It took me years to decide to part with my “Holy Grail” gold BMW i3, and when I did, I had this overwhelming concern: Given that I would never find this exact-spec car ever again, would I regret my decision? Well, it’s been several months now since that 2021 i3S left my life, and somehow… I actually prefer my cheap 2014. Here’s why.
A bit of a recap: I bought the ultimate BMW i3 back in 2024. I paid $30,000 plus shipping from the East Coast, I put tint and PPF on it, and I planned to keep the car forever. I even brought my child home from the hospital in it. As time went on and the realities of family life became clearer, I began to think that my commuter should not be the most expensive vehicle in our household, not only because it’s going to get beaten up in LA traffic, but because I felt bad driving a depreciating car when those funds could better be used to support my family. Factoring in insurance, the delta over a 10-year span was over $40,000, and if you factor in the time-value of money, it’s well over $50 grand. Is this an entirely logical way of thinking? No. It would have been fine to drive a $30,000, reliable, efficient car, but I’ll always be cheap even if I co-own a business, and what’s more, being a father has only amplified that quality.
Anyway, I sold the 2021 i3 for $34,375, and I bought a 2014 i3 Electronaut Edition for $4,250. After a few months driving my vintage EV, it’s become quite clear to me: This was the right decision.
The Cheaper Car’s Cabin Is Actually A Little Nicer
You often hear car people talk about how the inside of a car is the most important place for an owner since that’s where they spend most of their time. While I think a car’s exterior styling matters too, since you’ll be seeing it all the time — in your driveway, in parking lots, etc. — I think there’s some truth to the idea that the cabin affects the driver more than the sheetmetal.
It’s for this reason that, when deciding to replace my 2021 BMW i3S Giga World with a cheaper i3, I refused to look at anything but Giga World cars with the Harman Kardon sound system. I was willing to make compromises on range and minor compromises on condition, but I was unwilling to compromise one of the things that makes the i3 so special: That amazing interior.
What I ended up realizing is, as far as the cabin, the 2021 BMW i3 was largely the same as the 2014, and overall, I actually slightly prefer the ’14.
For the 2014 model year, the i3 came on the scene and shocked everyone with beautiful wool and olive leaf-dyed seats, a eucalyptus dash, and interior trim made of a plant fiber called Kenaf. It was a sustainable interior using recycled bits and wood from a fast-growing tree, and it looked so amazing it won awards for design.
In 2018, the i3 received what BMW calls an “LCI,” which means Life Cycle Impulse (basically a mid-cycle update). This brought new exterior styling as well as a few updates to the interior. As far as the Giga World interior goes, changes were subtle. The leather became darker and duller, the armrests went from brown to white, and the cloth changed from a gray wool to a checkered pattern with black and orange stitching. It’s still nice, and some people actually prefer the update:
In my eyes, hopping into my 2014 BMW i3 reveals a vibrant leather that really pops in a way the updated interior does not. My 2014’s brown armrests and the gray wool give the whole design more contrast, and — if you consider the fact that my 2021 gold i3 had a useless wireless charger instead of a storage cubby, it lacked a compass in the mirror, and its fit and finish were worse — my cheap i3’s cabin is actually a tiny, tiny bit nicer place to spend time when compared to the 7 years-newer, top-dog i3 Holy Grail.
Which version of the BMW i3’s famous “Giga World” interior are you most fond of?
(Notice the slight change in leather color, change in armrest color, and change in fabric pattern). https://t.co/tUkNakP9Pm
— David Tracy (@davidntracy) June 4, 2024
What’s great about the Giga World interior is that it holds up quite well, so even though my 123,000-mile i3 has some imperfections (the slightly sagging headliner being the worst), it still looks like a million bucks (more on condition later).
The Cheaper Car Rides Nicer, Feels More Nimble
Then there are the driving dynamics. When I first bought my gold BMW i3S, I was a bit bothered by how its ride compared to that of the old 2014 I was getting rid of. Here’s what I wrote on an i3 owners’ forum:
I bought a 2021 BMW i3S Rex Giga because I thought it was the ultimate version of my favorite car. And yet, when I step into it after driving my 2014 BMW i3, it feels like just a worse driving experience. The handling doesn’t feel significantly better, the ride feels much worse, the steering radius is larger, the regen is less powerful and the car just feels heavier.
I’m wondering how much of this is 19″ wheels vs 21″ wheels. In any case, my plan was to sell my ’14, but when it comes down to it, I just prefer driving that car…
I wonder if that changes when I put slightly taller tires with more sidewall on them (Momos)… I’d love your thoughts.
The change in wheels to 20s from 19s is part of what contributed to the i3S’s brutal ride. Little gaps on the freeway — ones that left my 2014 unfazed — completely threw my 2021 for a loop, sending it pitching up and down, and leading to more cabin noise than I’d have liked.
