XSeries-forum

Having been told that the almost 3 year old i4 M50 is pretty much worthless, or at least worth less then expected, I’m chopping it in almost a year early. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fantastic car and its performance is just incredible. I’ll definitely miss it. The stated 300 mile range of course only exists in the summer, with the current range on a full charge being nearer 230-240. Of course you don’t run at full charge because that’s supposed to be bad for the battery, so you run between 10% & 80%. Kinda drops the range somewhat.

Any, we’re both convinced about staying electric, and now BMW have introduced the Neue Klass with greater efficiency motors and a completely new battery deign, I’ve gone ahead and ordered the launch model, the iX3 MSport Pro. It doesn’t gave the brutal acceleration of the M50, but then I’ve never used all 544bhp, as running the 475bhp ‘standard’ power is just fine.

The iX3 is still a dual motor, 467bhp set up, and now offers 500 miles of range. That makes it much more interesting. It does bring my outlaws into range with a single charge (good, or bad!). It also offered Vehicle 2 Grid and Vehicle 2 Load. In theory this anllows exporting power back into the grid as with solar/battery power, or running 230V powered items straight off the car, it could also act as a home battery. My Powerwall 3 is 13.5kWh and runs the house for 12-15 hours. The iX3 battery is 108kWh. The iX3 NK is also £12k cheaper than the current 2WD, 240-mile ranged iX3.

Not even seen or sat in, let alone driven one yet (there aren’t any test cars in the UK yet. Have agreed with the Dealer that if we don’t like it then we hang into the M50 for another year and go on looking. It’s about the size of the original E53 if you need a reference. I’ll see the real thing in a couple of days, so for now images from the BMW Configurator is all that’s available.

Current spec looks like this (and the look is a little different than of late):
Rumour is that there will be an M Performance version launched later this year, but it will likely be a LOT more expensive and has mad amounts of power (could be 700bhp or more).

If you’re wondering why the values have dropped, it’s because cars like the new BMW NK family have much greater range, cheap Chinese cars are here and used EVs are still an unknown, even if the batteries will last longer than the car itself]. Almost all EVs still need main dealer support (although my local Indy will now service & repair BMW EVs). If you bottom out an EV and dent the battery pack, that may write the car off. Repairing traction batteries is a specialist (and expensive) undertaking. Costs similar to replacing a broken engine.

Its the tied to the dealer forever cost secondhand buyers are afraid of , it makes running one of these out of warranty a very risky affair and batteries seem to be the least of potential buyers worries . Isn't it mad how in three years this generation car is now obsolete ! that's progress for you .
They could make the batteries up of repairable chunks to allow repair at a reasonable cost if they wanted but they don't what that , they want them gone so they can shift the next lot of new metal
The supercar performance at a more reasonable cost and being far more practical though are major plus points

Frustratingly, BMWs current (as in not the NK) cars all use modular batteries that allow a single cell failure within a module (my i4 has 8 modules) to be replaced. You simply (if only!) drop the battery, replace the module with a remanufactured one from BMW, run the software to equalise the charge level between modules and job done.

The NK batteries use cylindrical cell packs and it’s not so simple. At least BMW are not filling their pack with what appears to be PU foam as used by other manufacturers (thus rendering their packs non-serviceable outside the specialist OEM repair facility) so repair is at least possible.

I’m sure that given time, non-OEM repair will become more of a reality, but the specialist tooling, procedures and software mean that for now there remain very few who have taken that chance. My own Indy has spent a small fortune on the right kit, but will only work on BMW/Mini.

In three years my M50 has lost almost 2/3rds of its original cost - according to the Dealer anyway - hence being advised to hand it back and walk away. I will keep an eye in it though when it appears in the dealer network. It might go to auction though it has less than 33k miles (will hit around 37k at hand back).

Its not the best looking car in my opinion

Like Laptops and Mobile phones did, EV technology moves forward at an alarming pace reliability, range are way beyond 5 years ago and advancing almost daily.
There are 2 issues that hold me back (a neighbours Tesla experience here) (1) if you can charge at home they are very cost effective, however if you have to use public chargers they can be as expensive or more so than Petrol/Diesel (2) Long term when ICE engines are gone (at my age I may not be affected) Currently Fuel Duty alone raises around £25b plus VED £9b for the treasury no matter who or what colour the Government are they won't give that up. I expect that when EV ownership runs beyond a 1/3rd of registrations there will be a massive reset £££ for EV owners

We’re going to be paying via the annual mileage supplement from 2028. £0.03p/mile. It’s still less than the amount of tax on petrol/diesel and I understand why they are doing it.

I’m very lucky in that I have never used public charging as I’ve never been far enough from home to need it, but yes some forecourts/charging stations are charging frankly obscene amounts per kWh. The worst I have come across (but not used) is £0.87p/kWh. That’s £73 for 300 miles. Fully refuelling the X6 for double that distance is about double the cost - probably more given the situation in the Gulf.

Charging at home for 300 miles is currently £5.76.

Not bad for a fiver

My neighbour with the Tesla has the same experience his business is in Brighton, commuting he charges it normally once a week rare if he needs more. His wife has a Lexus 450h (she loves and won't give up) they use for long trips

As I’ve just retired (it’s a strange feeling after 48 years) my wife still needs to get to work (we worked for the same employer) and did not want to run her 21 year old E46, she’s just bought a 6-month old ex-BMW fleet U11 iX1 x30 MSport. Of course her being her, it’s got almost all the toys fitted, other than power seats and a sunroof. Every other option was added by BMW UK.

It’s not bad. Just over 300bhp and ~270 miles of range with a 65kWh battery. It’s quite roomy as well. It feels to be around the size of the 2nd generation X3. BMWs have all grown over the years and I think the new iX3 is not far short of the original (and still best looking IMHO) E53 X5 model.

She had been looking at a new Renault 5 EV, but given the 30% discount on this nearly new, and MUCH better car, together with a good interest rate offer from BMW it was a no brainer. So we’re now a two-EV family.

Congrats on being retired and even better your wife isn't yet so you can do as you please for a while so make the most of it as it won't last The R5 is in big demand so will maybe fair better depeciation wise but who knows