EXTREMELY Frustrated with BMW and their support of Electric i3 owners

I am EXTREMELY frustrated with BMW at the moment to the point of never buying another car from them again!!!

I have been a BMW owner since I was 20 years old. I have owned 5 luxury BMW's over the years, but now, sadly, I am seriously thinking about calling it a day.

I was the first customer in Sandton (Sandton Auto) to buy the "then new" BMW i3 electric vehicle. I loved that car. I even traded in my M3 to buy it. I loved every minute of the experience in that car. Even today. This was 5 years ago. Over the years, the battery storage capacity has dropped as expected. But lately, it has gotten to a point that a trip from Sandton to Pretoria and back was very risky. I was informed when I bought the car, and recent investigation on the internet confirms, that BMW gives an 8 year warranty on the battery. What I was told (and subsequent discussions with BMW sales staff) was that BMW will replace or repair a battery within the 8 year warranty period if the capacity of the battery drops below 70%. That was one of my reasons to actually buy the car in the first place. I did not want to spend the huge amount of cash to buy the car only to have to buy a new battery in the near future.

When I bought the car, the battery was sold with a capacity of 21KWh. The standard size in those days. With a full charge, and reasonable driving style, it was easy to travel 140km before charging. That capacity has dropped after 5 years. I am now lucky to get 100km on a charge. The vehicle itself is reporting a battery capacity of 14.6KWh using its own electronics. That drop is 31%. So all I have now is 69% battery capacity.

I have taken it to Bryanston BMW, where tests were done, and the result is that BMW finds no fault with the battery. There may not be a fault, but the capacity of the battery is now below 70%. So if I am to believe what I was told when I bought the car, BMW should consider changing the battery as it is now below the threshold they have advertised.

I am having zero luck with BMW SA. I am at least hoping that this will perhaps shine some light on the problems one could be faced with when buying an electric vehicle form BMW.

I certainly will be...

This report notification was sent to BMW head office and Sandton Auto. I will be gobsmacked if someone responds.... I am aslo sending a copy of this to Carte Blanche. *** ***