BMW i3 / Mini Cooper SE engine: faults and reliability

• i3 22 kWh gross battery (60 Ah) (2013–2017)

  2013–2017 · 170 hp

  With caution

  It is the oldest: the battery warranty will almost always have expired and the state of health (SoH) must be measured. The charging cases on the fiches-auto page involve cars from 2014 to 2016.^[1][7]

• i3 and i3s 33 kWh gross battery (94 Ah) (2016–2018)

  2016–2018 · 170–184 hp

  With caution

  Units built before October 2018 fall outside the 2022 cell campaign, but the 8-year or 160,000 km warranty has just expired or is about to: require a battery state-of-health report.^[2][7]

• i3 and i3s 42.2 kWh gross battery (120 Ah) (2019–2022)

  2019–2022 · 170–184 hp

  With caution

  This is the one that may be within the cell campaign (built 26/10/2018 to 31/08/2021) and still under battery warranty. Check against the chassis number that the defective module has been replaced.^[2][3]

• Mini Cooper SE F56, 135 kW motor (2020–2024)

  2020–2024 · 184 hp

  With caution

  The sources consulted record no motor faults or battery campaigns for this car. The i3 battery campaigns do not apply to it because it uses a different battery, but there is little data of its own: check the battery condition and the chassis-number campaigns anyway.^[3][5]

Buy: No known serious faults, or they have already been corrected, in this version. With caution: Worth buying if something specific is verified: history, a replaced part or a completed campaign. Avoid: High risk of a serious fault that is hard to check for or prevent.

1. 1Critical severityFrequency: OccasionalTraction batteryDefective cells in the high-voltage battery of the i3 from 2018 to 2021Yes: in October 2022 BMW launched a recall of the i3 built from 26/10/2018 to 31/08/2021 because a production defect in the winding of the cells' internal foils can overheat the modules and cause a fire. The defective module is replaced.
2. 2Medium severityFrequency: RareChargingFailure of the on-board charger and the charging port on the i3There are owner testimonies on fiches-auto.fr of a charger that stopped working after around 800 charges (120,000 km) on a 2014 i3, of a charging port that failed at 49,000 km (covered by warranty) and of a 2016 i3 REx that would not charge. These are isolated cases from a very small sample.
3. 3Medium severityFrequency: RarePower electronicsMotor electronics board (EME) built out of specificationIn 2019–2020 the DVSA recorded a recall of the i3 because the circuit board of the electric motor electronics (EME) was not built to specification; the unit is replaced. It affected 120 cars in the UK built between January and March 2019.

Severity colours: low, medium, high, critical. How we rate them

Manufacturer

BMW Group

Family

BMW i3 (I01)

Type

Electrical

Engine

Motor eléctrico síncrono en el eje trasero (125 kW, 137 kW en el i3s) con reductora de una marcha; el Mini Cooper SE monta un motor de 135 kW en el eje delantero

Battery

22–42.2 kWh

Power

170–184 hp

Peak torque

270 Nm

Production

2013–2022

Makes

BMW and Mini

Technical data^[4][5][6]

1. 2013–2017

   i3 22 kWh gross battery (60 Ah) (2013–2017)

   First version: 22 kWh gross battery (around 19 usable) and a 125 kW motor. Auto Express places it as the launch battery, and Wikipedia gives 22 kWh gross and 18.2 usable.^[4][7]

2. 2016–2018

   i3 and i3s 33 kWh gross battery (94 Ah) (2016–2018)

   33 kWh gross battery (27.2 usable), with more capacity per cell in the same space; BMW and Samsung SDI optimised the cell packs for it. In 2018 the 184 hp, 270 N·m i3s arrived.^[4]

3. 2019–2022

   i3 and i3s 42.2 kWh gross battery (120 Ah) (2019–2022)

   42.2 kWh gross battery (37.9 usable) and around 246 km of EPA range (more on WLTP). The range extender was withdrawn from Europe at this stage.^[4][7]

4. 2020–2024

   Mini Cooper SE F56, 135 kW motor (2020–2024)

   Front motor of 135 kW and 270 N·m taken from the i3, assembled as a module with the power electronics, and its own 32.6 kWh gross battery (28.9 usable).^[5][6]