BMW i3 "Black Death" engineering fail

[VindictivePantz]

TLDR; the A/C compressor can fail, and the way it's configured can prevent the battery from being cooled with repair costs being $10k+.

Interesting read:
https://www.theautopian.com/how-the-black-death-can-destroy-a-bmw-i3-instantly-and-with-no-warning/

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[Maquis]

Lots of problems with their design. A normally benign AC compressor failure can leave debris lodged in the battery cooling passages resulting in a very expensive repair. I read of one case where a compressor failure resulted in complete battery replacement.

 

[Teslaeata]

Wouldn’t touch an i3 with yours ?

 

[MellowJohnny]

Audi is having the same (ish) issues on the Q4 e-tron. Compressor failure on my friend’s “fried the battery and a bunch of other modules“ (his words).

 

[VindictivePantz]

Audi is having the same (ish) issues on the Q4 e-tron. Compressor failure on my friend’s “fried the battery and a bunch of other modules“ (his words).

Ouch.

Both BMW and Audi (Volkswagen) sounds like they over-engineered by trying to be efficient.

 

[Alan]

My 5 year old i3, with a $16K-$17K book value had the AC compressor self destruct. The shrapnel flew right by the non-existent dryer trap that virtually all other cars have to help contain such events. The repair estimate was over $23K, confirmed at a second dealer. BMW was no help. Had BMW taken some responsibility for their terrible design and offered $16K trade for a new BMW I would probably still be driving a BMW. I got $8K trade for the “salvage” vehicle elsewhere, and will never own another BMW product.

 

[jeffMachE]

I had 2 different i3's. The first resulted in a buy-back that benefitted me greatly, so I ended up in a lease for the second. Loved the concept of the car, enjoyed driving it, but definitely had its quirks. didn't own either long enough to have the AC compressor disintegrate. I can say, anecdotally from other issues I had, that the car definitely was over-engineered/over-instrumented in a few cases.

However, it weighed just 2800 lbs (even with the Range Extender), could turn on a dime, and was pretty sporty. Great test/concept car, but was never going to become mainstream.

 

[ARK]

I thought the i3 was cool, BMW was very forward thinking when it came out in 2013. I wish they kept putting money into EVs in the mid 2010s. The i3 and i8 came out, and then nothing new for quite some time until I think the i4 in 2021.

I will semi give them a pass for a bad design since it was such an early EV, but I do feel for you guys who had such a colossal repair bill crop up unexpectedly.

 

[sukhoi_584th]

I thought the i3 was cool, BMW was very forward thinking when it came out in 2013. I wish they kept putting money into EVs in the mid 2010s. The i3 and i8 came out, and then nothing new for quite some time until I think the i4 in 2021.

I will semi give them a pass for a bad design since it was such an early EV, but I do feel for you guys who had such a colossal repair bill crop up unexpectedly.

I don't give them a pass. That failure mode should have come up immediately during a DFMEA with competent engineers.

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