The all-new 2018 BMW i3s is the Bavarians’ first ever Sport Edition of the i3. The i3s enhancements include the trifecta of increased power, improved handling and a more athletic appearance. The i3s has unique wider 20 inch wheels with performance summer tires, as well as a lowered and wider stance. The track has increased by 40 mm and ride height lowered by 10mm. Visually the i3 is most easily identified by its larger wheel arches and unique front and rear clips. The question remains, how does an i3s sporting chassis handle the winter?
We picked up our new 2018 Imperial Blue Metallic i3s on January 4th, right in the dead of winter. We opted for the Tera World with Brown Full Leather, plus the Technology and Driving Assistant Package. To top it off, we also went for the BMW i Blue Seatbelts, Harman Kardon Sound and Apple CarPlay, for a total MSRP of $56,445.
I knew on the short drive form the dealership to our house that this BMW had fixed one of my biggest complaints with the i3, namely this thing handles great on the highway! Instead of a tipsy feel, when at highway speeds and crosswinds, the 2018 i3s feels hunkered down and more planted. Cross winds no longer buffet the car about. As far as the Sport goes, the initial off the line acceleration feels no different than the 22kWh i3 BEV, however over 30mph the i3s really scoots. Though this is the same motor in the entire i3 line, the programing on the i3s allows more power where it can really help – on ramps and passing maneuvers.
Moving from a 2014 i3 to the 2018 i3s, BMW has increased the battery capacity from 22kWh to 33kWh. Interestingly BMW did this by simply using a higher 94 amp hour battery cell instead of 60 ah cells, so that the packaging of the i3’s battery did not need re-engineering.
EPA rated range has gone from 80 miles to 107 miles. So far in 1600 miles of driving in winter weather we are averaging 3.2 miles per kWh. I expect this to improve when the weather warms up, as batteries will be more efficient and wont be needed to heat up the cabin. Though just a slight bump up in range, the i3s is now more useful to us and definitely enjoy over 100 miles per charge. We even made a trip to a college town 45 miles away that we would not have been able to do in our old i3 without charging for the return trip. The DCFC charger is a nice bonus too because our old i3 did not have it. I can easily go well over 100 miles in a day if I hit the DC Charger for even just 15-20 min.
To heat the cabin, all i3 BEVs in the US have a fabulous heat pump style heater, plus heated seats that work great in the seriously cold weather. Unfortunately the new i3s is just as bad as our old i3 at fogging up the windows in the winter. Despite my desire not to run the heat much, I still have to cycle it on and off to clear the windows. Yes, I have air vent set to fresh air. Sadly no heated steering wheel is available and there is no option for heated seats in the rear. We keep a killer pair of winter gloves to cope with a steering wheel that will suck all your body heat out of you in the freezing weather otherwise.
Perhaps the biggest engineering hat trick in the i3s is how much better it handles putting the power down with its improved traction. The control system is 50-times-faster, thanks to the control process being calculated directly in the powertrain instead of in a remote unit that required long signal paths. This not only helps with power delivery but also when you are in brake energy regen mode and hit a bump. The old i3 would at this point give up and free wheel and you’d have to immediately nail the brake pedal.
No longer, in over 1600 miles, many winter potholes and bumps, I can’t get the back-end to give up under regen. It consistently slows the car in a very predictable fashion. This is, in my opinion, the way the i3 should have been all along. Accelerating in the snow the traction control is more refined. The old system was rather intrusive, this new system is more subtle and I can definitely tell it is making more interventions per second. This system is so good on the i3s that it is being rolled out across many more of BMW’s automobiles.
Next there is a new Sport Mode which sharpens throttle response and increases steering effort. As no extra power is delivered, there is no active dampening and no change in steering ratio, which I find I don’t use it at all, especially in the winter. Zero to 60 even when not in Sport Mode is still at a brisk 6.8 seconds for the pure electric i3s. For reference, the base 2018 i3 BEV 0-60 mph is 7.2 seconds. The i3s Sport Mode reminds me of when General Motors made their sports cars seem faster by feeding more gas per inch of pedal travel. When trying to control at car at limit a twitchy throttle is not really helpful especially in the winter.
