Photo: BMWi3.blogspot.com
We just ‘celebrated’ a month since the BMW i3 started being delivered across the US and the drivers are already experiencing issues with their cars. Truth be told, not all of them, but the problem is still upsetting nonetheless.
According to a recent post on BMWi3.blogspot.com, the Range Extended versions of the car are faced with the famed Check Engine Light error that usually shows up when ... the engine has a problem. Since the pure electric versions don’t have an internal combustion engine aboard, they are not faced with the same issue. However, when it comes to REx version, it’s a completely different story.
Reports show that the light comes on at what look like random intervals and doesn’t turn off if you just keep on driving the car or restart it. Apparently, only by going into the dealership you can actually get rid of the pesky light that gives most of us goosebumps every time we see it.
The dealers seem to have absolutely no answer as to what causes these issues. Furthermore, it seems to be occurring only on US versions as reports of the same error are missing in Europe, where both the EV and REx versions have been on sale for a considerable longer time.
That could mean that the differences between the European and US models create these fault codes. So what are they? Well, the fact that BMW had to change the fuel tank’s size from 2.4 gallons to 1.9 is one of them but that is unlikely to be the cause.
Other changes are related to small functional differences but they are unlikely to cause all these headaches. So, we’re still in the black about what could be triggering the CEL. To complicate things even further, if the light is on and the driver checks his vehicle’s status via iDrive, all parameters are shown as being ‘OK’. What’s the deal then?
According to a blog reader, the issue seems to be a difference in the temperature readout recorded by the internal combustion engine and the car’s systems.
“There are 2 common errors being generated. They have to do with the short run time that the Range Extender runs for potentially one of the first times in a while. The other one I got (have not heard from anyone else) was related to the Air conditioning compressor,” he said.
“To add on to some of the curiosity of the error, it has to do with a conflicting temperature that the range extender reports to the car's computer. And if it helps anyone out there, it will NOT go out by itself if you just drive the car a little more....or drive it until the range extender runs. It’s logged as a permanent Error code that can only be cleared using a tool or at the service department at BMW,” he added.
Now, if experience taught us anything is that BMW, with its own faults as it is, will be working non-stop to fix this bug, especially since it’s manifesting on a car as important as the i3. The only thing we have to do is wait for a fix. The new cars that are to be delivered soon are probably going to roll out with the aforementioned fix already installed.
Reports show that the light comes on at what look like random intervals and doesn’t turn off if you just keep on driving the car or restart it. Apparently, only by going into the dealership you can actually get rid of the pesky light that gives most of us goosebumps every time we see it.
The dealers seem to have absolutely no answer as to what causes these issues. Furthermore, it seems to be occurring only on US versions as reports of the same error are missing in Europe, where both the EV and REx versions have been on sale for a considerable longer time.
That could mean that the differences between the European and US models create these fault codes. So what are they? Well, the fact that BMW had to change the fuel tank’s size from 2.4 gallons to 1.9 is one of them but that is unlikely to be the cause.
Other changes are related to small functional differences but they are unlikely to cause all these headaches. So, we’re still in the black about what could be triggering the CEL. To complicate things even further, if the light is on and the driver checks his vehicle’s status via iDrive, all parameters are shown as being ‘OK’. What’s the deal then?
According to a blog reader, the issue seems to be a difference in the temperature readout recorded by the internal combustion engine and the car’s systems.
“There are 2 common errors being generated. They have to do with the short run time that the Range Extender runs for potentially one of the first times in a while. The other one I got (have not heard from anyone else) was related to the Air conditioning compressor,” he said.
“To add on to some of the curiosity of the error, it has to do with a conflicting temperature that the range extender reports to the car's computer. And if it helps anyone out there, it will NOT go out by itself if you just drive the car a little more....or drive it until the range extender runs. It’s logged as a permanent Error code that can only be cleared using a tool or at the service department at BMW,” he added.
Now, if experience taught us anything is that BMW, with its own faults as it is, will be working non-stop to fix this bug, especially since it’s manifesting on a car as important as the i3. The only thing we have to do is wait for a fix. The new cars that are to be delivered soon are probably going to roll out with the aforementioned fix already installed.
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