Cost of ownership for a ICE BMW

[vreihen16]

FYI, add $140 to my i3 ownership TCO for a new AUX-18L 12V accessory battery, plus $35 to the iPhone App Store for BimmerLink to register the new battery.....

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

I've been thinking about this. I see a majority of you own a BMW with a conventional engine.
To be honest, I've avoided owning a BMW because of hearing about the "maintenance" costs. I've always followed the mainstream and avoided BMWs because of this.

Now that I'm here. I want to ask. Is it really expensive to own and maintain your vehicles?

What do you consider expensive and high maintenance costs compared to owning a Nissan or Toyota?

My husband is on the fence on pre- ordering an iX. He's actually on the payment page about to fill it out and fork over the $1500 to preorder and configure his vehicle. 83K!! Damn.
He said that he doesn't want a gasoline powered BMW and the i3 seems to be a good choice for low maintenance. Except.. he wants a grown up i3

My two cents. BMW tunes their vehicles for fuel efficiency which means they run hot. The downside is that the constant heat cycling causes plastic parts/connectors to become brittle and break either on their own or during removal.

BMW parts, like Lexus, are expensive due to being a luxury vehicle combined with the comparatively low volume of units sold. It's also why labor rates are higher.

Thankfully BMWs are a dima-a-dozen in Atlanta so there are plenty of good Indy shops to choose from if you're too busy to DIY.

[Alfisti]

mental gymnastics? if you're asking me to plug in my car 7 times a week and unplug it 7 times, so 14 actions, vs fill it once o my way to work, i'll take the filling it once every time.

I have a vested interest in EV's taking off, I live closeish to a freeway, so the cleaner the local air the better for me but I see EV's as more of a PITA than ICE cars right now.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

mental gymnastics? if you're asking me to plug in my car 7 times a week and unplug it 7 times, so 14 actions, vs fill it once o my way to work, i'll take the filling it once every time.

I have a vested interest in EV's taking off, I live closeish to a freeway, so the cleaner the local air the better for me but I see EV's as more of a PITA than ICE cars right now.

Lol mental gymnastics. I need to scroll back to see who said that. Im going to use it later lol.
I guess every person has that one simple thing they just don't want to deal with no matter how simple it may seem to others.

I just reach over every 3 days and plug the thing in. It's like filling up a gas tank at home or at work
I like money
COVID work from home saved me gas money
Almost 1/2 gas money saved from lockdown went to my i3
Now I still got that $400/m coming in even driving to work
I'll suffer the small inconvenience of cord management, which was made easy with some overhead routing.

I wish I lived near the freeway but don't want the road noise.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

How on earth any of you in the USA can justify an electric car given how cheap your gas is, is beyond me. You must be doing an absolute SHIT TON of miles.

We are rapidly approaching $2 a litre ($8 gallon) for premium here.

I probably drive 25-30k miles a year. We have a lot of family we drive to visit that live 1,100 and 1,300 miles away from us. That along with the camping and climbing trips starts to add up.

[Alfisti]

If you're doing the miles then the math is the math plain and simple. I have said for a long time that the success of EV's is actually almost out of the hands of the EV industry, it's the price of gas that will drive demand.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

mental gymnastics? if you're asking me to plug in my car 7 times a week and unplug it 7 times, so 14 actions, vs fill it once o my way to work, i'll take the filling it once every time.

I have a vested interest in EV's taking off, I live closeish to a freeway, so the cleaner the local air the better for me but I see EV's as more of a PITA than ICE cars right now.

Yeah, gold medal gymnastics. I'm too lazy to do the math, but I'd bet just from a time perspective adding up all the time it takes to plug the car in 7 times per week wouldn't even add up to 1 gas station stop.

That's also assuming you plug it in every day which with the range on the Model 3 I could probably go weeks without plugin in with my normal driving. I plug it in everyday because, like flipping a light switch, I find the effort insignificant.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Yeah, gold medal gymnastics. I'm too lazy to do the math, but I'd bet just from a time perspective adding up all the time it takes to plug the car in 7 times per week wouldn't even add up to 1 gas station stop.

