BMW i3 Color Choices

Unfortunately the blue and white swirly camouflage cover will not be a factory option but owners are welcome to custom paint their i3 like this if they've grown fond of looking at it on the car for two years now! I'll pass.

There has been no official confirmation on what color options will be available on the i3 but rumors have been swirling lately as journalists have been given access to pre-production i3's to test drive on closed courses.

We've seen what I've identified as six different colors so far; two slivers, two grays, a white and a new color specifically made for the i3 identified by BMW as Solar Metallic Orange. That's not much of a wide variety but it's not to say BMW is holding back some for the launch.

Update 8/1/13: I was correct and these are the six color offerings for the i3. I updated the names to the reflect the correct names BMW has designated.

Laurel Gray

Andesite Silver

Ionic Silver

Solar Metallic Orange - Made specifically for the i3

Capparis White

I don't know the official names of the colors for any of these except for Solar Metallic Orange that BMW announced recently. What's your favorite color here and do you expect BMW is holding back on different color options?

Read More

A Nose By Any Other Name...

The production i3 added black V-shaped accents on both sides of the front bumper

Now that BMW is "showing some skin" on the i3 we're getting a peak at what's been under those swirly blue wraps for the past couple years. There haven't been too many surprises because it's appearing to be very similar to the i3 concept coupe' introduced at last years LA Auto Show - and we were told the production car would be very similar. One thing that does look oddly different is the nose.

On all the BMW-supplied press photos, the i3's nose has two rather large and distinct V-shaped areas that are not painted the same as the rest of the bumper. I'm not sure if this is the actual look the production car will have, or if it's just another ploy by BMW to obfuscate the true look. However if that's the case, why go through all the trouble of custom painting the bumper skins when they could have simply kept the lovely blue swirly camouflage we've all become so fond of, on the car to keep the bumper hidden.

I'm not particularly a fan of this new custom design and actually hope the production i3 goes back to the look of the two previous concepts where the entire bumper skin was painted the same color. What do you think? Do you like the new look or the painted look of the concept cars?

The original i3 concept car

The i3 concept coupe'

Edit: Hats off to Matthew who pointed out that when viewing the photo in high definition you can see the blackout V-shaped area is actually tape and in fact it's not even symmetrical(which is easy to see now that it was pointed out to me!) So I would imagine the production car will indeed have the same painted bumpers as the two concept cars do in the above pictures. Which I definitely think looks better.  :)

Edit #2: Matthew just posted a close up which clearly shows these areas are simply taped off:

Read More

BMW i3 on Display at the Welt

New BMW i3 sightings are occurring practically on a daily basis now. The latest was captured by blogautomobile, a French car blog which captures pictures of a white i3 parked under an artfully designed small solar canopy in front of the BMW Welt in Munich.

The nearly-naked i3 has limited camouflage covering only the belt-line and rear hatch area. It's pretty clear the rear side window they are hiding will have the same stream-flow design the i3 concept coupe has but it is still unclear what the rear hatch will look like. That and the interior are the only things we haven't been able to get good pictures of to date.

One thing to note is the wheels on the car are the flush "aero" wheels we've seen on i3's during road tests. I assumed these wheels were for testing purposes only but I'm beginning to think they may be the standard 19" wheels. I'm sure they are perfect for reducing drag, but I'm not too sure many buyers will appreciate the plain look. I know I'll be going for the wheel upgrade package if these are indeed the standard wheels. :)

 

Read More

i3 Pictures & Info Keep Coming

A nearly undisguised i3 with production wheels

I started this blog about 2 1/2 years ago and until recently I've had to scour the internet and reach out to contacts I have to get any morsel of i3 information I could. BMW had been exceptionally tight-lipped when it came to i3 information of any kind. In fact we are only a couple months from its official European launch and there is very little technical information available.

However as we approach the July 29th unveiling of the production we are now getting daily doses of 'spy' photographs, each one seemingly revealing more and more. The site gmotors.co.uk is responsible for grabbing the latest, and most revealing pictures posted here today. For the first time we see an i3 with production wheels driving on the roads. We did get a quick glimpse of these wheels (which I posted here back in April) when the car was apparently doing an advertising photo shoot. I really like these wheels but I don't know if they are the 19" standard wheels or the 20" wheels that will be optional. You can tell they are very flush with black painted inlets to give the appearance the spokes are thinner than the really are so there is minimum wind resistance, decreasing the drag they cause.