In Europe, BMW dealers have access to BMW OEM 19 inch wheels that have the i3s’s unique offset and allow the 155/70/19” snow tires to be utilized and apparently are only available in black. No dice here in the United States currently as dealers don’t stock these wheels and no idea when they will get them. TireRack.com does not stock them either or know if or when they will. Further, Stock i3 BEV wheels don’t work either as the offset is wrong.
As the 2018 i3s just hit US Dealerships in January 2018, snow tires are not available for the stock 20 inch i3s wheels and winter wheel sets for the regular i3 will not fit. How do I know? Well, we just moved up from a 2014 BMW i3 BEV to the i3s, so I went to the garage and stuck the old snow tires and wheels on only to discover they rub! The rubbing was only in the front, but was enough that I could not install them.
The reason that the regular i3 snow wheel set rubs is because BMW used a 10mm wider offset in the front and 15mm in the rear to help them achieve the 40 mm of increased track width for improved handling. This unique offset on the i3s is why our dedicated 19 inch Rial wheels and snow tires we used on our 2014 i3 wont work. We managed to overcame all these issues, with, drumroll please, spacers from an aftermarket tuner, ECS.
BMW in Europe still recommends running the same size snow tires 155/70/19s, so fixing the offset was the only thing that needed to be able to use our old wheels and snow tires. Given the choice, though, I’d buy the correct wheels because using spacers requires different longer lugs and are sometimes tricky to install and torque correctly.
I’ve found the i3s to quite stable in the snow and ice. It seems the increase track width and lower center of gravity give it more sure footing. We have had several snow storms and three days of ice, and the improved stance – being lower and wider- was definitely noticeable in the poor conditions. As all i3 models are rear-wheel drive, traction is extremely important and why we definitely recommend snow tires. I love going around sport utes that are stuck in the slick stuff. It never gets old. The must look at the little quirky i3 and think how in the world is it making it up the hill and my all wheel drive truck is not!
The i3s comes with 20 inch performance summer tires, if you plan on driving in winter weather snow tires are a must. We’ve compared the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-500 to the Nokian Hakkapeliita R2 in the past and have driven extensively in the snow on them in a BMW i3. For a full review, see here. Both are excellent snow tires and will get you through most anything. I’ve found the Nokians are softer and better at ice than the Blizzaks. If you drive a lot on the snow and not much on pavement, the Nokians are our choice. If however, you have a lot of highway driving and less snow, the Blizzaks would last longer.
BMW charges only $3,200 to bump from an i3 up to an i3s. In a base i3, 20” wheels are a $1300 option. Given that BMW adds 20” wheel to the i3s package anyway, the real difference is only $1900 for more power, improved traction control and better suspension. To me, going to an i3s over an i3 represents one of the best values BMW offers. All in all, the i3s is turning out to cope quite well with winter now that we have a snow tire solution. The extra range has made day to day use less stressful and the handling is outstanding.
We look forward to keep racking up the miles and will report back.
Still can’t get over how quick these i3s are. The s must be something else… love ’em!
I have a 2017 i3. It does pretty well in the snow and ice.
I haven’t tried the i3S yet, but it seems like it fixes most of the gripes about then handling of the regular i3. It makes it how the i3 should’ve been. Some of these improvements are also found in the regular i3 too.
This article is just the info I was looking for. Live in the snowy northeast of the US. If I wanted to buy the spacers for the i3s to run the snow tires, what spacers should I get from ECS? Also, is that something any reputable tire installer could work with?
Chuch will reply shortly to you
To match the factory offset for BMW OEM winter wheels you’d need 15mm spacers. Yes any shop should be able to install for you. Just need to remember spacers require special lugs, which come w/ the spacers and to take those too.
