¿i3? The itch.

[MexicoCityM3]

Now that we've been a few months here in the new place I have a sense of a few things, including the gas expenses. The X5 is using about $5,000/month (pesos) in gas since it's the main vehicle for mom & baby's errands. The baby will get into daycare next month and that will increase a bit.

The MINI is currently in Mexico City.

I am toying with the idea of getting a used i3 to replace both the MINI and the M5. Like this:

https://auto.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-596946418-bmw-i3-2015-_JM

To give you an idea, I can sell the M5 for $500,000 pesos and the MINI for $280,000 or so.

So if I sell both cars I'd release a little cash and non-negligible gas money as the i3 would become mom & baby's daily driver an the X5 will be reserved for longer trips / weekends.

I can recharge at home at close to zero cost b/c of the solar panels.

A new i3 maybe. It'd have to be electric only. That's $780,000.

I LOVE my M5 and it is in mint condition (really) but we don't use it much. Here there is little traffic so I usually reach for the keys of the smaller, more fun cars (actually the E46 is my favourite DD again).

Another option could be the new Countryman hybrid. That is $720,000. It's a much more versatile car than the i3 but both the wife & I do love the electric feeling and like the "innovative" i3.

Not interested in the Bolt. I went to test drive it. Great car but we're spoiled and can't get into an econobox interior.

used i3? new i3? keep the M5? Countryman hybrid? Wait years for a more expensive Tesla model 3? Do nothing?

[12,000 RPM]

I would stretch for the range extender, but for a city runaround I like the i3.

[shp4man]

Not really on topic, but here on the border I notice a bunch of vehicles with Mexico plates that aren't sold here at all, some of the names I don't recognize. Many of them are smaller cars. So you have quite a choice. 

[MexicoCityM3]

I would stretch for the range extender, but for a city runaround I like the i3.

No need. The range of the all electric is more than enough. There is the X5 for longer trips. Range is however an advantage of the new i3 over the used i3. The new one has about 40% more range.

[MexicoCityM3]

Not really on topic, but here on the border I notice a bunch of vehicles with Mexico plates that aren't sold here at all, some of the names I don't recognize. Many of them are smaller cars. So you have quite a choice. 

Overall variety is a bit better in the US (especially variety in levels of equipment within a model range). But we do get a few euro and third world specials that you don't. Notably: Renault, Peugeot, SEAT among others.

[Xer0]

First, stop being an unthusiast.  Obviously the correct answer is to get an i8.  Unless you're poor, then get a used Yugo.  Now that that's out of the way...

I've lost track of how many cars you have at this point.  V10 M5, E46 M3, 1M, 1/3rd of a GT4, a Mini, and an X5?  Honestly, I would get rid of the M5 and Mini, pick up an i3 (honestly, I really do like and a think the bamboo interior is a cool touch), keep the X5 as your comfy all around car, and the M3 can remain your daily.

[AutobahnSHO]

First, stop being an unthusiast. 

+1     You must be poor LOLOLOLOL

Electric would be fun Torque for the City. And you still would have the track car and X5 so....   Sure!

[93JC]

The X5 is using about $5,000/month (pesos) in gas since it's the main vehicle for mom & baby's errands.

$5,000/mo es loco.

[MexicoCityM3]

$5,000/mo es loco.

Pesos.

[FoMoJo]

$5,000/mo es loco.

260usd.  Not so bad.

[GoCougs]

$5,000/mo es loco.

Both you and Lebowski need to get out more .

[Raza]

i3 to replace a Mini and an M5? Why don't you just follow Lebowski's thread and buy whatever mainstream brand CUV he's going to buy?

[12,000 RPM]

Being seen in a CR-V = death sentence

[CaminoRacer]

Being seen in a CR-V = death sentence

You know what the nice thing about CR-Vs and other blandmobiles is? You AREN'T seen. You're invisible. Total incognito mode. It's almost refreshing to drive a blandmobile after driving my car around a lot.

[Morris Minor]

I can recharge at home at close to zero cost b/c of the solar panels.

Do you have  powerwall-type storage so you can use the electricity at night?

[MexicoCityM3]

Being seen in a CR-V = death sentence

You know what the nice thing about CR-Vs and other blandmobiles is? You AREN'T seen. You're invisible. Total incognito mode. It's almost refreshing to drive a blandmobile after driving my car around a lot.