The second piece of interesting information I found today was from a blogger "Lisa The Car Addict" who was sitting in the BMW Welt just as a BMW "Product Genius" was walking by and talking about i3 & i8 Pricing. Here's what she had to say on her blog:


Hey Guys,
Right now I’m sitting inside the BMW Welt, killing time before my last final exam later and a “Product Genius” just walked by with a group of business men. Anddd, he also talked about the Prices .. 36000€ for the pure electric BMW i3 and 39000€ for BMW i3 with Range Extender. And 100000€ for the BMW i8. All base prices, of course.
So yes, the earlier “communicated” prices must be real
I also had a look at their recently installed quick charger for Electric Cars right in front of the BMW Welt at the Doppelkegel. Pictures of it later!
Enjoy your Day,
Lisa

A 36,000€ price for he i3 would be great, and much lower than most - including myself expect. For US pricing, most premium German manufacturers sell their cars for much less than they do in their home country, and it's usually "1 Dollar for 1 Euro" as opposed to adjusting for the Euro's higher value. So if Lisa's information is correct, the i3 could have a base MSRP in the US for $36,000! With the Federal Tax credit it could actually cost less than $30,000! I still have a hard time believing this will be the case and I'd hate to get everyone's hopes up only to be disappointed when a $42,000 MSRP is announced, but this is definitely intriguing news that I'll watch closely and report here as soon as any kind of pricing information becomes available.

Another mostly-revealed photo but this one has what hopefully are wheels used only for testing. If these are the standard wheels than I'm sure most people will opt to pay for the much nicer wheels in the above pictures. Perhaps that's BMW's plan to get you to spend another $1,500 or so for the upgrade! Offer hideous stock wheels so you have to buy the premium option ;)

Read More

BMW Slowly Undressing the i3

The most recent spy shots of the BMW i3 show more of the car than ever before, continuing the trend BMW has set of slowly exposing more and more of the car as we approach its official unveiling at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

A production-looking nose is spotted

When the very first spy shots were captured two years ago, the car looked very boxy and was completely covered in the blue and white swirly camouflage. It was also clear that BMW had even added fake panels under the "camo" to further obfuscate the real look. As time progressed the fake body panels were slowly dropped and now we are seeing what looks to be pre-production i3's during testing with parts of the body exposed as some of the camouflage has been removed. There was even one picture of what looks like the nose of a full production version i3 which was taken during a photo shoot in California recently.

BMW is still holding back on releasing much information on the car but we have learned a few things recently:

1) BMW will offer gas loaners for customers who need to drive further than their i3 will conveniently take them. The full details haven't been released like how many times per year you are offered the loaner or if there is any fee, time or mileage restriction. Can you take the loaner for a two week vacation on a 1,000 mile trip? Answers to these important questions are still unknown.

2) The optional range extender will not operate like Chevy Volt, allowing the driver to continue driving for hundreds of miles after the battery is exhausted without any noticeable difference. The details are still very unclear, but BMW had said the i3 will have reduced performance when in range extender mode. While BMW is quick to say the car will not be in any kind of "limp home" mode while utilizing the REx, it is not meant to extend your range on a daily basis. In fact Herbert Diess BMW’s global R&D chief was quoted saying “The range extender is not intended for daily use. It’s for situations when the driver needs to extend the range of the vehicle to reach the next charging station,” said Diess. “Therefore, the i3 probably won’t be the choice for customers with a need for an extended range.”

3) The i3 will first go on sale in Europe (November 16th has been rumored to be the launch date) and come to the US in late December. The first batch of i3's that do make it to the US will have the range extender option, as BMW expects the majority of the initial sales to have the option included. Although some i3's will arrive in late December, the speculation is that the official US launch will occur in early January when the car becomes widely available. 

Read More

F80 BMW M3 Prototype Wardrobe Malfunction

The brand new F80 BMW M3 Prototype is spied again out testing on the Nurburgring, we have seen many of these kinds pictures in the last few months. In the pictures below the 2014 BMW M3 Sedan Prototype with it's camouflage outfit suffers what appears to be a wardrobe malfunction revealing it's Passenger side Air Curtains, these Air Curtains is used feed and direct the air to cool down the brakes. A few more pics after the Jump. 

Read More