Greetings from Glenview, Illinois. I have a red 2018 i3 and I love the design. Will it be a cult classic that has prompted me to store it away to be resold in 40 years at a auction of rare/collectible cars? No. I will drive and enjoy mine to the fullest extent each and every day.
This is almost entirely an American problem. Outside the US, people have been exposed to a much larger variety of car designs. To be precise, we have seen the Fiat Multipla, and nothing less than that can be called "ugly".
Nice... I looked it up and I think the Multipla does indeed set the bar for oddly designed automobiles! Interestingly, regarding popular demand Vs designs for cars, I recently spoke to three different people in CA Bay Area in the last week & all said they will not buy a new Tesla due to the CEO's activities... May be interesting to see what happens with 1) Demand for other EV's available and 2) Whether it may be a very good time to pick up a used Tesla at rock bottom prices (if you are a contrarian) with recession looming, recent tech worker layoffs and people's recent revulsion towards the company. Thanks for the comment!
I think these will be remembered as something so odd, especially for a BMW, but I don't think they will ever be considered cool. Yes I do own one, I prefer to not be one of the pack, and these were made of; aluminium, carbon fibre and composites... As advanced as it was, I think they were trying to set a trend that the world was not ready or willing to adopt.
I am thinking that the side mirrors are a bigger impact than the grill. I have been thinking of testing a front air spoiler to see the impact on range as well. Thanks for the comment!
I really like the front and side of the I3, just not keen on the way they run the black to the bottom corners on the back, I've seen an I3 where they blacked out the entire rear which I think looks better but there are bound to be other ways to improve it. The face lift helps a little with the horizontal line making it seem not so skinny.
Overall the design has aged well in my view. The interior is still one of my all-time favorites (giga/lodge). My neighbor has a Tesla model 3 and he just bought a post facelift panda- the i3 really 'steals the show' in his driveway! There is probably more value in keeping the design as close to stock now (vintage?) rather than to try and do any extreme mods. Thanks for watching!
I love the look of my 2014 i3. Manufactures & people have a hard time leaving old style behind. Example: Front grills, Rims holes for cooling brakes, make solid dish wheels, wheel cut fenders for what? Make them covered. I regen stop 99% of the time. EV Brakes don’t need cooling. Unless is a racing ev.
We're buying the i4, and it really looks like a beaver because of the grille. But these forward designs grow on you quickly. The i3's trick doors could be considered less practical to get in/out of the back. Worse than a coupe with 2 doors? No, but more fiddly than designers probably anticipated. I understand the i3 is great handling, and has somewhat followed BMW's tradition of good dynamics. Unfortunately the shape made this non intuitive. In Europe, some compact cars have a very upright seating to support 4 passengers in an extremely short wheelbase. It's a sharp packaging compromise, though if folks were raised on minivans, SUVs, or crossovers, they'd never notice the upright angle of their calves when driving. If viewed from the side, the driver isn't sitting with legs and feet forward with your seat bottom close to the floor. Instead it's a far less sporty position like you're sitting on a 5 gallon bucket. This is one difference between a MINI Cooper and a BMW i3, though now with the MINI SE, they could be compared as sister cars. When you are seated closer to the roll center of the car, or even below it (Porsche, Lotus), your sense of road handling, and even your own body's contribution to roll center is better, i.e. more planted. You don't have to speed to feel this. It's just an inherently more sporty feeling at any speed. Our Fiat Abarth 500 has the upright seating and it really took away from the driving experience vs. our prior MINI. The American car industry's obsession with SUVs, crossovers, and pickups creates unnecessary frontal area due to this seating positioning and the taller roof that results. And since drag's a product of Cd and A, the attention paid to coefficient of drag is often lacking in also remarking on the frontal area or the extra space under the car floor. I didn't know it until I started studying recumbent tadpole pedal trikes and efficiency, but the air closest to the ground is less/unaffected by wind, vs. air highest above the ground. There is friction between air and ground, so lowering the whole package helps reduce real world wind drag. The number one turnoff for me on the i3 styling, and there are many, is the dropped level of the rear seating window. It may be functional, but it looks like a mistake to the eye. I understand those rear door windows are fixed too, which many owners might not have noticed during a test drive. So no HVAC or roll down windows for rear passengers.
All great points. My only addition would be that the upright seating (after having this car and a more recumbent seat in a Mercedes C320) is something I prefer as I get older! Much easier to get in/out of the i3 without incurring back pain! Thanks for the comments.
Function over Form. 60 years ago, many considered the VW Microbus ugly: -too narrow -slow -too tall -small wheels. -no fins 6 decades later, people are bidding up these vans into the +$100,000 range. i3 doesn't have "classic" proportions either, but like the Microbus, very little of it is without purpose. It will stand the test of time.
I agree. You can tell that some thought of purpose went into the design (with the exception of the grill... brand identification is only technical purpose I can see!) Thanks for the comments.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Greetings from Glenview, Illinois. I have a red 2018 i3 and I love the design. Will it be a cult classic that has prompted me to store it away to be resold in 40 years at a auction of rare/collectible cars? No. I will drive and enjoy mine to the fullest extent each and every day.
