2014 BMW i3

Some awesome things, some not so good.

Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 3 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 4

The electric I3 is at heart a great BMW car. It is fun to drive, roomy, handles well, and is quite stylish. The range is ok as long as you have a second gas powered car for trips because you're not taking this one anywhere out of town. The range is ok but you learn to change your operating style to maintain the charged batteries where you feel comfortable, for me I don't let it go below about 30% even with the REX. For an urban car its great for anywhere else, I'd think twice. I have had my car for nearly 1/2 year and generally like the car...would I buy another one? Maybe. Here's the rub: The technology is good but not great, the BMW i app that goes with the car is unimpressive; the ratings on the app store are surprisingly bad. It only has a few features that matter and those are pretty predictable. I'm really unimpressed with the integration with smart phone, I expected a lot more on an electric car (see TESLA). One would think, BMW Engineering would do a better job with an app on an all electric car. As to reliability: first, I had software problems with the entertainment system, the XM radio suddenly went dead. The car spent almost 10 days in the dealership while they tried to figure it out finally replacing just about everything...not good. Secondly the tires, this is the second set of Bridgestone's I've had problems with on a BMW. My first were the Bridgestone run flats on a previous late model M3, on that car I replaced 8 tires in 2.5 years for simple punctures. So far the i3 seems on track to beat that record. In 6 months I've already replaced 2 tires for simple punctures. (i3 has no spare) and the i3 are not run flat so the problem gets a whole lot worse. One would have thought that with no spare and no run flat, BMW would have required a highly reliable tire from Bridgestone...they didn't. So overall, a qualified recommend...urban car only, electronics and tire problems, weak mobile app but fun to drive, adequate range and peppy.