Grey BMW i3, three-quarter front view

BMW i3

2014–2021 · 170-hp AC motor · 1-speed reduction gear · RWD
6.3 / 10
Involvement 4.0 / 10

Why 6.3: 170 hp and a one-speed reduction gear give it brisk, silent torque, but the real trick is the carbon-fiber tub: RWD, narrow tires, genuinely tossable in a way no other city EV bothers with. Values collapsed fast, so what's left is a cult of owners who use it exactly as designed.

Miles actually driven6.0
Bought to drive, not to flip7.5
Track-day sightingscontext · not scored0.2
Handling · CFRP tub, narrow RWD, i4 M50-adjacent city-EV cult7.4
Power-to-weight · sweet spot142 hp/t
170 hp · 1,195 kg

Layout

ELECTRIC · RWDbattery floore-motorrearFRONTREAR50 %50 %approx. static weight distribution

Natural habitat

AUTOBAHN3.5NORDSCHLEIFE3.0ALPS6.5at home

Ride comfort

5.51 · GT2 RS10 · S-Classpassive suspension, tall and softly tuned
DougScore 46 / 100Weekend 21/50 · Daily 25/502015 i3 · dougdemuro.com

Market value

Median asking price, good condition · €41k (2014) → €6k (2026), trending down · illustrative data

€6k€41k201420202026€6k

The long version

BMW spent carbon-fiber-supercar money engineering a city car nobody asked for, built an entire dedicated factory process around it, and the result depreciated like any other short-range first-generation EV — which is exactly why the ownership pattern flipped from novelty purchase to genuine daily-driver cult. RWD and a narrow track were unusual choices for a commuter EV, and BMW's chassis engineers used them properly, so what's left is oddly fun to drive fast around a roundabout. Nobody buys a decade-old i3 to flip it; the used-market price already did the flipping for them.

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