That's also assuming you plug it in every day which with the range on the Model 3 I could probably go weeks without plugin in with my normal driving. I plug it in everyday because, like flipping a light switch, I find the effort insignificant.

The time it takes to charge from empty battery is the only thing that sucks.
It does take planning with an EV. But….. that gas cash in my hands is worth it.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

The time it takes to charge from empty battery is the only thing that sucks.
It does take planning with an EV. But….. that gas cash in my hands is worth it.

With the i3 probably. It only has like 100 mile range or something like that no? Definitely an around town EV.

I leave the Model 3 to only charge to around 250 miles and never have an issue. I can go up to 300 if I wanted to, if I had a longer trip planned.

I have the cable to charge on 220 and I've only had to use it maybe once or twice when I was going on 2 long trips back to back. With that cable I get like 30 miles/hour charge so I'm more than good overnight. If I had a long commute or just drove a lot I would probably get a dedicated 50 amp outlet installed, but with my driving I have no need for it. Regular 110 is fine for me.

I did not buy it for the costs savings, more so I just wanted to try an EV. I buy and sell way too many cars and got bored during lockdowns and ended up getting the Model 3. Nothing else at the time was peaking my interest and I'd never had an EV so fuck it. Now I'm a believer, although I still need my vroom vroom.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

With the i3 probably. It only has like 100 mile range or something like that no? Definitely an around town EV.

I leave the Model 3 to only charge to around 250 miles and never have an issue. I can go up to 300 if I wanted to, if I had a longer trip planned.

I have the cable to charge on 220 and I've only had to use it maybe once or twice when I was going on 2 long trips back to back. With that cable I get like 30 miles/hour charge so I'm more than good overnight. If I had a long commute or just drove a lot I would probably get a dedicated 50 amp outlet installed, but with my driving I have no need for it. Regular 110 is fine for me.

I did not buy it for the costs savings, more so I just wanted to try an EV. I buy and sell way too many cars and got bored during lockdowns and ended up getting the Model 3. Nothing else at the time was peaking my interest and I'd never had an EV so fuck it. Now I'm a believer, although I still need my vroom vroom.

Nice model 3.

I get about 130 with the Rex.
At first, I thought I effed up. Was trying to be too cheap and was going to have the i3 for a month and give up.

Now… eff that.. I'm keeping this thing till i run it to the ground.
Car is awesome!

Ice is on standby.
My Jag XF gets driven every weekend
The dodge gets driven once a few weeks. On trickle charger.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Addbuyer

Quoted me £340 for an oil service which turned into £505 on the day because they said it needed a pollen filter as well. Next service is 12,000 miles or 12 months which will require the brakes bled as well so maybe looking at 1k

I can honestly say that BMW servicing costs more than Porsche

Holy hell! By pollen filter I am sure they mean cabin air filter?

You can do the oil change yourself along with the air filter for under $100 easy peasy.

Brakes are also pretty dang easy. I would 100% be learning to do stuff myself if I was you. My dealership costs were about 25% what you are quoting and I still wanted to just do it myself.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Addbuyer

Quoted me £340 for an oil service which turned into £505 on the day because they said it needed a pollen filter as well. Next service is 12,000 miles or 12 months which will require the brakes bled as well so maybe looking at 1k

I can honestly say that BMW servicing costs more than Porsche

That must be BMW in upscale Mayfair lol

[Alfisti]

It's the same here in Toronto, you drive into that dealership and you are not getting out for less than $500.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

The dodge gets driven once a few weeks. On trickle charger.

I put vanity plates on The Mighty Dodge back in June for that very reason:



Had to make a trip to work last Friday afternoon, so I took the truck to charge the batteries up after sitting parked since the July 4th weekend. The security guard at the gate noticed that my plate number had changed, and gave it a .....

