also, if you like the interior less on a new one don’t forget that’s where you spend your time.
The i3 you have now is a great story of how you worked the system and got a deal. The other i3 is just a car.
Seriously, if you want another electric car go convert the Metropolitan and have a really amazing and fun ride.
This is an easy “no.” You admit you really don’t need the extra range, and considering the battery in your 2014 is new, it should last you at least 10 years. By then the BEV landscape will be much different than today, and the 2019 will be just as outdated as the 2014. Instead, put that $5k into the Holy Grail, or plop it into an S&P 500 index fund.
Also, Apple Carplay isn’t that great.
If you can’t be with the one you love (Jeep), love the one you’re with (current I3).
Keep the good car and the story of how much of a steal it was with the battery swap.
I get the automotive wanderlust. I have two good cars, but I’ve been itchy on getting a different experience in my DD even though I’m not quite 2 years into ownership and it’s a fine car. But trying to be as rational as possible, I’m just not seeing the newer one as $5000 better than what you have.
Don’t you do it DT! You said it yourself right in the article.
Spend the $5000 on improving the Jeep-shaped cat shelter. Local kittens will thank you.
Keep your car! Even though it doesn’t have the greatest range, it does have a new battery, and at least you’re familiar with its other issues. Besides, it has such a cool interior, and I don’t care what my coworker says – it’s important to enjoy your daily driver! Also, upgrading to an aftermarket Carplay kit would make for a neat article.
$5000 can buy you another dozen rusted broken Jeeps. Why would you spend that one just one vehicle?
So..you want to spend $5000 extra to trade a brand new battery and a good interior for a 5-year-old battery and a less-good interior? Plus the headache of selling the old one?
That’s a terrible idea.
Also, what happened to the rust-loving guy who fretted over spending $120 for a full set of lift springs? Old David wouldn’t have even asked this type of question.
Don’t do it, IMO the one you have now looks better, and the battery is still new-new. if you really want CarPlay, don’t they have adapters for cheap?
I think the difference in life between the two would be negligible and not worth the cost, especially if the one you already have is meeting your needs range-wise. it sounds similar to buying a huge SUV or truck just for the 1% of time a year you need to move people or things in bulk.
If this one is out there, chances are a 2019 more similarly optioned to yours may come up in the near future in the same-ish price range. Maybe just hold that thought and wait on perfection.
Just ask your girlfriend what she thinks, and don’t fall for the, “I wouldn’t, but it’s up to you.” That means “no”.
Keep the posh and just swap the batteries?
Do it.
You said it yourself. You have no practical need for this. You don’t need the range. What does the new i3 give you beyond that?
Plus your i3 has a brand new battery. You should be all set for years.
In my view, if your current car is doing the job, than hang onto it… especially since you got a new battery installed.
Give it a few more years and that i3 you’re looking at will be even cheaper
Keep what you have, and that is a hard thing to say coming from someone who is constantly eying up a bigger better car. You just replaced the battery in the one you have for free I might add, and you will get your moneys worth out of the one you have. You want to pay $5k for 50ish miles and Apple Carplay?
Spend that $5k on parts for your current fleet. Say maybe a certain holy grail Jeep you are working on.
David, consider this an intervention: STOP BUYING CARS. We all know you won’t actually sell the old i3. You’ll just set it aside, claiming you’re going to use the battery pack as part of a conversion for one of your other cars, and then never do anything with it.
You are supposed to be fixing one of your Jeeps. You’ve already spent time buying another Jeep instead of wrenching on the Jeep you’re supposed to be fixing. Stop procrastinating and go work on your existing fleet.
You realise such sage advice just sounds like the teacher in Peanuts cartoons in his head, right?
You can add a car play module for a couple hundred dollars. There are a few videos detailing the process and a couple different makers of them. It would let you “wrench” on the i3 as well for more content. And the cats could help. We need more cat-opian updates and content.
If the Autopian is covering the bills, do the upgrade. If you have to pay for it, are there going to be enough profitable articles written about it to make up the difference?
If not, keep the perfectly nice i3 you currently own and enjoy having an extra $5k for an IRA.
IRA=Intensely Rusty AMCs.
Didn’t you just get a new battery for your 2015? Keep it and enjoy the better interior along with the extra $5K in your bank account.