Long explanation – vs the winter wheels I have – Rials from Tirerack. Factory offset is 10mm more front, 15mm more rear. As the front were the only ones that rubbed, I went w/ 10 mm spacers. So far in about 500 miles of winter driving w/ up to 3 people in car, no rubbing. To play it safe though, go w/ the ECS 15mm spacers and you for sure match BMW OEM winter wheels.
https://www.ecstuning.com/
Hi Chuck,
I am seriously considering buying the i3s over the regular i3 due to the handling properties as I drive a lot on freeways living in Toronto. Now the biggest problem is of course having a proper set of winter tires living in Toronto. My questions are as follows:
1) Will using the ecs 10mm spacers for front and 15mm spacer for rear cause the vehicle to handle out of spec, and potentially cause premature or unintended wear and tear on steering assembly or any wheel assembly parts in general over the long term?
2) Since I am not a handy person at home, do you think I can trust BMW dealership people to properly torque the spacers? Or any competent service person should be able to have enough common sense to torque the winter wheels on with the longer lugs properly? Owning a one off spec vehicle like i3s means I must learn to trust strangers to use best judgement if they never encountered a unique setup/sizing of a part.
3) Do you know if BMW or a vendor will sell the proper wheel size so that we won’t need spacers, along with the proper winter tire such as Blizzak to go with the proper wheel size?
Thank you in advance for your time, as this is the absolute last obstacle for me to decide if I should make the leap to the i3s. But without a true option to winterfy my tires, I may have to consider the regular i3.
Hi Chuck,
I found the recommended tires/wheels from the Canadian website, but I’m not sure if they are the correct wheels with the unique i3s offset.
This is my last barrier in my decision making to jump from i3 to i3s as I will be driving a lot on freeways and in winter living in Toronto.
If BMW Canada has bad/wrong information on recommending the tires as shown below in my screenshot, would using the 10mm/front & 15mm/rear spacers cause any unintended or quicker wear and tear on any parts such as bearings or steering?
Thank you in advance for your time.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d5cabaa1df8e2e76bbbf3759d89cbd492b85a08cb4ced76453425e9d1fb31128.png
Hi Nelson. I cant tell from screen shot if those are the correct wheels because they will look the same apart from the offset. If BMW Canada’s website says they fit, they should fit.
In my experience, dealers in the United States would not install anything that is aftermarket on a car. A good tire shop should be able to install the spacers if you need but hopefully BMW CA has the correct 19″ wheels for you.
The i3s w/ snow tires is a great vehicle in the snow. We love it!
Hey, I am finally re-reading this more carefully (since the snow tires were on 3 month back order at TireRack I JUST got them so I’m getting the rest of the pieces together). Is the summary of the above story and your comment:
I, Chuck, used 10 mm spacers up front only and no spacers in the back and that worked, but
I, Chuck, would recommend that you, Chris, use 15 mm spacers on all 4 wheels if you have that option.
Is that right?
Loving the i3s (Rex model) so far — it’s great for running around the Boston suburbs, but we’ve also manged some pretty long road trips (4 to 6 hours) with only minimal charging thanks to the Rex.
Thanks again for all the help!
Chris
Correct. I would recommend using 15mm spacers front/rear w/ the special lugs that come w/ them, if you cannot source original OEM 19″ wheels from BMW. This will allow you to match the OEM BMW European 19″ wheel used there for snows.
Great to hear about your i3s Rex. We are loving our i3s BEV as well. The extra range is so nice.
I know this is an old post, but I just bought a 2018 BMW i3s. I live in NJ and the winter months are here. Chuck, have you had any issues since installing the spacers? Did the spacers fit tightly against both the hub and wheel, or was there any play in them? When dry fitting my spacers against the my wheels, there is a very small amount of play. It is difficult to see the movement, but you can hear it. Of course, this is not bolted tight as I have not removed the OEM wheels yet.
I’ve had no issues with the ecs spacers and Rial wheels from tirerack. I have taken them on/off the i3s multiple times. If you bought correct spacers from ECS, I wouldnt be concerned w/ rattling when dry fitting them if they are not bolted down between wheel and hub. U have to make sure to use the bolts that ECS gives U when installing so there is the correct amt of thread going into hub. Torque them down and then there should be zero rattling and movement with them.
I bought the Rial wheels and ECS spacer kit with bolts that you recommended. I should be good then. Thanks.
chuckvossler 5++