This is almost entirely an American problem. Outside the US, people have been exposed to a much larger variety of car designs. To be precise, we have seen the Fiat Multipla, and nothing less than that can be called "ugly".
Nice... I looked it up and I think the Multipla does indeed set the bar for oddly designed automobiles! Interestingly, regarding popular demand Vs designs for cars, I recently spoke to three different people in CA Bay Area in the last week & all said they will not buy a new Tesla due to the CEO's activities... May be interesting to see what happens with 1) Demand for other EV's available and 2) Whether it may be a very good time to pick up a used Tesla at rock bottom prices (if you are a contrarian) with recession looming, recent tech worker layoffs and people's recent revulsion towards the company. Thanks for the comment!
I think these will be remembered as something so odd, especially for a BMW, but I don't think they will ever be considered cool. Yes I do own one, I prefer to not be one of the pack, and these were made of; aluminium, carbon fibre and composites... As advanced as it was, I think they were trying to set a trend that the world was not ready or willing to adopt.
Can we 3d print to eliminate the fake grill and add to it something smoother, decrease drag.
I am thinking that the side mirrors are a bigger impact than the grill. I have been thinking of testing a front air spoiler to see the impact on range as well. Thanks for the comment!
I really like the front and side of the I3, just not keen on the way they run the black to the bottom corners on the back, I've seen an I3 where they blacked out the entire rear which I think looks better but there are bound to be other ways to improve it. The face lift helps a little with the horizontal line making it seem not so skinny.
Overall the design has aged well in my view. The interior is still one of my all-time favorites (giga/lodge). My neighbor has a Tesla model 3 and he just bought a post facelift panda- the i3 really 'steals the show' in his driveway! There is probably more value in keeping the design as close to stock now (vintage?) rather than to try and do any extreme mods. Thanks for watching!
I love the look of my 2014 i3.
Manufactures & people have a hard time leaving old style behind.
Example: Front grills, Rims holes for cooling brakes, make solid dish wheels, wheel cut fenders for what? Make them covered.
I regen stop 99% of the time. EV Brakes don’t need cooling. Unless is a racing ev.
We're buying the i4, and it really looks like a beaver because of the grille. But these forward designs grow on you quickly. The i3's trick doors could be considered less practical to get in/out of the back. Worse than a coupe with 2 doors? No, but more fiddly than designers probably anticipated.
I understand the i3 is great handling, and has somewhat followed BMW's tradition of good dynamics. Unfortunately the shape made this non intuitive.
In Europe, some compact cars have a very upright seating to support 4 passengers in an extremely short wheelbase. It's a sharp packaging compromise, though if folks were raised on minivans, SUVs, or crossovers, they'd never notice the upright angle of their calves when driving. If viewed from the side, the driver isn't sitting with legs and feet forward with your seat bottom close to the floor. Instead it's a far less sporty position like you're sitting on a 5 gallon bucket. This is one difference between a MINI Cooper and a BMW i3, though now with the MINI SE, they could be compared as sister cars. When you are seated closer to the roll center of the car, or even below it (Porsche, Lotus), your sense of road handling, and even your own body's contribution to roll center is better, i.e. more planted. You don't have to speed to feel this. It's just an inherently more sporty feeling at any speed. Our Fiat Abarth 500 has the upright seating and it really took away from the driving experience vs. our prior MINI.
The American car industry's obsession with SUVs, crossovers, and pickups creates unnecessary frontal area due to this seating positioning and the taller roof that results. And since drag's a product of Cd and A, the attention paid to coefficient of drag is often lacking in also remarking on the frontal area or the extra space under the car floor.
I didn't know it until I started studying recumbent tadpole pedal trikes and efficiency, but the air closest to the ground is less/unaffected by wind, vs. air highest above the ground. There is friction between air and ground, so lowering the whole package helps reduce real world wind drag.
The number one turnoff for me on the i3 styling, and there are many, is the dropped level of the rear seating window. It may be functional, but it looks like a mistake to the eye. I understand those rear door windows are fixed too, which many owners might not have noticed during a test drive. So no HVAC or roll down windows for rear passengers.
All great points. My only addition would be that the upright seating (after having this car and a more recumbent seat in a Mercedes C320) is something I prefer as I get older! Much easier to get in/out of the i3 without incurring back pain! Thanks for the comments.
Function over Form.
60 years ago, many considered the VW Microbus ugly:
-too narrow
-slow
-too tall
-small wheels.
-no fins
6 decades later, people are bidding up these vans into the +$100,000 range.
i3 doesn't have "classic" proportions either, but like the Microbus, very little of it is without purpose. It will stand the test of time.
I agree. You can tell that some thought of purpose went into the design (with the exception of the grill... brand identification is only technical purpose I can see!) Thanks for the comments.
The i3 is designed as a city car, can anyone name another city car that is not ugly? I do own an i3