[Addbuyer]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

That must be BMW in upscale Mayfair lol

Sytner Leicester

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

How on earth any of you in the USA can justify an electric car given how cheap your gas is, is beyond me. You must be doing an absolute SHIT TON of miles.

We are rapidly approaching $2 a litre ($8 gallon) for premium here.

It's not uncommon for an EV to be a second vehicle used only for commuting.

[Alfisti]

THat's where i see their future too, second car of household. Main car will either be ICE or Hybrid.

[vreihen16]

News from the Gulf of Mexico is that there will be another major disruption in gasoline supplies for the southeast and central states due to Hurricane Ida shutting things down.

It still takes ~30 seconds to plug in an EV, but now could take hours of waiting on line at whatever gas station still has fuel to fill up an ICE car.....

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

News from the Gulf of Mexico is that there will be another major disruption in gasoline supplies for the southeast and central states due to Hurricane Ida shutting things down.

It still takes ~30 seconds to plug in an EV, but now could take hours of waiting on line at whatever gas station still has fuel to fill up an ICE car.....

Just rub it in.. looool

I'm dying over here,

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

News from the Gulf of Mexico is that there will be another major disruption in gasoline supplies for the southeast and central states due to Hurricane Ida shutting things down.

It still takes ~30 seconds to plug in an EV, but now could take hours of waiting on line at whatever gas station still has fuel to fill up an ICE car.....

Yeah but I only have to wait a couple hours once per vehicle. You divide that hour by the number of ICE vehicles on the road on the equinox of 1982 then subtract the number of the beast and basically you're GAINING a few extra minutes to fill up sooo. ICE FTW!

But yeah this post reminded me mustang was running on fumes so went and filled it up. No lines yet. Went back and filled up the truck while I'm at it just in case.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Yeah but I only have to wait a couple hours once per vehicle. You divide that hour by the number of ICE vehicles on the road on the equinox of 1982 then subtract the number of the beast and basically you're GAINING a few extra minutes to fill up sooo. ICE FTW!

But yeah this post reminded me mustang was running on fumes so went and filled it up. No lines yet. Went back and filled up the truck while I'm at it just in case.

Yes filling up at a gas station is instant get it and go.

3 months ago, I drove around town with an near empty gas tank staring at bags on fuel pump handles.
3 months and 2 weeks later….i3 joined the home fleet.

Now….options….All my eggs in different baskets.
Like my phones.. Use iPhone daily… Android on standby SIM fits both…options.


Gas shortage? Bags on pumps?
No problem. I drive an EV.
Like most EV owners, we rarely run the battery down to flat E.
So… overnight charging at home works for the next workday..
Stopping and filling is faster than charging? Yep.
But I charge up at work or home anyway so we are like during a fuel shortage. No change.

If I just GOT to get somewhere while my EV is charging…. Options.. out comes the ICE to run around till charged.

EV breaks or being serviced? Options…Go to the ICE..

Power goes out overnight during EV charging?… Options…Go to the ICE

So, not a "Side leaner/chooser" about to fiercely argue into insults and heated cult flaming over which side is best like …….politics lol.

TWO VEHICLES IS ONE

ONE VEHICLE IS NONE

Always have options.. to get where I'm going if SHTF without being stuck looking dumb not making it to work because I chose "one side".

Gas shortage counts as SHTF..…
EV, and my daily commute AND TRAVEL ROUTINE remains the same.. I wave at gas pumps…but have that full tank ICE on standby…because…….options.

Both EV and ICE autos fail…… ??? 2 motorcycles in the fleet as well because……… options.. if I need to go…I effing go.. Yanked out the bike plenty of times….like stepping out the house to see a whole tree laying across the driveway with 30 min buffer zone to get to work to chair a meeting on a construction site..
Bike zipped right around it.. gone… made it.. done.

EV saves me gas money to fix up the ICEs
My BMW bike is thanking that i3 gas money for the upgraded brake rotors, fork, oil change, new front tire, new fuel lines.
:

Next option.. flying a got damn plane.. pilots license. I'm not playing.

[MsGoGoMoto]