Haha. I know. But yeah, we can't. I mean of course if we ever come to recognize our reality as poors we will survive. But as long as the banks don't know that, we're ballin'.

[MexicoCityM3]

Do you have  powerwall-type storage so you can use the electricity at night?

I have it on order. Put in a deposit about 8 months ago. Supposedly it would be delivered "in the summer". But we all know about deadlines and Tesla. I wrote a few days ago and haven't heard anything back.

[Laconian]

I'm kind of lukewarm about big home batteries. The early adopter tax is too heavy and the benefit too minor if you live an area with a reliable electric grid. Electricity is fungible; there's no shame in dumping your joules into the grid and pulling 'em back out from it.

It'll probably 5-10 more years before they're cheap enough to make them a no-brainer.

[93JC]

Pesos.

Yo comprendo la situación, señor. If you're spending that much on gas I understand why you're thinking of going electric; 5000 MXN is, as I said, loco.

260usd.  Not so bad.

4-5 times my monthly fuel bill...

[giant_mtb]

I think he drives a decent amount, though. When you're a baller and have a couple houses...

[MexicoCityM3]

Yo comprendo la situación, señor. If you're spending that much on gas I understand why you're thinking of going electric; 5000 MXN is, as I said, loco.

4-5 times my monthly fuel bill...

That's only for the X5 (wife). I probably spend an additional 2,000 pesos. But that would continue because fun.

[Morris Minor]

I'm kind of lukewarm about big home batteries. The early adopter tax is too heavy and the benefit too minor if you live an area with a reliable electric grid. Electricity is fungible; there's no shame in dumping your joules into the grid and pulling 'em back out from it.

It'll probably 5-10 more years before they're cheap enough to make them a no-brainer.

I think it all depends on usage patterns. If you have an EV it makes sense to charge it overnight with your solar-generated electricity.
Also I think the equations change with the latitude & climate. e.g. in higher latitudes, a/c use is lower, & usage is heaviest in the evenings when people come home & start cooking, watching TV etc. Contrast that with here in sweaty GA where electricity usage times coincide more with solar generation times: late afternoons, when the sun is still well above the horizon.

[r0tor]

I'm not against EV's, and I do like the i3 interior.way more then I thought I would... But I really don't see the i3 being all that compelling of a package.

I'd say give the EV market another 3 or so years to develop before jumping on it.

[AutobahnSHO]

I'm not against EV's, and I do like the i3 interior.way more then I thought I would... But I really don't see the i3 being all that compelling of a package.

I'd say give the EV market another 3 or so years to develop before jumping on it.

BMWs are out of my pricerange all the time. Your last statement is very legit.

[veeman]

I would dump the M5 and Countryman.  You don't seem to be using them a lot.  That's it.

I don't think it makes much sense to get the i3 in addition to the X5 to save money.  It's cheaper to just have the X5 for your wife and child rather than both cars.  The cost of having two cars with maintenance and insurance is going to be more than any gas savings.

If you want the i3 just get it for yourself to putter around locally in.  If your wife likes it better than the X5 to drive then great.  If she doesn't, then that's also fine.  Just get it for the sake of getting it because you like it.  It's not really an economic thing.

[FoMoJo]

Yo comprendo la situación, señor. If you're spending that much on gas I understand why you're thinking of going electric; 5000 MXN is, as I said, loco.

4-5 times my monthly fuel bill...

Not sure what the fuel cost per gallon/litre in Mexico is, but when my wife and I were both commuting for work, our fuel bill was around $500CAD per month.

[MexicoCityM3]

Not sure what the fuel cost per gallon/litre in Mexico is, but when my wife and I were both commuting for work, our fuel bill was around $500CAD per month.

We pay 18 pesos/lt (premium). So, about 3.6 USD/gallon

[2o6]

$320 a month sounds reasonable. That sounds like about a tank of gas a week.

[93JC]

Not sure what the fuel cost per gallon/litre in Mexico is, but when my wife and I were both commuting for work, our fuel bill was around $500CAD per month.

My commute is only about 8 km one-way. 

[Lebowski]

Both you and Lebowski need to get out more .

Hey anyone else posting and $3k shoes would have raised my eyebrows.  MCM, on some level I could see it.