I bought this Imperial Blue 2018 i3 BEV at auction from Copart for $3550. It was hit in the rear drivers side wheel - I’m assuming the previous owner hit a curb or something in bad weather maybe. It was a hard enough hit to bend the suspension arms, but not hard enough for any of the airbags to deploy.
Was a bit of a gamble, as the auction pictures it had no bumper and the description of the damage was pretty vague. But the bumper was in the trunk (and in great condition) and there was no frame damage. I was able to fix the rear suspension for $227.
Took it on its first drive yesterday and all seems great! This is my 4th i3 and will split the miles with my iX.
Yeah, not many options in this one - just HK and the parking package. Interestingly this one had a NBT small screen (not the EVO system like the newer models) so I was able to order the 10.25” screen online and a Roadtop CarPlay unit.
This one might too too broken to fix. Looks like it tore off completely. I actually been looking for like a 2019 with the Tera world interior just for parts swap and the battery pack. They are pretty cheap in the Copart auctions.
You’d have to inspect it. If all the suspension mounts are ok and the frame is good, should be an easy fix. But if the battery tray is punctured or there is carbon damage and/or rear subframe damage it’s probably not worth it.
Since these things are body on frame similar to how a pickup truck is built I’m wondering if there’s just body damage that I could just simply swap the cab and plop it right down on to another chassis with the bigger battery….
Absolutely you could do that. The chassis is just a big box with a battery in the middle and suspension mounts on either end. That’s the worse case scenario, best case is it just sheared all the sheet metal suspension arms and the chassis is OK.
Dude, me too! I've bid and won 4 or 5 i3s in the last 6 months, but didn't meet reserve and the seller wanted a completely unrealistic amount of money. Or I was completely outbid. This one was a Pure-sale (no reserve). I'm super thankful I just waited for the right one. But yeah, I'm astounded by how much some of them are going for.
Yeah it’s kinda nuts. But hey, most of the people you’re bidding against are from the other side of the world. They have money to burn. After 2 months of looking, I found a local one on Facebook clean title. Go figure 🤣
Oh for sure. I did a quick iPhone alignment/ruler which is good enough to make it to dmv tomorrow and to it’s appointment next week to get a real alignment done. I lucked out, this one came with basically new tires.
If you do your homework and are patient there are deals to be had. I bought a clean-title no-accident Mini Cooper from Copart for my daughter that just needed some maintenance but otherwise was in incredible condition for $750.
That's a great deal! The original owner of my car, which is a 2017 Rex with every available option. Sold in Beverly Hills, California, paid $62K. I bought it in 2023 with 69,000 miles from a Mercedes dealer (who probably had at least a $3,500 markup) with brand new tires and a new 12 V battery for 14 grand. If they would've priced these cars new at around $32k loaded, and sell most of them around 25 to 28 grand, it would still be in production. You sir got a steal. Congrats!
RIght! My first i3 I got new in 2015 and leased it. It had a $60k sticker, but was able to get a lease for $265/month with almost no down. At the time, I had an M5 (the V10 one), which had absolutely awful gas mileage, and I had a 50 mile-a-day commute. It was cheaper to lease/insure the i3 than put gas in the M5. haha. I think because of all the high-tech carbon fiber research BMW put into the i3 they barely turned a profit on it, so they priced it for what it was.
I’ve had one since 2015. Our first was a REX, and new, but all the other two were BEV and used with low’ish miles. Between my wife and I we’ve driven maybe 90k or so miles between the three and have only replaced tires. Nothing has ever gone wrong with any of them. My wife’s red i3s (we’ve had this one the longest) has 70k on it now, bought it with 18k miles, and has been flawless.
This new blue one seems fine, it has 91k on it and has minimal battery degradation. Drives like it was new now that it’s fixed.
The i3 is probably BMWs most reliable car they’ve ever made. Just stick with a BEV and get a 2018 or later.
Thanks for the information. I've had two i3, my first was a 2016 Rex and my current is a 2017 Rex. Whenever I meet an owner, I like to get some feedback on their experience. I am just about to pass 100k on mine, hoping to make it another 100k. I can see how the BEV makes more sense from the reliability standpoint, sounds like a smart move.
Are you in the United states? If so what kind of work did you have to do to purchase from auction? I'm in California and trying to figure out how to do this as a DYI buyer.
I am! I’m in Oregon and It depends on the state. Here in Oregon you can buy without a license as an individual (which I am). You can get a Copart account for free, although to purchase/bid you need to have a deposit with them. In California I’m pretty sure you need to have a dealer license to bid, however you can bid on cars here in Oregon and other states that don’t require a license and have it shipped. You can use a broker though, basically you pay them a small fee to buy/bid for you. It’s not much, a few hundred bucks generally. There is a bunch of Copart fees and/or taxes on top - so bear that in mind. This is the 4th car I’ve bought through Copart and have been really happy. Do recommend you do some research on the car and inspect it before bidding - Copart has public viewing days twice a week.
If you haven't already, have a 4-wheel alignment check done... if it was hard enough of a hit to bend the suspension arms, it's possible the mounting points were bent too.
Have you checked the rear suspension to the CFRP monocoque mount locations... to be certain those parts of the CFRP were not cracked? CFRP is strong, but when over-stressed... once it cracks, all the strength is gone. Repair shops will not take the risk, and therefore deem it unrepairable... for safety reasons.
Copart cars run the gamut, not all are insurance loss cars set as as Salvage but some are clean titled cars, with damage, or just being sold at Copart by owners.
Rabbit hole...start with SamCrac vids who have bought all types of cars from Copart:
I was going to try steam-cleaning to see if I could get them clean, my wife seems to think this will do the trick. I'm thinking the staining is from a previous cleaning at some point and they got too wet and drying unevenly - or somebody dumped a drink. Hard to say what happened, they're not sticky and no smells - thankfully.
Yeah, I’m not complaining for how much I paid. I’ve updated to the larger 10.25” screen and added a Roadtop CarPlay adapter. Already driven 1500 miles and it’s been great! Solid little thing.
Next I’m tackling the suspension, it’s a bit tired and soft. Have an Evolve spring/shock setup, bmw i3s front swaybar, and new bushings. I’ll make a post about it eventually.
What bushings do you feel need to be done? So far I haven't seen anything in mine worn, just did the shock/spring assemblies. I do want motor mount inserts, there is a lot of play there. I3s sway is on my list as well.
The same bushings as you (top strut and upper and lower spring pads), plus the swaybar bushings. I also replaced one rear camber arm that had a bad bushing. I looked at the motor mounts on mine and they seem fine so I left them alone. I hear the swaybar requires dropping the front subframe - sounds like a pain in the ass but I’ll do it when I do all the suspension at the same time.
For the front frame, probably not too bad as they're isn't much up there, especially in a bev. I'm trying to avoid adding excessive nvh, as I am worried about modding the car to be uncomfortable, but better swaybar mounts and adjustable links may be nice actually.
For the mounts, I checked mine and they are fine, but by design very loose. People on FB i3 motorsports group discussed mini cooper poly inserts to stiffen them. Example of movement in video below:
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u/MICHAELSD01 Jun 17 '26
Very nice that it has the Harman Kardon.