Granted, the i3S offered some handling benefits; it wasn’t as roll-y in turns, and its wider stance and tires led to improved stability at high speeds. But those improvements don’t outweigh the compromised ride quality; what’s more, even though the i3S handles flatter, its heavier curb weight (by about 150 pounds) and wider tires make it feel less “chuck-able” around town.
That’s not to say the 2014 i3 rides well; no i3 does. But whereas my 2021 i3S rode so bad it was hard not to mention it, the i3’s ride is good enough that it’s just not an issue.
Overall, The 2014 Feels More ‘Pure’ To The i3’s Soul
Oftentimes, when a controversially styled vehicle reaches its mid-cycle refresh, its design gets sanitized. Look at the Jeep Cherokee KL, for example. Here’s how it looked when it debuted for 2014:
And here’s the redesign.
The Fiat Multipla, too, was sanitized from this:
To this:
The BMW i3 was called ugly by pretty much everyone when it debuted for the 2014 model year. Munro & Associates called it ugly, and even Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop reboot took a jab:
The 2014 to 2017 BMW i3 is a little dorky-looking, I’ll admit. A lot of that has to do with its silhouette, but some of that has to do with its upright profile and friendly face:
For 2018. BMW tried to make it look less dorky (i.e. to make it look more aggro) up front, replacing the round (but friendly) turn signals with horizontal cornering lights. Designers were clearly intent on trying to mask the vehicle’s verticality with this design.
Out back, the only change was a long piece of plastic horizontal strip that was clearly an afterthought, but also acts to try to mask the car’s upright look. Here’s the original design:
And here’s the update:
The S model of the i3, which came out alongside the LCI updates, lowered the ground clearance with shorter and stiffer springs, widened the stance, and widened the tires:
This results in less efficiency (in part due to wider tires, in part due to an extra count (0.01) added to the drag coefficient — the two are related) and a wider turning radius — two of the i3’s key traits that, in my opinion, are not worth compromising for added stability/cornering flatness, especially since it comes with a worse ride.
Most people will say the LCI i3 and especially the i3S are better looking than the OG i3, and I used to think so as well. But over time, I’ve come to adore the original, dorky design; this often happens as time goes on — the original intent is preferred to the sanitized version.
Yes, I realize the i3’s redesign was quite subtle, but people who are really into a car always have preferences on redesigns. (I strongly prefer early Jeep XJs to the 1997+ mid-cycle refresh).
My i3 Got A Brand New AC Compressor, Still Has A Warranty
Then there’s the condition side of things. My i3’s interior looks amazing; I replaced my rusty door speaker, which I suspected was left outside (there are no leaks in my roof/door seal, though I understand why readers would have guessed this); I just got some new, mint-condition door cards even though my existing ones only have minor issues; I bought a headliner; and I fixed the cracking wood dash with a bit of sanding and Teak Oil:
I also added Apple CarPlay, and plan to program AC preconditioning into my keyfob:
The interior of my 2014 i3 feels new, and it’s actually a slight improvement over the 2021 in terms of usability (again, because it has a mirror compass and lacks the useless wireless charger) and styling/build quality.
The battery range takes some getting used to. Whereas before, I could drive 130 miles on the highway before the gas range extender kicked in, now I can drive only 65 miles (the battery health is around 94%, based on the 17.6 Kapa max value when compared to the vehicle’s original 18.8 kWh when new). I can still narrowly get to work and back on a charge, but every now and then the range extender kicks in. For now, I’m fine with the range; maybe long term I’ll want more, but I’ll cross that bridge when it comes.
The Gold i3 was the prettier car, no doubt, and with 90,000 fewer miles on the clock and a better battery, it likely will outlast the gray car. But the 2014 still has 3 years and 27,000 miles left on its TZEV warranty, which covers pretty much all power electronics and the gasoline range extender. In fact, the warranty just scored me a fix for the #1 risk to any BMW i3’s life — a failed AC compressor, which is known to cause “The Black Death”:
With a fresh AC compressor and a small, but healthy battery, I suspect I should be able to drive this i3 for years without too much concern. By then, who knows what options will exist to pump that range figure up, or who knows what my situation will be or whether an i3 fits into my life. Right now, it does, and this particular i3 is my favorite one I’ve ever driven.
I wasn’t expecting it, but from behind the wheel, it actually offers a better driving experience than the car 8 times its price. Yes, the range drop, overall condition, age, and exterior design are technically downgrades, but when I drive this car day-to-day, it actually feels like an improved experience, especially since I don’t have to worry about scratching it, and especially since the overall quality seems higher and the content seems the same from inside the cabin (see video above). That’s not to say my gold i3 was a false Grail; it’s just moved on to being someone else’s Holy Grail.
Top graphic images: David Tracy
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